Armenian filmmaker Jivan Avetisyan has been working on his new feature film entitled “Revival” since 2018, with some scenes of the movie filed in Artsakh. He is best known for his films about Artsakh, including “Tevanik”, “The Last Resident” and “Gates of Paradise.” Asked by a Panorama.am correspondent why he has focused on the specific topic, the director said: “What can be more precious for us than Artsakh? Many of us have sacrificed their lives for Artsakh, why shouldn’t we tell about it?”
Asked whether it makes any sense to continue the film shootings after the war, or they have already been suspended, Jivan Avetisyan said annoyed: “Artsakh needs us now more than ever before. We must talk more about it and work harder, stepping up our efforts – each of us in our job. Artsakh has not faded away after the war; we must not lose heart. And now our message should focus on the fact that the time of real victory is yet to come. I was still a little boy when I looked at Shushi atop the hills in our village – Khachmach. I saw Shushi both under fire and liberated.
If we had not believed that one day we would regain control of the town amid heavy shelling, perhaps we would not have done it. Even after the 1990s, the war was not over for our team: every day of our work we tried to help consolidate the victory. And our films of international production pursued precisely this goal – to present Artsakh to the world, the past and present of Armenians. Nevertheless, we have what we have. I do not understand people who try to escape reality. No matter how hard you run away, no matter how much you are distracted by the current trends, the time will come to find your identity, as it happens with the hero of our new film – Murat.
- So what is happening to him, what is the secret around which the story is unfolding?
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The main message of the film is returning home – “home” in the broadest sense of the word. Wherever life throws you, no matter what happens to you, no matter how impossible it may seem to regain your lost identity, all the same, the time will come for you to find yourself.
“ Revival” is a story about love, self-search and self-discovery. In 1993, an incident happened in Artsakh that has not yet been forgiven by time, space, humanity or the universe. In the film it is necessary to return to this point and an Artsakh man named Murat, who grew up in France, is trying to find himself, his roots … it perhaps refers to the whole Armenian nation and the people. Just like our hero, Murat, who comes to Artsakh to find his identity, we, too, should try to find ourselves to figure out what happened and why.
I don’t want to go into the details of the script. I would like to only say that Narine Voskanyan originally worked on the film script. The film crew expanded in Berlin in 2019 when we started successful cooperation with German Jean Wagner, who joined our team as a script consultant. Then we collaborated with US-based Monique Peterson, who also joined us and is working on the dialogues for the film. We also managed to attract various producers from several countries interested in the film project.
As for the cast, some of the characters have already been clarified, while negotiations are underway with others. The cast includes actors both from Armenia and abroad. I would not like to reveal the names of foreign actors; there are many famous figures, simply the experience shows that every time Azerbaijan hears a new name, it begins to pressure and harass them, forcing the actors to go through psychological abuse; they even summon ambassados and issue ultimatums to them. I don’t reveal their names for now to ensure their safety.
- Doesn’t working with foreigners require large funds? In addition, it seems that the shooting of the film will not be limited to only Armenia. How do you raise funds?
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The events in the film take place in several countries: Israel, Iceland and France … yes, it definitely requires a big budget, but there are various funds that we are going to apply to. While collecting funds for the previous film, we gained experience which we will be using this time: it refers to support by various funds, individual investment donations, investments of co-producers, etc. We managed to raise nearly 40,000 dollars for the film “Gates to Heaven” through crowdfunding. In the near future, we plan to hold a crowdfunding campaign for “Revival”.
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What do you think the Armenian audience needs? What message should be conveyed to the Armenian people?
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The Armenian audience, the Armenian people need sincere dialogue, they need the values they are the bearers of. We need to be brought to consciousness. We can’t give up. There is no place for apathy. It is forbidden not to dream, it is forbidden to lose faith. Everything is going to be fine.
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