17/07/2024 - The Armenian filmmaker provides insights into her relationship with her characters and into the complex process of documenting living history

We spoke to Emily Mkrtichian, whose harrowing but heartwarming documentary There Was, There Was Not [+see also:
interview: Emily Mkrtichian
film profile], portraying four women from Artsakh, the territory inhabited by ethnic Armenians and recently annexed by Azerbaijan, has just received the FIPRESCI Award and a Special Mention in the Regional Competition of the 21st Golden Apricot International Film Festival (see the news). She elaborates on the audience reception of the movie in Armenia as well as on the complicated emotions she experienced throughout shooting and after completing the film.

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Cineuropa: You have made an emotional and moving film – many people at the screening I attended were crying. What kind of feedback did you receive after you showed the film locally?
Emily Mkrtichian: The thing that was said to me most consistently after the first screening, which surprised me and was also maybe the best compliment I could have received, was that it made many people confront and feel deep emotions about something they had been trying to escape. Doing this in a theatre with a group of people, and in the presence of the stories of these incredible four women, was cathartic. This was my greatest hope in making the film, as I went through a similar process during the edit – looking deeply at something I wanted to forget or deny, and sharing the experience with others who went through it. We were able to mourn together and find healing and strength through these stories.

I assume that the effect of your film is also amplified by the realisation that recuperating Artsakh at this stage would be difficult. How do you feel about this situation?
I feel too many emotions to be able to give one answer. Part of me is mourning the loss of a place, while another part feels shame for this mourning and wants to believe we will live in these lands again. Capturing the beauty of Artsakh and its life for so many years with my camera, and now sharing its memory, reminds me that film and storytelling are magical. They document a certain time and place, keeping it alive forever. I hope these images of Artsakh will be more than just an archive of the past, but also a dream for the future.

What was your initial motivation to approach these particular four female characters, and how did you find them?
I met all of these women while spending time in Artsakh. In 2017, I shot a short film there and met Sveta. I also taught a month-long filmmaking workshop at a creative technology centre, where I met Sose – young women in my class chose to make a documentary profile about her. I met Siranush and Gayane through mutual friends. I was interested in how women across different ages and professions were fighting for more rights, living full lives, and making their country better for those around them and for future generations. I filmed with all four of them for nearly six years, and we are still close.

The film displays footage from Artsakh under siege, providing a unique insight into the situation.
I never intended to encounter war while making this film; it was meant to be a story about the aftermath of conflict and women’s roles in working towards peace. When the war broke out, I happened to be in Artsakh, shooting what I thought were the final scenes. Then everything changed. I stayed and filmed through the war – it never felt like an option not to. All four of these women chose to stay and work for the safety of those around them, so it was impossible to think I wouldn’t do the same. I also saw that the foreign journalists were only interested in sensational images of war and retelling the same narratives. It felt important to document a side of the conflict that we rarely see: the women who endure it and rebuild when it’s over.

How was the editing process?
After filming for nearly six years, I had extensive footage. The greatest challenge in the edit was that I had essentially filmed two stories: one before the war, and one after it. It took years to understand how to do this honestly and ethically, without relying on sensationalism. Eventually, I had to work with the footage myself to understand what I wanted to say, how I wanted it to feel, and the language I needed to express all of this. Once that was clear, I found a partner in the edit, Alexandria Bombach, who truly listened, understood my vision and elevated the film with her sensitive, masterful skills. The footage, and my connection to the women in the film, made the process deeply emotional and difficult – especially because we lost Artsakh to a full ethnic cleansing during the final stages. Alexandria supported me in channelling that into the storytelling, which I believe has made the film the deeply moving work that it is.