VORT (The Worm)** – USA – 32 min. – short film – Armenian with English subtitles – rated GA
Filmed in one continuous half-hour steadicam shot, this is the story of three Armenian friends, all ushers in the same wedding, who struggle to define the meaning of love in their personal lives and in the context of national identity. This film tackles the issue of mixed marriages within the Armenian community.
KOMITAS HAIRIG** – USA – 18 min. documentary – rated GA
A multiple Emmy award-winning producer, Bared Maronian (THE WALL OF GENOCIDE) shows once more why he is such a highly respected documentarian with this very well-researched short that sheds a great deal of light on one of the giants of Armenian history in the 20th century. Maronian presents the brilliant accomplishments of Komidas Vardapet, priest […]
ROBBIE'S WITHDRAWAL** – USA – 8 min. – short film – rated PG 13
Robbie’s big day with Marcus and the baby holds the key to their future, but a sudden change of heart forces her to figure things out on her own. The film has gained several accolades south of the border, including Best Short Film at the Seattle International Film Festival. Talented associate producer, Karni Baghdikian, recently […]
WALK AWAY**** – Canada -5 min. – short film – rated GA
From the same director of Chapter XI, Sarmen Sarmazian, comes a short film examining the life of a young man, who is hitch-hiking for a ride and contemplating life.
THREE EVENINGS (Yerek Yereko)*** – Armenia – 64 min. – feature film – Armenian with English subtitles – rated GA
Adapted from a short story by his father, independent filmmaker, Arshak Amirbekyan, presents an unconventional love story in this mesmerizing feature film. In his dreary apartment, a lonely scientist works on his doctoral thesis and finds himself caught in a monotonous existence, until he unexpectedly crosses paths with a distressed young woman, who has come […]
LES COMPLICES*** – France/The Netherlands – 40 min. – French with English subtitles – short film – rated GA
Just as Director Nora Martirosyan’s earlier film 1937 captured audiences at the 2008 Pomegranate Film Festival, her new piece, LES COMPLICES, continues her exploration of the complex process of transmission and memory. At the centre of the plot, an elderly woman slowly recounts her family’s experience during World War II and their subsequent exile to […]
A NICE OLD FASHIONED ROMANCE** USA – 14 min. – short film – rated GA
Based on a screenplay by William Saroyan, Director Ara Soudjian presents a light-hearted romantic comedy about a misunderstood fifth grade boy who gets caught in the middle of a romance between his teacher and the school principal. Soudjian has previously worked on major Hollywood films, including 13 Going on 30. This is a delightful short, […]
HOW WE LIVE** – Armenia – 14 min. – documentary – rated GA
In this engaging documentary, Iranian born, LA-based photographer and attorney, Sara Anjargolian, uncovers the bitter reality of poverty in Armenia, an unrelentingly difficult existence for a staggering number of Armenians. Having lived in Armenia, her collected photographs reveal the rich layers of Armenia’s socio-economic fabric, refusing to let the country’s marginalized lives go unnoticed. Her […]
THE BIRTHDAY GIFT** USA 14 min. – short film – rated PG 13
Young director Sahag Gureghian bravely tackles a disturbing subject matter in this short. Both poignant and chilling, Gureghian submits a concerning issue for children and parents, which few dare to talk about.
THE HAT*** – Armenia – 10 min. – Armenian with English subtitles – short film – rated GA
Filmed in beautiful Yerevan, two sisters, Mary and Eliza come across a fancy hat in the window of a luxury store. It’s not just an expensive one, but a nostalgic one that reminds them of their beloved grandmother. The sisters will stop at nothing to retrieve the hat. Director Hovhannisyan (Ride to Life, Reflections) has […]
THE ONLY**** – Canada – 5 min. -short film – rated PG 13
Toronto based director Jennifer Kassabian, whose previous film Traumrauber was presented at the 2008 Pomegranate Film Festival, explores the world of storytelling and relationships with her latest well crafted short film. Night after night, The Only, a watering hole for sophisticated urbanites, welcomes its most loyal patron, James, a writer. Indulging in whiskeys & lager, […]
HORIZON**** Canada – 5 min. – short film – rated GA
Canadian Serge Keshishian portrays the daily routine of a disabled Armenian man, who has a chance encounter with two strangers at a local coffee shop. Filmed in Toronto, where one never knows whom he/she may run into.
Vakifli: Musa Dagh 95 Years Later – Turkey/USA – 17 min. – Directed by Robert Davidian
One of the best-known heroic victories for the Armenian race in the 20th century took place at Musa Mountain in 1915. Now in 2010, director Robert Davidian (KARAOKE DREAMS) chronicles the only all-Armenian village whose residents defended themselves and has withstood 95 years of Genocide denial in modern day Turkey. Both a riveting and refreshing […]
Return – Armenia/USA – 59 min. – Produced by Robert Davidian
What happens when Diasporan Americans pick up and move to Armenia? Independent filmmaker, Robert Davidian (KARAOKE DREAMS) presents a meaningful documentary that explores the diverse experiences and choices to resettle in Armenia through first-hand interviews with scholars on the subject and with those who chose to migrate and begin anew in Hayastan.His work not only […]
SMYRNA 1922 – Turkey/USA – 10 min. – Produced by Robert Davidian
American director Robert Davidian’s grandfather George Magarian was born in 1895 and educated at the American College at Konya where he later served as director of the Konya YMCA. Likely unbeknownst to Turkish authorities, he managed to film Smyrna immediately following its genocidal destruction, capturing never seen before footage of the burning of Smyrna. For […]
DORIAN – Brazil – Canadian Premiere – Portuguese with English subtitles – Directed by Cesar & Gregorio Gananian
Young Brazilian-Armenian directors and emerging talents, Cesar and Gregorio Gananian, present a free-style adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, renowned English author and humourist. Their experimental and modern interpretation was also screened at the 2010 Golden Apricot Film Festival in Yerevan.
