Welcome Papa (2011)

The Mulberry Tree

In their first collaboration Melkonian and cinematographer Mikhail Vartanov film two neighbour families that both claim ownership of a huge mulberry tree growing in the middle of their two houses.

Master and Servant

Manas is hired to work for master Tatos till the spring, "when the cuckoo will call". There is one condition of the contract: if anyone of them gets annoyed with another, he loses everything. Unable to stand the day-and-night work for stingy master, Manas leaves without a pense of salary for months work. Next servant who knocks at Tatos's door is Manas's small brother, smart Simon.

Tjvjik

Rich Nikoghos-agha buys some beef liver for Nerses-akhpar's family. Although months have passed, Nikoghos-agha does not hesitate to remind his "charity" to Nerses-akhpar every time they met.

We Are, Our Mountains

The tranquility of a remote Armenian mountain community is disrupted when a group of shepherds affected by the pangs of an evening hunger, decide to butcher and barbecue the sheep of another's that have strayed into their herd. An official inquiry by the city police complicates matters, and questions of law, morality and community only seem to lead to further entanglements.

A Bride from the North

Artak has served his military service in the Russian countryside where he meets Valya. But Valya's mother refuses to send her only daughter to “these far highlands, where earthquakes happen all the time”. Artak is forced to ask his contrasting and numerous relatives –Armenian villagers– to visit a remote Russian village to bring a bride to Armenia.

Amerikatsi

In 1948, decades after fleeing Armenia to the US as a child, Charlie returns in the hopes of finding a connection to his roots, but what he finds instead is a country crushed under Soviet rule. After being unjustly imprisoned, Charlie falls into despair, until he discovers that he can see into a nearby apartment from his cell window - the home of a prison guard.

Big Story in a Small City

The feature film is based on true events that changed two families forever. The story, both comical, satirical and a tragedy begins in the city of Yerevan, Armenia. Grigor Janoyan, a professor of agriculture at the University of Yerevan, dies from a freak accident, almost as strange as the events that soon follow. In accordance with Armenian tradition, the relatives bring the deceased into their home for the "viewing" by his friends and family before the burial. The family, consumed with grief fails to realize that the body on the dining room table is not Grigor. A friend of the family, while paying respects, discovers the mistake. Grigors look-a-like, Ruben Pashayan was the head of Armenia's organized crime families. Trouble is inevitable, but as the story continues, Grigor's son Hayk and his friends begin the quest of finding his father's body.

The Lark Farm

The Lark Farm is set in a small Turkish town in 1915. It deals with the genocide of Armenians, looking closely at the fortunes, or rather, misfortunes of one wealthy Armenian family.

Jiyana Rewsenbireki Kurd: Casimê Celîl

Casimê Celîl was born into a Yezidi Kurdish family in 1908, in a village called Kızılkule, located in Digor, Kars. The village and family life, which he longed to remember throughout his life, ends with the massacre they endured in 1918. During his long road to Erivan, Armenia, he lost all his family members. Left all alone, Casim was placed into an orphanage and was forced to change his name. To remember who he was and where he came from, every morning he repeated the mantra “Navê min Casim e, Ez kurê Celîlim, Ez ji gundê Qizilquleyê Dîgorê me, Ez Kurdim, Kurdê Êzîdî me”, which translates to: “My name is Casim, I am the son of Celîl, I come from the village of Kızılkule in Digor, I am a Kurd, and I am Yezidi”. He clings to every piece of his culture he can find, reads, and saves whatever Kurdish literature or art he comes across. As the year’s pass, Casim finds himself with an impressive collection of Kurdish culture and history.

Star of Hope

Two part film about David Bek and Mkhitar Sparapet's major Armenian uprising against Safavid Persia in the Syunik region in the 18th century.

The Seasons

The last collaboration of Artavazd Peleshian and cinematographer Mikhail Vartanov is a film-essay about Armenia's shepherds, about the contradiction and the harmony between man and nature, scored to Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

Nothing to be Afraid of

Ever since the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, the still disputed territory is contaminated by landmines. This documentary follows five female de-miners on their risky job.

Village of Women

Only women, children and old people live in this Armenian village, while the men work in Russia. A life with a rhythm of its own, an independent daily life marked nonetheless by exile.

From Atatürk to Erdoğan: Building a Nation

Turkey's history has been shaped by two major political figures: Mustafa Kemal (1881-1934), known as Atatürk, the Father of the Turks, founder of the modern state, and the current president Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan, who apparently wants Turkey to regain the political and military pre-eminence it had as an empire under the Ottoman dynasty.

