SPACES AND PLACES: a season of recently restored classics and award-winning contemporary Armenian films.
Մենք ենք, մեր սարերը
dir. Henrik Malyan, with Sos Sarkisyan, Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Khoren Abraamyan
When a petty dispute over a lost sheep gets out of hand, a group of shepherds find their mountain idyll interrupted by the long arm of the law in Henrik Malyan’s cult satire, adapted from his own work by beloved Armenian author Hrant Matevosyan. Matevosyan’s comic pastorale, alternately absurdist and broad, demonstrates that it was not just in Russia, and not just in the cities, that ‘60s debates about authority and rebellion raged. A splendid example of the poetry and humour of the Armenian screen tradition, one of the most storied of the USSR’s so-called “national” cinemas, which remains relatively unknown abroad.
From 10 May 2022 until 7 June 2022, the Armenian Institute in partnership with, Klassiki, the world’s first streaming platform dedicated to cinema from Ukraine, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, will host SPACES AND PLACES, an in-cinema and online film season exploring the contested politics of place and Armenian identity. The films in this season all explore the idea of home – whether that be a place, an idea, or something in-between. They speak to the past and present of Armenia, marked so much by displacement and diaspora: ideas that are sadly as relevant now for international audiences as ever before.
Adapted from the work of beloved Armenian author Hrant Matevosyan, Henrik Malyan’s cult satire and comic pastorale demonstrates that rebellion and discontent in the 1960s was not limited to Russia and its cities, but instead reared their head throughout the Soviet space. A splendid example of the poetry and humour of the Armenian screen tradition, and widely celebrated as the greatest Armenian film ever made.
The season will launch with a premiere of Henrik Malyan’s 1969 classic We Are Our Mountains, and is complemented by a month-long programme of online screenings, round table discussions, and director interviews. Curated by the Klassiki team, the Armenian Institute, and the National Cinema Centre of Armenia, the season comprises contemporary award-winning dramas, a series of female-directed shorts, and a recently restored classics.
Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery. The Armenian Institute programme is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.