On January 16, the Hrair and Anna Hovnanian Hall of the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center in Boston hosted the long-anticipated screening of the Armenian film “Kyanq u Kriv” (Life and Struggle) with English and Armenian subtitles.

The film is dedicated to the 25^th anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia. The stage director and screenwriter is Mher Mkrtchyan, the documentarian is Eduard Hambardzumyan, and the director of photography is Vahagn Ter-Hakobyan. The events of the film, which is a wonderful story about love and patriotism, take place in Yerevan and during the years of the Artsakh war in the early 1990s.

The screenings of the film have been and still are a success in Armenia and the United States. “The film has been shown in Los Angeles for the past three months. There have also been screenings in New York, Washington DC and Boston. The film will also be shown at the movie theaters in New Jersey and Philadelphia,” Samvel Hovhannisyan said in an interview (Hovhannisyan is the film’s representative in the United States).

It is not by chance that the film was nominated for eight awards at the Anahit Awards and received an Anahit Award for Best Feature Film, Best Director of Photography (Vahagn Ter-Hakobyan) and Best Actor (Samvel Tadevosyan).

The film is so natural and in line that the audience relives the difficult times of the cold and dark days. The audience “travels” with the main character, Tigran with emotions, and yet with warmth that is close to everyone’s hearts. The audience witnesses how the main character goes from being a shy and honest teen to being a brave soldier during the Artsakh war. It also experiences pain, pity, feels love and is touched.

The only thing that you think about after the film is the desire to watch it again, interact with Armenians often and preserve the Armenian identity, especially abroad.

Today is a day of celebration of my soul. Besides watching the film, I had an opportunity to get acquainted with volunteer workers of the Armenian Cultural and Educational Center in Boston, a group of modest and educated people, including Tatul Badalyan (singer Hovhannes Badalyan’s nephew), Ara Sargsyan, Martin Harutyunyan and Samvel Hovhannisyan. I had the chance to become familiar with their pro-national activities and current problems and attend an Armenian language lesson at the school.

And this is how life and, unfortunately, the struggle, continue.

We are impatiently waiting for the screening of the second part of the film “Kyanq u Kriv” (Life and Struggle).

Amalya Isayan, USA

Source: Hayern Aysor