Trailer

Short Description

The documentary film “Rock Atelier — Araiknots” tells the story of the legendary Yerevan photo studio of Araik Misakyan, which became an informal hub for musicians, artists, and representatives of alternative culture in the late 1980s. It is a film about a place where freedom was born—within unfreedom.

This film is created by the very participants of those events—people who were part of the “Rock Atelier” and lived this story from within.

Impact

In this small studio, members of the rock scene, photographers, and artists gathered. Here they discussed music, art, and the future of the country, listened to banned recordings, and shaped a cultural environment that existed outside the official system.

The photographs created in the studio became rare and authentic testimonies of the era—a visual chronicle of a generation that grew up at a turning point in history.

This film is important not only for those who remember the 80s–90s. For younger generations, it is an opportunity to see how independent culture is created under constraints—without the internet, without an industry, but driven by an inner need to speak and create.

The film will:

• preserve a unique cultural archive
• bring back forgotten names and stories
• introduce an unknown layer of Armenian culture to an international audience
• create a bridge between generations—showing how the past helps us understand the present 

The Problem

The history of Yerevan’s informal culture and rock scene of the late 20th century is barely documented and remains largely unknown beyond a small circle of participants. Archives are scattered, many materials are lost, and witnesses are gradually disappearing.

If we do not make this film now, this story will disappear together with the people who remember it. For younger generations, this means losing not only facts, but also the experience—the understanding of how culture can emerge from below and influence society.

Visual, Technical, and Musical Approach

The film combines volumetric cardboard animation created from original photographs and 1980s graphics with contemporary interviews of the participants. It will be built around conversations with regulars of the “Rock Atelier”—those who remained in Yerevan and those who have spread across the world.

Interviews will be filmed in iconic locations in Yerevan, such as Café “Kozyrek,” Café “Poplavok,” and other spaces that have preserved the atmosphere of that era, as well as conducted online with participants living in different countries. Despite distance and time, the “Rock Atelier” remains a point of connection for these people—regardless of where they are and who they have become.

The visual language of the film also relies on cardboard dioramas—three-dimensional scenes recreating the space of the “Rock Atelier,” the streets of Yerevan, and key moments of the era. These scenes combine handcrafted reconstructions with real objects from that time—photographs, artifacts, and preserved details.

These dioramas turn the archive into a physical space one can “enter,” allowing memory to be reconstructed almost literally. The film will feature original music from Yerevan bands of the 80s–90s—not just as a background, but as the voice of the photographs, the sound that once existed within them but was never recorded.

Key Episodes

The film covers key cultural and political events from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. We will see them as if through the windows of the “Rock Atelier”—from within a space where history unfolded not in newspapers, but right next to people: in conversations, in music, and in the ощущение перемен (sense of change) that became part of everyday life.

The film will also tell personal stories of visitors to the “Rock Atelier”—both inside and outside its walls.

For example, the arrival of Ian Gillan, the vocalist of Deep Purple, in Yerevan became a moment when music that had previously existed only on cassette tapes and in imagination suddenly became real—alive, loud, happening here and now.

In another moment, as the Soviet Union was collapsing, members of the atelier were hired to clear out a former Komsomol Central Committee building. Standing knee-deep in discarded Komsomol membership cards, they shoveled away the past to prepare the building for the American embassy. This scene became a symbolic metaphor for the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Team

Andrei Airapetov

Director, writer, cinematographer, animator, and video artist. Author of documentary films and series about Soviet and Russian alternative music culture, including “The Critic,” “Bravo Story,” “Jazzist,” “Stingray on the Red Wave,” “Mike Naumenko: Rock-n-Roll Star,” “Kino-Film,” “Kolya Vasin: I Am the Walrus,” and others.

He has directed music videos for Aquarium, Nike Borzov, Joanna Stingray, and others, and collaborated with TV channels such as Muz-TV, MTV Russia, and TNT.

Airapetov works in a documentary-animated and collage style, combining original footage, archival materials, music, drawings, and animation. In most projects, he independently handles key production stages: directing, filming, editing, animation, and visual design.

Andrei was a regular at the Rock Atelier.

Araik Akopyan

Producer, curator, and art director working in jazz and contemporary improvised music. Co-founder of several club venues in Moscow, including the Alexey Kozlov Club. Co-founder and art director of the Jazzist label, formerly art director of ArtBeat Music.

One of the creators of jazzist.ru and a board member of the Alexey Kozlov Foundation for Contemporary Instrumental Music.

Araik was a regular at the Rock Atelier.

Mikhail Boganov

Producer / Production Manager with international experience. Has worked for many years on advertising campaigns worldwide (USA, Europe, Asia, Latin America) for brands such as Renault, Volkswagen, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mars, Ferrero, IKEA, Samsung.

Experienced in full-cycle production—from pre-production and filming to post-production. Graduate of VGIK (producing faculty). Member of the Armenian Guild of Film Directors and Producers.

Budget and Phases

Pre-production

• Collection and digitization of photos, video, music, artifacts — 350,000 AMD
• Research and list of characters — 100,000 AMD
• Interview development and dramaturgy — 100,000 AMD
• Visual concept and animation preparation — 250,000 AMD

Total: 800,000 AMD

Production

• Organization, filming, and transcription of 15 interviews — 1,200,000 AMD
• Interview editing and rough animation — 1,000,000 AMD
• Script based on interview transcripts — 200,000 AMD

Total: 2,400,000 AMD

Post-production

• Final editing — 1,200,000 AMD
• Animation and visual scenes — 800,000 AMD
• Voice-over — 100,000 AMD
• Graphics and titles — 100,000 AMD
• Sound design (effects, atmosphere, mix) — 100,000 AMD
• Trailer and poster creation — 100,000 AMD

Total: 2,400,000 AMD

Administration

• Project coordination
• Communication
• Documentation

Total: 400,000 AMD

Most of the work is carried out by the project’s author, which significantly reduces the budget compared to market conditions.

Total Project Budget: 6,000,000 AMD

FAQ

When will the film be ready?

Estimated timeline: 6–8 months after the completion of fundraising.

Will the film be available online?

Yes, after the festival run, the film will be available to a wide audience.

Can I participate in the project?

Yes, we are open to collaboration, archives, and stories from participants of the scene.

This film is not just about the past. It is about memory, identity, and freedom—and about the people who continue this story today.

👉 Support the project

• 👉 Help preserve this story