Upcoming Documentary: ‘The Black Garden,’ About War in Nagorno-Karabakh
By Leo Barraclough
Toronto-based sales outfit Syndicado has boarded “The Black Garden,” which will have its world premiere in the main competition section at documentary festival CPH:DOX. The film is directed by Alexis Pazoumian, a French-Armenian photographer-director based in Paris.
The film focuses on children Samvel and Avo, soldier Erik and lumberjack and veteran Karen, who live in the Armenian community of Talish, in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region plagued by a century-old conflict. Karabakh literally means “Black Garden,” referring to the large dark coniferous forest covering the territory.
In 2020, a large-scale attack by Azerbaijan once again tips the region into chaos. Samvel and Avo’s families find refuge in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Erik is wounded, with one leg amputated. Karen flees and wanders the streets of Stepanakert, the capital of Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh.
“In a world steeped in patriotism and military culture, I intended to portray these characters caught in the limbo of war. Even after the firing stopped, war cruelly affected our characters in their daily life, their mentality, their inner balance,” says Pazoumian.
“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: what is left of it, the desolate and disfigured landscapes, its lost souls like that of Karen, who is a refugee in Stepanakert. This territory represents an open wound for the characters. It’s their dark and beloved land, their black garden.
“I’ve been shooting over three years, going there at least twice a year, caught by the destiny of these young fellows, telling a tragic and universal reality.”
“The Black Garden” is produced by Clara Vuillermoz at Point du Jour-Les Films du Balibari in France, and co-produced by Vincent Metzinger at Naoko Films in Belgium.
