On November 21, 2019, my wife and I drove in traffic, along with our mothers, from Glendale to Hollywood at the end of a busy work day to get to the Chinese Theatre. We were heading there for the AFI FEST, where we had been regular attendees for nearly a decade, and where we had seen some of our favorite films from all across the world— from Canada to Iran to Romania. This time, however, we were there to see a film from our home country.
I Am Not Alone, a documentary about Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution, which won the festival’s Audience Award, was the work of director Garin Hovannisnan and producer Alec Mouhibian. I was familiar with the duo’s work on the 2015 feature film 1915, but this time, they were back with a documentary and a team that included producers Eric Esrailian and Serj Tankian. This core team returned in 2021 with another documentary, Truth to Power.
Invisible Republic, their latest documentary which screens at AGBU in Pasadena on April 5, dives deep into the 2020 Artsakh War and is inspired by a journalist's daily diaries during the war. Armenian Film Society spoke with their team, including director Garin Hovannisian, journalist Lika Zakaryan, and producers Alec Mouhibian, Eric Esrailian, and Serj Tankian, about how Invisible Republic came together.
Garin Hovannisian and Alec Mouhibian started their collaboration long before their first film together. The two became friends after meeting in the seventh grade. “We were the only two Armenians at Paul Revere Middle School, and that dubious distinction continued at Palisades High School, where other influences and ambitions arose to seal our bond as artistic comrades,” says Mouhibian.
Their partnership came into fruition with 1915, a narrative film that the duo co-directed, and which stars Simon Abkarian and Angela Sarafyan. The two friends, however, have shifted their focus to documentaries recently– for obvious reasons. “These are films we were called by history to make, and we made them for the sake of history, not for momentary satisfaction or to please the momentary emotional cravings of the (always fickle) audience, the way most documentaries do. Each explores an extreme human conflict and experience that we did our best to depict in its totality, so it would stand the test of time and survive the conditions of the release date. They are definitive chronicles of major chapters in Armenia’s story, but at the same time, due to the special and perhaps prophetic nature of the Armenian nation, they prefigure major shifts in the reality of the world at large,” explains Mouhibian.
This, of course, was not part of the plan, but stepping into this role felt like the natural thing to do for its director. “When the war came, we all stepped into our roles. The brave took up guns. The doctors headed to the hospitals. And we began to film,” says Hovannisian.
The inception of the project started with Zakaryan’s diaries. “In the fog and chaos of war, I was drawn to the sincerity, the simplicity, and the eloquence of Lika's voice,” says Hovannisian. The diaries had amassed a wide readership after being published on CivilNet, an online platform featuring news-based, research-based, and data driven news through multimedia. Zakaryan, however, reveals she didn’t have expectations when she started writing daily. This just felt natural for her as well., to write, to tell these stories, and it’s these stories and diaries that informed the film itself.
Mouhibian notes, “Everyone always has an excuse to ignore Armenians, be they in Artsakh or anywhere else. We hope to erase that excuse with a visceral document of what happened in 2020, how it happened, and at whose hands, so that the viewers feel like they lived through at least some small part of that horror themselves.”
The production team filmed with Zakaryan in Artsakh, but its director explains that “a lot of the footage comes from Lika herself, her husband Levon, and the journalists of CivilNet and other media outlets. The gaps in our own filming were covered by the generosity of many individuals and institutions.”
Zakaryan remarks that while she may be the main subject of the documentary, it extends beyond that for her. “If you look deeper, the movie isn't that much about me personally, as me - as a collective image of the Artsakhian people. My emotions and path weren't unique, many people felt the same way. I was just able to transfer those emotions into words and share. I believe I speak on behalf of many. On behalf of those who don't have an opportunity to be heard.”
There is hope from the filmmakers for next steps. Producer Eric Esrailian states: “I hope people recognize the bravery and strength of the people of Artsakh and Armenia, and I hope people become even more motivated to help them.” Serj Tankian states: “I hope audiences comprehend the uniqueness of Artsakh, its people, and the need for their self-determination.”
Garin reveals he doesn’t necessarily think about whether these films are for Armenians or non-Armenians, rather, he sees them as a document for the world. “When constructing a historical record about a major event, there is an awareness that the most important audiences might not yet be born.”
Invisible Republic screens at the AGBU Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Center in Pasadena on Wednesday, April 5.
