The Black Garden [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Alexis Pazoumian, a French-Armenian photographer-director based in Paris, is world-premiering in the international competition of this year’s CPH:DOX, which runs from 13-24 March.

The film centres on children Samvel and Avo, young soldier Erik, and lumberjack and war veteran Karen, who reside in the Armenian community of Talish in Nagorno-Karabakh. Following a large-scale attack by Azerbaijan and renewed hostilities in the region in 2020, the protagonists are trying to come to terms with a new reality. Erik is wounded. Karen flees to Stepanakert in Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh. Samvel and Avo’s families seek refuge in Yerevan. 

“A large part of the film takes place in Armenia, since most of my characters are exiled today, but I also made their homeland exist by going back to Nagorno-Karabakh: [we see] what is left of it, the desolate and disfigured landscapes, and its lost souls like that of Karen, who is a refugee in Stepanakert,” Pazoumian notes. He adds: “This territory represents an open wound for the characters. It’s their dark and beloved land – their black garden.”

The Black Garden was produced by Clara Vuillermoz, of France’s Solent Productions, in co-production with Vincent Metzinger, of Belgium’s Naoko Films. The international sales rights are being handled by Toronto-based Syndicado Film Sales.

Check out our exclusive trailer below: