SAHMAN (BORDER)

Armenia, 2009, 82 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Harutyun Khachatryan.

Sahman is a documentary about an enclave of Armenians near the Azerbaijan border. During the 1990s there were tense clashes, war episodes between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The community pictured is isolated, working on farms with buffalo, cattle and goats. The women milk the animals, make cheese, the men tend the animals. The old men watch over the community and play board games.

The film takes place over summer and winter, the contrast very strong between the seasons. The film has a great attention to detail, building a house, a marriage and a church, the rescuing of lost cattle, the Christmas feast and celebration. The dramatic climax is the farm going up in flames after the wedding.

The film does not have any voice-over commentary but leaves the images to speak for themselves. Those not familiar with Armenia and the clash with Azerbaijan might be puzzled. However, the film offers an opportunity to experience the life of this isolated community. The director is the director of the Golden Apricot Festival in Yerevan.

1.The audience for this kind of documentary? The pictured characters? Armenians? Worldwide audiences? The need for background knowledge?

2.The quality of the photography, the landscapes, the village, the pastures, the home? The church? The drama of the fire? The musical score?

3.The fact that the film had no voice-over commentary? Leaving audiences to respond? The pace and the contemplative attitude?

4.Armenia, the border with Azerbaijan? The conflicts? Humanitarian aid? The military?

5.The community, the lost buffalo, the rescue? Its wandering off? Caught between the wire fences? The role of the men, the cattle, the goats? The women, the milk, the cheese? The meals? The summer life? The old men and the games? The children?

6.The winter, the snow? The farm way of life? The buffalo and its being trapped? The building of the house? The detail of the bricks and cement? The build-up to the wedding, the empty church? The priest? The ceremony?

7.The Christmas dinner, the feast, the presents? The touch of the modern?

8.The fire, the raging furnace with the barns, the haylofts? The attempts to put out the fire?

9.The landscape, the people, the animals – a lost world?