Maria Saakyan’s elegiac, semi-autobiographical, humanist drama The Lighthouse unfolds against the backdrop of the Caucasus wars that plagued Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan during the early 1990s.
Told with a dream-like emphasis on vision and sound this is the story of a young woman, Lena (Anna Kapaleva), who returns to her home in a remote, war-ravaged Armenian village to try and persuade her grandparents to leave with her for safety in Moscow. With a striking emphasis on the cinematic image and set to an hypnotic soundtrack by Finnish composer Kimmo Pohjonen, Lena’s return to her homeland combines documentary with the great visual tradition of the cinema of Tarkovsky and Paradjanov to become a poetic journey of discovery. An outstanding directorial debut, and an immensely moving experience.
Presented in a new director-approved digital transfer with restored picture and sound, Maria Saakyan’s short film Farewell (Proshchanie) and an extended booklet featuring a new interview with the director and new essays by author/poet Sophie Mayer and film historian Vigen Galstyan.
• Maria Saakyan's short film Farewell (Proshchanie).
• Presented in a new digital transfer with restored
picture and sound, approved by the director.
• Booklet featuring a new interview with the director and new essays by author/poet Sophie Mayer and film historian Vigen Galstyan.
• New and improved English subtitle translation.
• Anamorphic 16:9 enhanced for widescreen televisions.
• Available for the first time on DVD in the English speaking world.
Anna Kapaleva – Lena
Olga Yakovleva - Grandmother
Sos Sargsyan – Grandfather
Sofiko Chiaureli – Kasiana
Ruzana Avetisyan - Roza
Mikhail Bogdasarov - Levan
Anastasiya Grebennikova - Izolda
Directed by Maria Saakyan
Screenplay - Ghivi Shavgulidze
Cinematography - Maksim Drozdov
Editors - Maria Saakyan, Alexei Nazarchuk
Sound - Philip Lamshin, Evgeny Kadimsky
Music - Kimmo Pohjonen, Oleg Mazny
Production Design - Ivana Krcádinac
Costumes - Mikael Vatinyan
Producer - Anton Melnik
Winner: Grand Prix Award / Split Film Festival 2007
Winner: Golden Apricot Best Debut / Yerevan Film Festival 2007
"Saakyan's debut is a poetic reverie on memory and homeland, with a hypnotic combination of image and music"
Peter Hames, Sight & Sound - Films of the Year 2007
"An incendiary mix of war film, memoir and musical explosion, it was
hands-down the debut of the year, standout of the London Film Festival 2007" S.F. Said, Sight & Sound
"A beautiful and lyrical painting" Kinopark