Our Century: Spiraling Paths Through Armenian Cinema

Traveling, leaving one’s home and country, has long been part of the Armenian cultural imagination, appearing in folklore, songs, and the work of medieval Armenian poets. Centuries of displacement, the absence of statehood, the Genocide and the formation of one of the largest diasporas in the world, as well as difficult economic conditions, have made movement an enduring part of Armenian life. But leaving is not always only about departure. Journeys can also become ways of searching for oneself, rediscovering a lost connection, negotiating one’s sense of belonging, and sometimes finding a way back home.

The five films in this program, made by Armenian filmmakers from different parts of the world and across different periods, follow characters who are constantly on the move. Their journeys unfold across borders and landscapes, but also through memory, history, identity, and imagination. From a pilgrimage to the pursuit of the American dream, from tracing the image of a homeland through a childhood calendar to crossing the country to escape the truth, the program offers a glimpse into an Armenian cinema in an uncompromising search for answers to its own existential questions. These are journeys that rarely follow a straight line, circling back to questions of home, identity, memory, and belonging.

Film 1: Hello, It’s Me
Fri 23 Oct 2026, 6:30 – 8:45 p.m.
The first Armenian film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966, ‘Hello, It’s Me’ is a fictionalized biography of physicist Artem Alikhanyan.

Films 2-3: Calendar Lebbeus in the Name of Thaddeus
Sat 24 Oct 2026, 12:30 – 2:15 p.m.
‘Calendar’ follows a photographer who visits Armenia shortly after the country gains independence from the Soviet Union to photograph twelve Armenian churches for a calendar. Preceded by Arby Ovanessian’s ‘Lebbeus in the Name of Thaddeus’.

Film 4: Last Station
Sat 24 Oct 2026, 3:15 – 5 p.m.
‘Last Station’ tells the story of Egyptian-Armenian actors Nora Armani and Gérald Papasian, who travel to Los Angeles in search of the American dream.

Film 5: After Dreaming
Sun 25 Oct 2026, 2:15 – 4:30 p.m.
The directorial debut of Christine Haroutounian, After Dreaming is set in post-war Armenia and follows a soldier, Atom, who is asked to take Clodette on a road trip so she will be away during her father’s funeral.

Guest curated by Sona Karapoghosyan.

Thank you to the Armenian General Benevolent Union for their support and sponsorship of Our Century: Spiraling Through Armenian Cinema.