Fresno State to Screen Six Short Films by Armenian Filmmakers
The Fresno State Armenian Studies Program, the AGBU Greater Fresno Chapter, AGBU Arts, and CineCulture will present “Armenians in Film: Six Short Films by Armenian Filmmakers.” The event will be held on October 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the Leon S. and Pete Peters Educational Center Auditorium on the Fresno State campus. Following the screening, the audience will have the opportunity to virtually discuss the films with the directors.
Established in 2015, AGBU Arts’ “Armenians in Film” Film Series is an annual, international event that unites talented Armenian filmmakers from all over the globe. In the past ten years, over fifty short films have been screened by filmmakers from the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, the United Kingdom, China, Bulgaria, Armenia, and more.
These talented artists featured are graduates of prestigious film schools, such as the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia University, and UCLA, and have screened their films at legendary festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and the Sunset Film Festival.
The films that will be screened include:
- “The Land of Sun” by Ruby Mardirossian; Even though Shamshadin means “The Land of Sun” fog is consistently visiting this small region on the border of Armenia and yet its villagers continue to be as solid as its mountains and as bright as its sun. RT: 11:23 Armenian, with English subtitles;
- “Wooden Doll” by Nune Apresyan; This film is about a little boy who does not recognize his father, who has returned from the war with an unrecognizable face․ RT: 9:57 Armenian, with English subtitles;
- “Evie” by Arpiné Stepanyan; Evie follows a 19-year-old girl caught between two worlds, the traditions of her Armenian family and the modern outlook of her French surroundings. On the surface, her life seems perfect: she has a loving family, a boyfriend, and close friends. Yet beneath this harmony lies a constant tension – the struggle to belong fully to either culture without losing herself. As the story unfolds, Evie embarks on a journey of self-discovery, questioning her identity and seeking balance between the two parts of her world. RT: 21:36 French, Armenian with English subtitles;
- “Closer In Strife” by Alec Nikoghossian; The distant relationship between a grandmother and her grandchild is momentarily disrupted, after an unforeseen devastation occurs in the city of Beirut. This film is dedicated to two of the director’s late grandparents. Every piece of dialogue stems from their words, from his personal interactions with them growing up; the space was designed to look the same as their homes, to evoke the same warmth. In a sense, a part of this project is a nostalgic portrait to preserve some of their family culture and moments together. The story takes place moments before and after the occurrence of the Port Explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, on the 4th of August, 2020 – a tragedy which directly affected my grandparents and the Lebanese people, claiming hundreds of lives, injuring thousands, and displacing hundreds of thousands. Five years have passed, yet we await any sort of justice for all its victims. “Closer in Strife” acknowledges how moments of crisis can sometimes bring us closer together; even if briefly. RT: 10:00 Armenian, with English subtitles;
- “Time Out” by Lilit Babayan; After being laid off from the university, 70-year-old linguist Artashes Aghababyan realizes that he has devoted his entire life to words, but not to real people. As his books become his only companions, he begins to search for what he has never experienced. RT: 17:36 Armenian, with English subtitles;
- “Oudenk” (Let’s Eat) by Minna Abalian; This film is a love letter to family, food, and my Armenian heritage. What began as an animated dictionary of traditional Armenian food became a personal film dedicated to my beloved grandfather who passed during the middle of production and was the cornerstone of my family. The film evolved into a mixed media experimental documentary of what food means to me and how it has connected my family and culture across generations. RT: 3:56 No dialogue.
Admission for the film screening and discussion is free and free parking is available in Lot P2 or Lot P3, near the west entrance of the SaveMart Center. A parking permit is not required after 4PM for the Friday evening screening.
Leon S. and Pete Peters Educational Center Auditorium (west end of the SaveMart Center), located at 5010 N. Woodrow Ave., on the Fresno State campus.
