Mezzanine and Armenian Film Society invite you to join us for a screening of Maria Saakyan’s The Lighthouse (Mayak) on Tuesday, January 23 at 2220 Arts + Archives. This event is organized in collaboration with filmmaker Christine Haroutounian.

In light of the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh— which has left tens of thousands of Armenians displaced after the ethnic cleansing of the Republic of Artsakh— we present this modern classic of Armenian cinema to raise funds for refugees. The first feature film to be completed by a woman in Armenia, The Lighthouse is an astonishingly original and accomplished debut film from 27-year-old Maria Saakyan, whose life was tragically cut short in 2018.

Set in a war-torn Armenian village at the end of the 20th century, a young woman (Anna Kapaleva) returns from Moscow to try to convince her grandparents to join her on a trip back to Russia. Eschewing plot in favor of a lyrical expressionism, Maria Saakyan’s roving perspective creates a richly detailed and haunting portrait of a rural community, reminiscent at times of the carnivalesque 90s films of Emir Kusturica and the poetic montage of Artavazd Peleshyan. With understated performances by a cast of non-professional actors— as well as Sofiko Chiaureli, the muse of Sergei Parajanov, in her final onscreen role— The Lighthouse is that rare wartime folktale that resists maudlin sentimentality, and is among the most impressive debut features in recent years.

In Russian with English subtitles