YEREVAN/LOS ANGELES — After years of persistence and hard work, the film “Revival” entered post-production in Armenia and wrapped in Cyprus in June.
“Revival,” by writer and director Jivan Avetisyan, tells the story of identity through the eyes of Murat Arakelian, a brilliant engineering student at the University of Marseille. Under the guidance of Professor Jean Perbost, Murat works on an AI project, called ORCHID (ORganizer of CHaotic Input Data), for a university competition.
Murat’s project is disrupted when he finds a letter the home of his mother, Araksi Arakelian, during a dinner also attended by his girlfriend Isabelle Morel and his professor. The letter reveals that his mother has hidden the truth about his father. With ORCHID’s help, Murat discovers that his mother’s story about his father’s death was a lie. The quest for the truth sends Murat and his girlfriend to Artsakh (Karabakh) and Armenia.
The Artsakh-born-and-raised filmmaker Avetisyan said, ‘“Revival’ continues the mission of my previous films, ‘Tevanik’ (2014), ‘The Last Inhabitant’ (2016), and ‘Gate to Heaven’ (2019), highlighting the stories of my peace-loving people and their right to live and create in their ancestral homeland. Having witnessed war throughout my life, I’ve sought to document lived reality through film. I believe in discussing war’s long-term effects on innocent lives.
He added, “In 2018, when ‘Revival’ was still just a concept, I couldn’t foresee the challenges ahead, from COVID-19 to the 44-Day War, the blockade and the loss of Artsakh. ‘Revival’ became my first film not shot in Artsakh, although the story unfolds in 2020 across Artsakh and France. The film follows Murat’s search for identity, which leads him to Artsakh amidst war.”
Added Avetisyan, “Artsakh is unforgettable. It marks the beginning of our history, defines who we are as Armenians, and now we must grasp the significance of its loss and strive vigorously to reclaim it.”