L-OVER – USA – World Premiere -directed by Armen Soudjian
L-OVER is a short experimental film about a boy who is fighting to win his girl’s love back, but never seems to find the answer to his prayers. Like in all “young love” relationships, one moves on faster than the other, the other… is you. Los Angeles writer-director, Armen Soudjian is oozing with talent and […]
ULTIMATE HEIST (Le Premier Cercle) – France – North American Premiere
ULTIMATE HEIST (Le Premier Cercle) – France – North American Premier – French with English subtitles – Produced by Alain Terzian Starring renown actors, Jean Reno (DA VINCI CODE) and Isaac Sharry (GAMBLERS), this action-packed thriller promises to enthrall all adventure-seekers. The Malakian clan, a family of ruthless gangsters, controls the underworld of Southern France. […]
THE LAST TIGHTROPE DANCER IN ARMENIA – North American Premiere – Armenia
Winner of the Golden Apricot Award in the Armenian Panorama Competition at the 2010 Golden Apricot International Film Festival, Zhora, 78 years old, and Knyaz, 77 years old, were once the most celebrated tightrope walkers in Armenia. Today they are the only existing masters who can keep this ancient art alive. Envious rivals throughout their […]
So Far From Home – Canada – Toronto premiere – directed by Professor Lorne Shirinian (short documentary)
A professor at the Canadian Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, Lorne Shirinian attempts to understand his father’s journey as an orphan survivor of the Armenian Genocide from his home in modern day Turkey to his new home in the Diaspora at the Georgetown Boys’ Farm in Canada, and later as a young adult in […]
POWER POISON – USA – Canadian Premiere
Filmmaker Vahram Hakobyan’s short film probes into the dark world of organized crime, an often luring trap for the young and naive. A money laundering criminal outfit trying to stay as low profile and virtuous as possible finds itself assisting and then combating a new terrorist attack while its rising star tries to figure out […]
Kris Kertenian – Last Stop "friendship" Trailer – USA – Canadian Premiere
Los Angeles based filmmaker Kris Kertenian probes into the darker side of a tested friendship in his dramatic feature LAST STOP. Formerly the best of friends, George and Hank are reunited after George’s son’s tragic death. George believes that his son’s death was not an accident and hires Hank, a disbarred lawyer, to put a […]
Trailer for Charents: In Search of My Armenian Poet – Canadian Premiere
Charents: In Search of My Armenian Poet explores the life and work of one of Armenia’s most beloved poets, Eghishe Charents, who was tragically killed under mysterious circumstances under Stalinist captivity in 1937. Shareen Anderson’s brilliant documentary showcases the enduring legacy of the poet, unlocked through her interviews with academics, poets and self-proclaimed Charentsophiles. In […]
CHIENNE D’HISTOIRE (Barking Island) – France – Canadian premiere – directed by Serge Avedikian (short film)
Winner of the prestigious 2010 Cannes Festival’s Palme D’Or, this short film is set in Constantinople in 1910, where stray dogs populate its busy streets. Judged a problem, the newly formed Ottoman government devises a plan to rid the city of the strays by transplanting them to a deserted island. Director, Actor and thought provoking […]
AKHTAMAR – United Kingdom – Canadian premiere – directed by Ludwig & Paul Shammasian (short film)
Having dazzled Pomegranate Film Festival audiences in 2008 with two crafty short films, ROMANS 12:20 and THE CARRIAGEWAY, the Shammasian brothers are back with a modern day version of the ancient Armenian tale of “Akhtamar”. A troubled young man journeys to Armenia to find his love, where along the way he discovers a mysterious taxi […]
TALKING PICTURES – Turkey – Canadian premiere – Jointly directed by Mehmet Binay & Caner Alper (short documentary)
When Turkish Director Mehmet Binay and Producer Caner Alper presented the North American premier of their documentary film WHISPERING MEMORIES (based on the Armenian community in the village of Geben who remained in Cilicia post 1915) at the 2008 Pomegranate Film Festival, they came face to face with Ghazaros Kerjilian, a descendant of Geben. Kerjilian […]
VENEZZIA – Venezuela – Toronto premiere – directed by Haik Gazarian (feature film)
Frank Moore (Alfonso Herrera), an American communications specialist whose orders were to protect oil tankers from the threat of U-Boats in the Caribbean and discover the identity of a Nazi spy amidst the Venezuelan Army. Frank meets Venezzia (Ruddy Rodriguez) and falls in love but it appears to be an impossible love as she is […]
CHLOE – Canada – directed by Atom Egoyan (feature film)
When Catherine (Julianne Moore), a successful doctor, begins to question her husband David’s (Liam Neeson) fidelity, she sets out to resolve her suspicions with the help of an alluring young woman, Chloe (Amanda Seyfried). Soon caught in a web of sexual desire, Catherine finds herself on a journey that places her family in great danger. […]
Army of Crime – Trailer – France – Canadian premiere – directed by Robert Guedigian (feature film)
Paris in 1941 is under Vichy France rule. Twenty-two men and one woman fighting for an ideal and for freedom in the untold story of the French Resistance. From the acclaimed and award winning director of LE VOYAGE EN ARMENIE. This is the real life of Genocide survivor and poet Missak Manouchian (Simon Abkarian – […]
