Tamara Stepanyan`s film opens 23rd Golden Apricot Film Festival

ArmInfo.  When it comes to films with war/post-war themes, the stories of heroes are always familiar to a significant portion of Armenian viewers. After all, pride in  one's history, origins, culture, and science are integral elements of  national identity and mentality.

And whenever the author offers an unusual perspective on painful events or touches on topics that are usually perceived as almost sacred, the viewer is not always ready to  accept such a perspective. Therefore, after the Yerevan premiere of  Tamara Stepanyan's film "Arto's Land" (2025, Armenia, France), which  took place during the opening of the 23rd Golden Apricot  International Film Festival, audience opinions and impressions were  divided.

Stepanyan's film tells the story of a French woman, Celine (Camille  Cottin), who, after the death of her husband, Arto Saroyan (Hovnatan  Avedikyan), comes to Armenia to obtain Armenian citizenship for their  children, believing this is important for maintaining ties to their  father's homeland and their national identity. To do this, she turns  to the archives of Gyumri, where Arto was born, to find his birth  certificate.  However, after a lengthy search, it turns out that her  husband was not at all the man he claimed to be.

To uncover the truth, Celine, following clues from people she meets,  travels to Artsakh. Judging by the film's details, the events unfold  in 2021-after the end of the 44-day war, but before the Azerbaijani  blockade. It is there that she learns that her husband was a deserter  during the First Artsakh War. This truth upends Celine's familiar  world: she realizes she knew almost nothing about the past of the man  she spent her life with. She is forced to rethink the memory of her  loved one, say goodbye to the image of Arto she created, and accept  the new, painful reality she must now live with.

One of the film's strengths is its rejection of the usual  glorification of war, although that is not what the film is about.  Contemporary Armenian cinema, when addressing this topic, often  depicts heroism-and such films are undoubtedly necessary and very  important, both for history and for future generations. Stepanyan,  however, deliberately chooses a different perspective. She shows the  side of war that provokes internal resistance. Stepanyan confronts  the viewer with a different truth about war, one that is unpleasant  and uncomfortable, yet still exists in our reality. Something many  prefer to remain silent about.

In the public consciousness, a deserter is often perceived solely as  a negative character. In Stepanyan's film, however, he is, first and  foremost, a man who is frightened. Fear of death is a natural state  for any person, and it certainly doesn't absolve them of  responsibility for the consequences, which are almost always dire  during war. However, this human weakness also becomes a subject of  discussion for the director. War gives birth not only to heroes, but  also to fear, despair, and flight. And art has the right to speak not  only of heroism.

The finale of the premiere screening left a particularly strong  impression. One scene in the film features a composition by Artsakh  rapper Valeri Kazaryan (Lyoka), accompanying Celine's trip to  Artsakh. The same song also plays during the end credits. However, at  the premiere, the film's story unexpectedly took a further turn:  during the credits, Lyoka took the stage and continued performing the  composition live. A strange and symbolic moment - some audience  members quietly left the auditorium, while others remained to listen.

This scene unexpectedly proved no less cinematic and eloquent than  the film itself. It seemed to serve as a continuation of the film,  clearly demonstrating how differently society today perceives  Artsakh, its memory, and the conversation about war itself. Perhaps  it was this moment that marked the most interesting conclusion of the  evening at the opening ceremony of the 23rd Golden Apricot Film  Festival.

Interestingly, Karen Avetisyan, artistic director and director of the  Golden Apricot Film Festival, noted that this year's film festival  slogan, "Be A Poem," is in some sense an allusion to Tamara  Stepanyan's film. He explained that the idea for the slogan arose  from a statement made in 1951-six years after the end of World War  II-by the German philosopher, thinker, and sociologist Theodor  Adorno, who asked, "To what extent is poetry possible after a  disaster, or rather after Auschwitz? To what extent is it meaningful,  in such a tragic, destroyed, fragmented world?"

"And after six years of our tragedy (the 44-day Artsakh War - ed.),  we tried to rephrase what Adorno arrived at over time: that art is  not only possible, but also necessary. Because at the point where the  word, 'which was in the beginning,' ends, at the point where it  becomes powerless, art comes to the rescue," Avetisyan said.

It's hard to disagree. Of course, art won't solve all problems, won't  end wars, won't punish dictators, given the colossal cultural legacy  associated with the horrors of war. But art will always help us move  forward, continue to create, build on ruins, create within  limitations, and bring light into the darkness.

In this sense, the Golden Apricot Film Festival has remained one of  Armenia's most important cultural phenomena for over two decades. For  23 years, the festival has spoken to society through the language of  art, opening a space for complex conversations that are often  impossible in politics or public debate. And perhaps precisely  because of this, Armenian cinema is increasingly seeing the emergence  of filmmakers willing to address the most sensitive topics honestly  and without regard for conventional audience expectations.

As a reminder, the Golden Apricot Film Festival is taking place this  year from July 13th to 19th. The opening ceremony took place at the  Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex. During the ceremony,  which honored all film festival traditions, Austrian director Jessica  Hausner was awarded the Master Prize, and French cinematographer  Bruno Delbonelle received the Parajanov Thaler for his contribution  to the global film industry.

Until July 19, the festival will feature competition and  non-competition programs featuring films from around the world, as  well as films screened at prestigious international film festivals.  The festival will once again bring together renowned directors,  industry representatives, and film enthusiasts in one venue. Film  screenings will be held at the Nairi and Moskva cinemas, as well as  the Cinema House. The founders of the Golden Aborikos are Harutyun  Khachatryan, Mikael Stamboltsyan, and Susanna Harutyunyan. In March  of this year, it was announced that the Yerevan International Film  Festival had joined the International Federation of Film Producers  Associations (FIAPF). It is worth noting that of the more than 5,000  film festivals held worldwide, only about 50 are recognized by this  organization.