Ladaniva : Carte blanche

Plot unavailable

The Armenian Genocide

More than one million Armenians perished between 1915 and 1916 in massacres or brutal deportation programs. Turkey still denies it ever happened. Laurence Jourdan examines massacres of Armenians in the decades leading up to the mass murder, and the geopolitical situation both before and after the genocide. Contemporaneous reports and documents written by Western diplomats stationed in the Ottoman Empire describe the methods used and the deportation routes. These accounts are mixed with personal stories from the living survivors and archive footage from Ottoman authorities.

The Armenian Genocide

Explores the Ottoman Empire killings of more than one million Armenians during World War I. The film describes not only what happened before, during and since World War I, but also takes a direct look at the genocide denial maintained by Turkey to the present day.

Armenia, My Home

Experience spectacular aerial and ground views and cultural revelations of a country like no other in a virtual tour of Mount Ararat, Khor Virap, Yerevan, the Genocide memorial, and more. Narrated by Andrea Martin, the documentary features prominent voices from the Armenian diaspora including Eric Bogosian, Chris Bohjalian, Peter Balakian, Michael Aram, and others.

Parvana

The stunning princess desires an inextinguishable fair of love as proof of true feelings. Brave suitors fly to the four corners of the world to look for it.

Songs of Solomon

Inspired by true events, this is a film about a childhood friendship, torn apart by the horrific Hamidian massacres infiltrated by the Ottoman Empire under the rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1894-1896).

The Earthquake

After the devastating Spitak earthquake of December 7th, Konstantin Berezhnoy, a 50-year-old Russian, and Robert Melkonyan, a 28-year-old Armenian, work together to rescue the desperate survivors.

Our Century

A man paves his own way to his own soul through an intellectual quest, tragedies of nations and personal drama. The road moving through the cosmic distances is a flight into one's internal world. This flight and this drama are revealed in this philosophical film-poem.

Islands

A bunch of stories, portraits and images about people of amazing destinies, including Parajanov and Tarkovsky, merging into a non-traditional and polemic image of Armenia.

Avetik

Hovering between the realms of poetry and history, this stunningly photographed, elegiac work – shot mostly in long takes – mixes cryptic metaphor and fantastic symbolism to tell the story of Avetik, an Armenian filmmaker exiled in Berlin. In sensuous, lyric styling, Askarian employs dreamlike images to reflect the history of his homeland, tranquil childhood memories, images inspired by erotic medieval poetry, and autobiographical shades of his own exile in Germany.

Saroyan Brothers

1920. Last days of the first Armenian Republic. Armenian Army fights on two fronts: war with Turkish army in the west, and Red Army incursion and Bolshevik mutiny in the northeast. Hayk Saroyan returns to his native provincial town from Russia to assume a minor post at Dashnak Army command center. His brother Gevorg, captain at the same command center, is a real patriot prefering death to "eternal exile", army power to relegious mercifullness. Very soon a suspicion creeps inside him: his beloved brother is Bolshevik spy.

Star Of Hope - Part One: David Bek

First movie of the two part film about David Bek and Mkhitar Sparapet's major Armenian uprising against Safavid Persia in the Syunik region in the 18th century. Part one tells the story of David Bek.

General Cleaning

During a general cleaning weekend in his village house an old cemetery groundskeeper discovers that he is just as much of a burden for his family, as his old mementos they are throwing away in the trash.

Star Of Hope - Part Two: Mkhitar Sparapet

Second movie of the two part film about David Bek and Mkhitar Sparapet's major Armenian uprising against Safavid Persia in the Syunik region in the 18th century. Part two tells the story of Mkhitar Sparapet.

Potluck

Potluck follows the story of a well-adjusted company upstart who faces a series of darkly comedic and sickly horrifying workplace scenarios. He must learn to face the consequences of being just another cog in the corporate machine.

The Lifeguards

A strict rule following high school senior joins a group of country club lifeguards. He quickly discovers they focus their energy on goofing off and throwing parties. Over the summer, Mike learns to have fun for the first time.

An American Masquerade

Two failed actors and a porn star. A car full of contraband. One hell of a road trip.

Nobody's Perfect!

Gerard is tired of being taken for a good apple by his beautiful family. He leaves everything and starts a garage in a village nestled at the bottom of the Gâtinais ... In front of the garage, there is a lovely inn, run by Barbara: a beautiful woman, disconcerting, mysterious, unpredictable. Their encounter will spark ...