The ghost republic
by Hakob MELKONYAN
85 min - HD
In coproduction with Leitmotiv Production and Lyon Capitale TV
With the support of Grand Est and Nouvelle Aquitaine regions (development)
With the participation of CNC (production) et Armenian CNC
SYNOPSIS
In September 2023, following Armenia's capitulation to Azerbaijan in the conflict that had pitted them against each other for over thirty years over the autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, more than 120,000 Armenians fled along the roads, leaving behind their entire lives. It was after watching footage of this forced exodus that I set out to meet my compatriots.
Upon arriving, I encountered the marked faces of refugees on their way to Armenia. Among them, I searched for Mikaël, a young boy I had filmed in 2018 in the village of Talish when he was 14 years old.
I found him and his family in Yaghdan, a refugee village. Today, they have lost everything. I filmed the young man's new life among his people, confronting him with images of the past, with the memory of Nagorno-Karabakh that never leaves him.
How will they rebuild, as Armenia once again finds itself on the brink of a new ordeal?
THE DIRECTOR
Born in Armenia in 1984, he left his country in 2009 to live between France and Armenia. His studies at the Yerevan University of Cinema and Theatre (2001-2005) and then at the Munich University of Film and Television (2006-2009) gave him a necessary distance from his country's history, to which he now feels ready to return.
In 2010, he participated with his short film project "The White Wall" in a GREC (Groupe de Recherches et d'Essais Cinématographiques - Film Research and Experimentation Group, founded in 1969 by filmmaker Jean Rouch, producer Pierre Braunberger, and Anatole Dauman) writing workshop, which helps produce first short films. His mentor was the French cinematographer and director Caroline Champetier (Margarethe Von Trotta, Amos Gitaï, Barbet Schroeder, Jean-Luc Godard, Léos Carax, Chantal Akerman, etc.)
Other works with Ana Films :
Maya et Tosca - Quand les voix manouches s'élèvent, Hakob Melonyan (2025)
