ABC Interview’s guest was Karen Avetisyan, a film critic and the artistic director of The Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival. We talked with him about the situation about the Armenian film industry, its potential and several promising projects that will be presented in a number of prestigious festivals.
– Armenia seems to be a topic bank now. There are many issues that can be addressed: war, rifted society, social problems… Compared to the topics, what is filmed and written is inadequate. How can culture be turned into a weapon in some cases, and a means of raising problems in other cases?
– In the short term, it is not possible to solve the created situation with culture. It is definitely a utopia.
– And what about starting?
To solve it, it was necessary to start a long time ago. It is a very complex process—institutional, systemic and interconnected with various things. It is of national security significance, especially if we consider education to be a part of it.
– Male directors dominated the Armenian film industry. However, the picture is a little different now. There are many women in the sphere of filmmaking. Do you think the standpoint of female directors is different?
– Yes, now there are changes there too: There are more female directors among us. It may not be so in terms of quantity, but every year, when we receive applications for participation in festivals, it is obvious that the activity of women is simply incomparable. It is more visible in the documentary genre—a genre that requires a little more courage. Men are more conservative; women are more daring both in terms of topics and in terms of filmmaking without large funds, and that is very gratifying.
-Karen, when do the preparations for The Golden Apricot start and can you say now what awaits us this year?
By the way, this year the 20th Golden Apricot festival will take place. This year, within the framework of the festival, we will also celebrate the 100th anniversary of Aznavour and Parajanov. The general idea is that one is the bearer of eastern and the other one of western aesthetics and cultures. We were trying to find any relation between artists who had very little in common. Aznavour and Parajanov are extremely different people, but we found such a link. The Golden Apricot is also trying to assume the role of a crossroads of civilizations and cultures. Our country is at that regional crossroads. It may be our pain and problems, in a geopolitical sense, but that position is very interesting and beneficial in a cultural sense.
– Is our mentality more Eastern or Western?
– I suppose that from the geographic borders to the way of thinking, the whole big path itself is completely hybrid, because regardless of the various integration processes, we are still more Asian. Of course, we also have characteristics of the West. I think one day we will have to choose. There are people who propagandize that, after all, we have to orient ourselves. On the other hand, being hybrid is also an orientation. That position can also be beneficial. It can be an advantage, depending on how you combine the glorious east and the glorious west.
– We also have blitz questions. If a movie was made based on your life, what genre would it be?
– I think it would be a tragicomedy…
– If you could revive someone, who would it be and why?
– I would like to revive my great-grandmother so that she could tell me the stories that I did not get to hear from her, because I was a little boy and did not appreciate their importance at that time.
– Which historical period would you like to see?
– If I don’t say the future—of course, I will partially see it—the second half of the ‘60s is very important and interesting.
– In Armenia?
– Those ‘60s were so phenomenal that I would like to see them all over the world.
– When was the last time you were in Artsakh and on what occasion?
– I was there both before, during and after the war.
– If a foreigner asked you to describe Armenia in three sentences, what would you say?
– If it is not in the sense of advertising, but in the sense of presenting, that is a different story. I don’t know to what extent I will answer your question, but the thing is (perhaps this may sound paradoxical) that despite the fact that Armenia has centuries, millennia of history, culture and heritage, it is a country that has not yet found itself. Thus, first we need to clarify for ourselves, before clarifying for others. We ourselves need to find those three sentences for now.
Interview by Lena Gevorgyan
