– I was lucky to have met a serious master. Karen Gevorkian had returned from Moscow. He had initiated New Chronicle project and it was necessary to start documentary filming in Artsakh. Our main task was essentially to make pure documentary, to film whatever was happening in Artsakh. We had no right to miss a moment, because this was the very period of establishment of our sovereignty and army. Some serious processes were under way.
We piled up a huge archive of documentary materials about Artsakh. We filmed every part of the frontline. When I first came back from Artsakh, my fellow students kept asking me how it was like and what impressions I had. Many of them, just like me, had no idea about what was really happening in Artsakh before visiting it. We knew there were casualties and injured soldiers, but back then there was nothing like today’s flow of information. When asked about my impressions, I only had to reply, “Guys, I thought war was black and white, but it turned out to be full of colours.” Our generation was raised on wonderful Soviet-era films about the Great Patriotic War and my imagination drew war in black and white, just like in those films. I used to work near hospital in Artsakh for a while. Imagine, at first everything is quiet and then a constant flow of the wounded begins. Some of them die. I remember filming the faces of doctors who struggled to save every soldier’s life. Once, a friend of mine who was filming with me asked me to look into the eyes of one doctor. He was pulling out shell fragments from a shrapnel wound of a soldier. His eyes were full of such pain as if he was taking those fragments out of his own body. There I realized that war was not only about shootings and explosions. War was about the rear too. The worst pain is the mourning of the mother who has lost her son in the war. War is also about the silent widows who appear in the cemeteries from time to time. These are the scenes that acquire unique sense in the eyes of the documentarians. War is also about close-ups of human faces. I would like to single out Monte. They would refer to him as the new David of Sassoun. In Martouni region every third boy is named either Monte or Avo. I think this signifies something really important.
At the time when there were no weapons, people used to work miracles at the price of their own heroism. A young man named Ago had a gun with only two bullets when he made his way through the enemy’s position and returned carrying a few automatic guns and several prisoners. I saw how he was killed. It was terribly painful.
– How do war experiences touch a young man’s soul at the cusp of new life?
– You just mature too early. Nzhdeh has wonderful words about this: “Weapons and armies clash in the war, but it’s always the spirit that wins.”Our victory came as a result of that spirit. I think in the Soviet times our national spirit was more thriving than in the years of independence. The Soviet era was significant in terms of true patriotic upbringing. We save it up and when the right moment comes it bursts out just like it was during the Artsakh movement.
– We won the Artsakh war thanks to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War, but have the heroes of the recent war become role-models for the current generation?
– Unfortunately, we are inconsistent in every matter. Serious work had to be done after the victory as well. As an eyewitness and documentary filmmaker, I know what price we had to pay to achieve that victory. And it was unbearable to return and discover such absolute idleness everywhere. There was a huge number of officials who sat on their chairs doing nothing while a lot had to be done in the country.
– What kind of cinematographic production was developed on the basis of the documentary materials filmed in Artsakh?
– Karen Gevorkian used the footage to make two auteur films – A Call to the Living and Dilemma. The latter appeared to be filmed in journalism genre with an analysis of our nation’s character and destiny through the prism of war. Then a ten-part series was created, The War without Comment. This is a simple compilation of video materials. The series consisted of ten parts that were essentially pure documentary materials without any comments. Stylistically, this was an interesting experience. The work of Navigator studio moved beyond war documentary. Later, Hayots Tun (Armenian House) program was aired addressing the problems of our economy. We filmed almost all of our factories and most of them were looted and robbed. This was the real face of our economy at that time. We devalued our victory with our own hands, we didn’t do a hand’s turn, and we didn’t work hard…
– What was the result of the sense of loss of the God?
– Once, I accidentally overheard the conversation between Karen Gevorkian and one of the commanders. Gevorgyan asked, “Well, what happens next?” and the battalion commander answered: “We’ve done our work, now our country has to be relied to the hands of clerics or philosophers.” He realized that those who had done their work on the battlefield had to hand over duty to others, while there were no others at all. And many people simply went forward with the rights acquired as a result of that victory without even realizing that they were making no headway. Why and how that happened? I am puzzled by many questions too but one thing is for sure: everyone should do their own job.
– And were you able to do your own job? What was your contribution to cinematography?
– In the aftermath of the war it was clear for me that I had to choose documentary filmmaking. I started serving in the army after the graduation. Alongside this, I offered the minister Vazgen Sargsyan to make a film based on the experience of one of my fellow soldiers and thus show the overall army routine. Vazgen Sargsyan not only hailed the program but even supported its implementation. The production Military Conscription began but, unfortunately, for some reason the film remained incomplete.
As Davit Amalyan has put it, “the army is our son.” I love our army like a father loves his son. I’ve been constantly following the establishment of our army, being well-aware of its value. Even when I was a 19-20-year old boy, I realized what an important and powerful force the army was. All of my films are somehow related to the army, motherland and patriotism. These are important values for me.
I wish the documentary materials that were piled up during the wartime were used in new films. Today, they are making war films where they are trying to shoot battlefield scenes and different situations. But what they shoot does not seem accurate and realistic. If filmmakers studied and made use of those materials I think their films would only benefit from that. Documentary filmmaking is able and should serve the purposes of cinematography, but this is something that is often overlooked here. Armenian cinematography has numerous problems today. Among the priority problems I would like to point out the lack of the very institute of film producers. Who is the film director? This is usually a person with mostly romantic notions who has something to say. In order to bring him up to speed on what he has to say, a production work is required which actually should not be the director’s concern. The work suffers when the film director tries to deal with every issue. There might be some successful stories but they are more of exceptions.
– You have been the director of Armenian Knight TV project for five years. In this education project you are trying to preserve your commitment to the army, as you have suggested that teams representing various military units of the Armenian army also take part in the Armenian Knight TV game.
– There are very intelligent young people in every military unit now and they get a chance to express themselves through the game, while holding the banner of their military unit aloft. I think seeing an intelligent soldier on TV is a great source of pride for everyone. Good education is one of the key concerns of our society today. There is a well-known pattern: they do not toughen the punishment to reduce the number of crimes, but improve the quality of education instead. Quality education will change our society. We have a wonderful generation that shows great promise.
…Samvel Amirkhanyan,Director, cameraman
Born in 1973, Yerevan, S, Amirkhanyan studied at the Filmmaking Department of State Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan in 1990-1995. Amirkhanyan then joined the Armenian army in 1995-1997. Alongside this, he worked as a cameraman at Navigator studio in 1993-2004. Later, he continued his career as a director at Baghinyan Art Video studio where he worked from 2004 to 2008. Since then, Amirkhanyan has been the director of the Armenian Knight TV project.
Back in 1992, Amirkhanyan was a second-year student when filmmaker Karen Gevorkian offered him to leave for Artsakh as part of the Navigator crew to start filming there.