Can you name 3 Armenian documentary films?

Since 2017, more than 30 full-length Armenian documentaries have been made which have participated in international festivals. Our stories have been presented to large audiences, whereas we know almost nothing about these films and their authors.

PlatformDoc plans to organize screenings of Armenian documentaries, hold workshops, ensure the representation of Armenian films on international platforms and implement other initiatives aimed at promoting the filmmaking industry.

How it all started

The founder of PlatformDoc is Arevik Avanesyan, who has been working in filmmaking for 10 years. Having extensive experience, a clear understanding of the field and influential connections, Arevik, together with several Armenian documentary filmmakers, has created PlatformDoc, which aims to boost the development of Armenian documentary filmmaking.

Past and present

PlatformDoc has been organizing monthly screenings of documentaries and meetings with authors in Yerevan for almost a year now.

In the summer, we also organized screenings in the regions: Goris, Gyumri, Vanadzor, Armavir, Stepanavan and elsewhere (about 400 people in total).

Part of PlatformDoc is EurasiaDoc, an Armenian-French documentary film workshop and co-production forum. EurasiaDoc has been operating in Armenia since 2011 and through it, about 40 documentary authors have received training; 5 films have been shot, and about 20 are underway.

Another big project that has had a great impact on the development of documentary filmmaking in Armenia is called B2B DOC network, with which we cooperate as well. It started its activity back in 2015 and has supported, advised and provided financial help to more than 20 filmmakers and their projects.

Through these two projects, documentary authors have established many connections in the region and beyond, have grown professionally and make high-quality international films and projects. The goal of PlatformDoc is to maintain, develop and expand these connections, continuously promoting the overall development of the cinema industry in Armenia.

Therefore, our goal is to become a platform where the industry professionals can feel safe, be represented, speak out about current issues and work with each other, state bodies, international organizations and other platforms in the form of a coordinated response.

The nearest project 

From September 19 to October 3, screenings of Artsakh-themed films will be organized in educational institutions and in cooperation with various other partner organizations in Yerevan, the regions and the Diaspora.

Next step

• Starting from late October, continuous movie screenings with ticket sales will be held in cinemas and/or similar structures in Yerevan and the regions.
• A database of both films and various industry representatives on the PlatformDoc website will be created.
• A series of meetings to regulate internal matters and communicate with the public at large will be initiated.
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Let’s talk a bit about the problems

Armenian documentary cinema allows us to speak out about social issues, to get acquainted with exclusive stories, to discover Armenia from a different and distinct point of view. Documenting is one of the best means of valuing, presenting and preserving national identity, past and present Armenian stories, and events of historical importance for us, which is an imperative for us now.

The industry is developing because there is a unique story hidden under every bush in our country, but there are very few financial flows for the films to be created, and there is almost no time for publicity. Basically, the finances are barely enough for the production and, as a result, the quite many films out there are hardly distributed. We believe that it is time to teach the Armenian audience to watch a valuable film and realize the importance of documentaries.

What are our solutions

Screenings, many screenings!

We have already been organizing screenings, sometimes free, sometimes for a fee, with the aim of introducing the public to Armenian documentaries, promoting contact with the filmmakers, helping the audience develop taste, and also getting used to paying to watch films.

We plan to organize continuous screenings in different formats in Yerevan, the regions and Diaspora.

Popularization!

We have created various platforms in social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Telegram) in order to popularize films and raise the level of awareness about Armenian cinema.

We also post about films on important international platforms, if they are not represented there, for example IMDB, Letterboxd and kinopoisk, and we follow the ratings, write reviews, make lists, etc.

It is planned to also present the films in film markets and other similar platforms in the future.

Creating funds!

The main goal is to create a new fund for documentary films, which will contribute to the development of the field, giving impetus to the emergence of new documentary filmmakers and, of course, new documentaries in the field, promoting the popularization of Armenians, Armenian culture, issues and peculiarities, and creating an image of the country. 

We will cooperate with international funds and structures for the formation of the film fund, as well as collect the proceeds from screenings and fundraisers.

One of the far-reaching goals is also the creation of regional funds, which will contribute to the cultural life and the development of art in the regions.

TEAM

The project team consists of 8 people, all volunteers, emphasizing the importance of the development and growth of the industry.

