1489 (2023) First Look Fest 2024

Days after Shoghakat Vardanyan's brother goes missing during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan  she begins to film her family. The result is a film that documents the loss of a loved one into the void and the toll it takes on those left behind.

Crushing documentary about loss and grief made worse by not having any answers, 1489 moves us in ways we rarely go. Yes, we've all lost someone but how many of us have lost someone without a trace? Normally if someone gets lost you can call the police but in time of war what can you do?

Told in long takes we go deep into the sadness of Vardanyan and her family. We are not able to look away because of how the film is shot- straight on and unblinking. Because this was only shot by Vardanyan herself there is no cutaways, no pick up shots, just what we see.

I was rocked by the film and my plans to watch another in quick succession was cast aside as I went outside and took a walk.

This is one of the best films at First Look so go see it. (And bring tissues)

Wrestling with There Was, There Was Not (2024) True/False Film Fest

I have spent the better part of the last week trying to find words to discuss THERE WAS,THERE WAS NOT.  The film is a portrait of a once upon a time country called Atsakh that lay between Armenia and Azerbaijan that was wanted by both countries. They went to war  to gain the disputed land and wiped Atsakh off the map, not that anyone but the citizens, cared.

The film is a portrait of five women in Atsakh whose lives are changed. a politician, an Olympic-hopeful athlete, a domestic violence activist, a painter and a woman who disarms land mines for a living. Over the course of the film we watch as the women discuss their lives and watch as their country goes from existing to not

There is so much here that needs to be unpacked and discussed. This is a film that has so many levels operating at the same time that it's hard to know where to begin. Certainly the fact that film doesn't fully hit you until it's done and you are thinking about it after the end credits roll. I know that the film seems like it's just the story of the women, but then things change and as the conflict comes it changes, and then you get to the end and it's changed again as we learn Ataskh has ceased to exist. This is a present day version of what happened in and around the Second World War.

There is an enormity of emotion and a hurricane of thoughts that I am having trouble expressing. 

The problem with writing on the film has been that each time attack the piece I have found that I went too much on one subject and left something out.  I would restart  and then go off in another direction, only to find the need to start over and do it again.

I thought that what I simply needed to do was rewatch the film... but that sent me going off in other directions.

I can not imagine what would have happened if I saw this at a festival and had to move on to something right after this.

If you haven't noticed, I have a high opinion of the film. It has kicked me to the curb six ways to Sunday, forcing me to think about a lot of things that don't have easy answers.  Because I am still wrestling with the film I am going to suggest that you buy a ticket and take a ride. Just know that the film is considerably more than the simple log line they are using.

And do me a favor, after you see the film please come back and tell me what you think, both of the film and the larger issues it is raising.