GLENDALE — On Saturday, October 25, director and producer Tamara Stepanyan led a masterclass at the Armenian Film Society (AFS), where she shared her creative journey and explored her filmmaking process using her film “My Armenian Phantoms” as a case study.
Stepanyan, who now lives in Paris, was born in Yerevan and moved to Lebanon when she was 12. She studied film, television and communication arts at the American University of Beirut. She started making documentaries in 2010. She made “The Ganants Gyughe” (Village of Women) in 2019.
“My Armenian Phantoms” is a feature documentary that premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival. The film is poetic, a dialogue among her, her actor-father, and Soviet Armenian cinema. Stepanyan started the project to reflect on the history of Armenian film. When her father, noted actor Vigen Stepanyan, passed away, it changed into a personal communication and reflection.
The film was screened on October 24, at AFI FEST at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood, followed by a Q&A with Stepanyan. The Armenian Film Society was a community partner for the screening. The film is Armenia’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Academy Awards.
The masterclass was informative and interactive. The audience included young filmmakers and writers as well as experienced directors/producers. Stepanyan discussed her films and her artistic journey over the years. She said, “It’s essential to build a relationship and trust with your subjects. You become part of their lives to capture their routines. In fiction, you can direct the actors, but not in a documentary.”
Inna Sahakyan, director and producer of “Aurora’s Sunrise,” asked Stepanyan about the challenges of finding funding and said, “France and Armenia have public funding, but not in the U.S. We need to find private donors.” Also present was Susanna Harutyunyan, the cofounder of the Golden Apricot Film Festival in Armenia.
