Creative mind won’t escape from era – Golden Apricot director on Armenian cinema's future

In an interview with Tert.am, Michael Stamboltsyan, the Golden Apricot International Film Festival's director, presented his outlook on the modern trends of the Armenian cinematography and the prospects of its development.

What are the trends of the Armenian cinematography’s development today, and in what way does the Golden Apricot International Festival contribute to that?

We originally initiated this festival with an intention to contribute to the Armenian cinematography’s development. And if you remember, the festival was dedicated to Armenian films and Armenian fimmakers' work. Today, too, we attach a considerable significance to the Armenian cinema and, to our delight, see an increasing number of Armenian movies, especially ones produced in Armenia. Directors and producers have fallen out of the habit of relying on state assistance; they now find the ways themselves; they get sums or even produce movies without any money at all, which is really commendable. Besides, we do feel the festival’s atmosphere; the cinema attracts the youth, which is also commendable. We see the children who attend our exhibitions and master classes try to shoot films by themselves. So I think the festival really contributes to the Armenian cinema’s development.

To what extent does the present-day Armenian film address social problems?

I am afraid not quite enough. It is mostly the young with little experience of life who produce movies. A young person tries to first of all understand himself and his own world; that is why the films are devoted more to their own ideas, torments, emotions and social problems. As for the directors who are more aged, I don’t know why they do not address [the topic], to be frank. But Harutyun Khachatryan’s latest film, Endless Flight, Endless Return, addresses one of the most serious problems, emigration. And it is not just a film; it is going to be a series, a trilogy which he has intended to produce. Questions, to an extent, are raised also by Vigen Chaldranyan and Suren Babayan, but each one is unique. A social trend such as the Italian neo-realism is hard to imagine in Armenia nowadays.

Are you familiar with Atom Egoyan’s new movie that tells about corruption in Armenia? And what do you think about producing a movie devoted to that topic?

I haven’t watched it yet, and I don’t think the film can address corruption. Corruption can be covered in a documentary or publicistic material but a feature film about corruption is absurd. A feature film has to do with the human being and human inter-relations; as regards corruption, it may or may not exist. What surprises me is that everybody focuses on a film about corruption, as though we are not aware of what is going on around. It is not a topic for a film, to my mind.

When looking from the distance of years, what ideological changes do you see in the Armenian cinema?

I don’t see any idea, no matter the distance. They are very different, especially today when a new cinematography is just starting to develop; it is very hard to speak about ideas, trends and directions, and to clearly say things. Ideas were very different also in the Soviet era when we had Henrik Malyan, a man who had ideas of his own and who addressed [such values as] family, national image and lifestyle. Also we had Frunze Dovlatyan who tried to raise certain social ideas, and Bagrat Hovhannisyan who produced many films.

Even behind the Soviet “iron curtain”, Armenian directors used to express certain ideas. Now that we seem to be in an era of freedom of speech, does the Armenian cinematography reflect that freedom?

In the Soviet years, ideas would be expressed not only between the lines but also in a very outspoken way. So I don’t think  bstacles matter at all; what matters here is the talent. I do not think the Armenian nation has exhausted its talent. I am confident that sooner or later we will have new [talented cinematographers like Sergey] Parajanov, [Artavazd] Peleshyan and [Henrik] Malyan who will depict the present-day people’s grief by leaving the era’s imprint on a tape.

When will that period come, Mr Stamboltsyan?

It is already coming. We already have interesting young people who see what is happening around and film all that.

And to what extent do the contemporary Armenian movies reflect the present-day reality?

In a way, they do, because even if the material falls short of reflecting things, the general mood does it. A creative person can never escape from the era; whether he wishes it or not, he will have to reflect it. Even poor movies do reflect the era.