*UK & IRELAND ONLY
there was,
there was not
directed by Emily Mkrtichian
Armenia / 94 Mins / Armenian, English
Logline:
Four women of Artsakh face war's aftermath, build lives amid uncertainty until another war interrupts; some take arms, others flee as homeland faces ethnic cleansing and erasure.
Synopsis:
There Was, There Was Not follows four women living in the Republic of Artsakh, an unrecognized country reckoning with the aftermath of one war while on the precipice of another. In the midst of this uncertainty, four women build a life with the hope of making their home a better place.
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"True/False 2024 Review: Emily Mkrtichian’s “There Was, There Was Not” Is a Bold Act of Narrative Resistance" - The Moveable Feast
"GOLDEN APRICOT 2024 Emily Mkrtichian • Director of There Was, There Was Not" - Cineuropa
"Note to Documentary Distributors: These 5 True/False Film Festival Titles Deserve a Home Now" - Indiewire
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Emily Mkrtichian is a filmmaker, multimedia artist, and interdisciplinary creative collaborator. Her artistic practice reflects her upbringing in a displaced, diasporic family, and explores radically personal, alternative archives of places and people, especially from the SWANA region, and a deep commitment to the healing power of relational, ethical, collaborative storytelling. Her films include the sci-fi short Transmission, which premiered at BFI FLARE Film Festival, the short documentary Motherland, which premiered at the Full Frame Film Festival and won the Best Short Documentary Award at the Copenhagen International Film Festival, and the upcoming feature documentary film, There Was, There Was Not, which has been supported by the Sundance Institute, the IDA, and Chicken & Egg Pictures. Her multimedia Installation, Luys i Luso, made in collaboration with Tigran Hamasyan, has been exhibited in museums, concert halls, and public spaces around the world. Emily has been a Flaherty Seminar Fellow, a LA Public Arts Activation Fund recipient, A Locarno Film Festival Open Doors grant winner, a UnionDocs Summer Lab Fellow, a Torino FIlm Lab Fellow, and a resident at the Yerevan Institute of Contemporary Art. She currently splits her time between the US and Armenia.
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2024
World Premiere: True/False Film Festival, USA
New Orleans Film Festival, USA
Golden Apricot Film Festival, Armenia (FIPRESCI Award Winner, Honorable Mention, Regional Competition)
LATAM Premiere: Mar del Plata, Argentina (Winner of Audience Award - International Competition)
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Year: 2024
Country: Armenia
Length: 90 mins
World Premiere: True/False 2024
Director: Emily Mkrtichian
Executive Producer: D.D. Wigley, Alexandria Bombach
Producer: Brock Williams, Mara Adina
Cinematographer: Emily Mkrtichian
Editor: Alexandria Bombach
Emily Mkrtichian