Our team leader is film producer and screenwriter Arevik Avanesyan, president of the UP Educational and Cultural NGO, the Armenian representative of the Armenian-French program for the development of Eurasiadoc documentary films, and lecturer at the Yerevan State Theater and Film Institute.

Diana Hovhannisyan is responsible for communication and organizational issues in the project. She has studied at the Cultural Studies Department of Yerevan State University, DokDokDok school of modern photography as a documentary photographer, and Un/Filmed international documentary film school. Her documentary photo projects were published in Australian "Inframe", American "Something different" magazines, and ArmenianWeekly. Diana’s short documentary "With Armenian Time" was screened at the Yerevan Short Film Festival and continues its screenings at festivals abroad (Greece, Serbia, etc.).

Armen Mirakyan, who is responsible for technical issues of the project, has about 10 years of work experience in the field. He works at the Bars Media documentary film studio and the Union of Filmmakers of Armenia, and is also the founding director of the StreamSet organization, which specializes in live broadcasts, communication and other related issues.

Nina Khachatryan, who has more than 10 years of experience as an editor, is an important specialist in the media department of the project. She has completed a short course at Atelie Varan, a French documentary school, and from then on she has fallen in love with documentary filmmaking, later specializing in editing.

Documentary photographer Arman Harutyunyan is also one of the volunteers of the media department. Arman has been engaged in visual arts for 5 years and during the Yerevan workshop of the un/filmed online school, he made the short documentary film "Holding Your Breath", which was screened in Yerevan and at Columbia University in New York. Now he is a student of Hetk Media Factory and at the same time works as an editor.

The head of the communication department of our project is Arpi Chobanyan, who is currently a student of the Art Management department of the Yerevan State Theater and Cinema Institute. Arpi is qualified as a fashion designer and since 2019 she has participated in the organization of many screenings and festivals, supporting the development of art both in the regions and in Yerevan. In 2023 she was involved as a fashion designer in the film "Rebirth", having also implemented a number of projects with Armenia TV in the same year.

Stella Hambaryan, a student of the marketing department of the French University in Armenia, works in the UNESCO teensLIVE project as a content manager. Stella is also a novice photographer and has just started her career in documentary filmmaking.

BUDGET

In order to do the full scope of our activities, of course, we need a lot of money, but for the time being we organize our activities on a monthly basis, hence the financial flows related to it.

To do our monthly activities, we need money for the following:

• telecommunications,
• transport,
• advertising, website hosting and other fixed monthly fees,
• printing.

For details only go by this link.

In addition to the mentioned sum, you can make a donation so that we can hold a screening of the film in any place of your choice in Armenia. We will gladly negotiate and organize not only a screening, but also various media training sessions, which would not cost a fortune.

For example, to do a movie screening in a school, we have made the following calculations:

• If the school is technically equipped, then organizing a film screening will cost 10,000 AMD + transportation costs depending on the distance.  
• It will cost 15,000 AMD if we bring the equipment + transportation costs.
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Answering some of your possible questions

1. How else can we contribute to the project besides supporting it financially?

• Contact us and organize free/paid film screenings in your community.
• Join us on social media and share our initiatives.
• Register on IMDB and Letterboxd platforms, and write reviews about Armenian films.
• Connect us with others you know that we may not yet know.

2. Who are the project beneficiaries?

• On the one hand, the Armenian people, interested in watching quality Armenian films, which will contribute to the provision of quality entertainment options in the regions and in Yerevan and will develop taste, as well as change a certain negative attitude towards Armenian films.
• On the other hand, the representatives of the industry, whose activity we are aiming to popularize through a number of steps: film screenings, even if small, but with some fees and, of course, in case of achieving the longed-for dream, creating a new fund, which will significantly change the whole picture.

3. How to contact us

Write to us on social networks, our e-mail or via digital communication platforms:

https://www.facebook.com/PlatformDoc

https://www.instagram.com/platformdoc.site/

upfilmngo@gmail.com

whatsapp: +37494052451

4. How else can I make a transfer?

You can send money through the InecoFriend feature of Inecobank to Arevik Avanesyan. Please mention PlatformDoc in the purpose of transfer: +37494052451.

You can make a transfer through Idram app: +37494052451.

Thank you soooo very much!

Since you have read till here, we will keep in touch in the future, for sure!