In joint efforts to unify the Armenian community, The Mirror-Spectator Calendar is a place to find, post and share interesting events and gatherings, ANYWHERE around the world. Posting events is always FREE for everyone!
Acclaimed new documentary film My Sweet Land, directed by Sareen Hairabedian, will have its Boston premiere at the prestigious Independent Film Festival Boston on Thursday, April 24 at 7:15 p.m followed by a conversation with the director in person. This intimate exploration of childhood resilience and human rights in Armenia will screen at the historic Somerville Theatre in Somerville, Massachusetts, to mark Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Further details and tickets can be found here.
My Sweet Land is a coming-of-age story set against a multigenerational war in the post-Soviet Caucasus mountains following an 11-year-old boy named Vrej, who grows up in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and dreams of becoming a dentist in his picture-postcard village. But Vrej’s life takes a sudden turn when war erupts, forcing him to flee with his family. The film is a testament to the people of Artsakh, where hope and resilience had shaped communities across generations.
The film will strongly resonate in Boston, home to one of the largest Armenian American communities in the United States. My Sweet Land had its U.S. premiere at the prestigious DOC NYC festival in November 2024, and was nominated for four International Documentary Association (IDA) Awards in the categories of Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Editing and Best Feature. Last fall, the Jordanian government withdrew their submission of the film for the 97th Academy Awards for Best International Feature due to diplomatic pressure.
My Sweet Land is directed by Sareen Hairabedian, an Armenian-Jordanian documentary filmmaker based in the U.S. Through her intimate observational filming style, she captures the untold stories of the underrepresented. Hairabedian’s short film We Are Not Done Yet is an HBO documentary about U.S. veterans grappling with PTSD who use poetry to heal. It was awarded Best Documentary at the G.I. Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the IDA Awards 2018. My Sweet Land follows one child’s journey through disillusionment, trauma and hope. The film is supported by ITVS, ARTE, AFAC, IDA and others. Hairabedian is a 2023 fellow at Video Consortium x DOC NYC and Creative Armenia.
Hairabedian writes: “Children bear the harshest burdens of war. My Sweet Land invites us to see them not as numbers, but as individuals with hopes and dreams who deserve to live in peace, rather than become victims of inherited conflict.”
