28 October 2023

At the invitation of the National Cinema Center of Armenia. Catherine Trautmann, the President of Eurimages, the largest cultural support fund of the Council of Europe supporting cinematographic co-production, distribution and exhibition, along with Susan Newman, the fund’s Executive Director, and expert Iris Cadoux, met with Armenian film producers, industry specialists, film university students and teaching staff in Yerevan on October 27.

In her welcoming address to the attendees and guests, Shushanik Mirzakhanyan, the Director of the Cinema Center expressed her gratitude to the Eurimages officials for accepting the invitation. She also emphasized the importance and significance of such meetings for shaping the future development of co-production in Armenia.

In a crowded hall, the European guests provided an in-depth presentation of Eurimages activities and the significant value that the structure brings to the development of co-production, film distribution and potential channels of film dissemination. In particular, Susan Newman, the Executive Director of the fund, highlighted the experiences of countries with smaller film industries such as Armenia, encouraging Armenian filmmakers to take advantage of the opportunities offered by Eurimages and prepare accurate film submission packages, apply for support, embarking on making of more films.

The Armenian film producers who had previously received financial support from Eurimages also participated in the meeting. They shared their experience with their film industry colleagues who are interested in applying to Eurimages and already have projects in development. Angela Frangyan, a producer and director, spoke about the odyssey of the film "Luka" (dir. Jessica Woodworth), which had received state financial support from the National Cinema Center of Armenia.

The film was originally scheduled to be entirely shot in Amberd in the autumn of 2020. However, the onset of the 44-day Artsakh war had a profound impact on all plans and, as a result, the film’s production was relocated to Italy. Despite these challenges, thanks to the support of the film's director and Eurimages partners, Armenia retained its position as a co-producer. Moreover, Armenian actor Samvel Tadevosyan played one of the lead roles in the film.

The film is a co-production of Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Armenia-Bulgaria. The young Armenian producer has ensured through her experience that co-producing a film not only eases and shares the financial burden of filmmaking, but also provides an unparalleled opportunity for continuous education.