A Documentary film from Artsakh

A Documentary film from ArtsakhA Documentary film from ArtsakhA Documentary film from Artsakh
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A Documentary film from Artsakh

A Documentary film from ArtsakhA Documentary film from ArtsakhA Documentary film from Artsakh

Welcome to The Desire To Live

Welcome to The Desire To LiveWelcome to The Desire To LiveWelcome to The Desire To Live
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TRAILER

Check out the trailer to our Documentary Feature Film

About the Film

Synopsis

Meet Mariam Avetisyan, a brave young filmmaker from Artsakh with her no-commentary-style documentary feature film to show post-war life in Artsakh called #TheDesireToLive. 

The aftermath of the 2020 war on the Indigenous population living in Artsakh and the how their livelihood has been affected and threatened until today, living in a world of uncertainty with very little resolve in the horizon.

Also available, three seasons of The Desire to Live ~ Web Series ~ 38 episodes, short documentary film format, are on youtube free to watch. Season 4 has been greenly and will start production in November 2022, two years after ended.

If you want to learn more about Artsakh and the people that live in it, follow our story and donate to this project! 


Our feature documentary is presently competing in festivals around the world since October 2021. 

#thedesiretolive documentary films will bring awareness to the people who live in Artsakh and work to bring #peacetoArmenians, 

If you want to support our project with a donation, please visit our gofundme page.

https://gofund.me/091e043b

Director & Cast

Written, Directed and Edited 

by Mariam Avetisyan


Produced by Peter Bahlawanian


Cinematographer Tigran Gasparyan

Music by Alan Derian 


Translations by Knarik Avetisyan

Voice Over by Anne Bedian 

Animation and credits by Zookeeper

Violins by Armen Anassian

Duduk by Ruben Harutyunyan

Production Coordinators

Taline Harmandian

Jacqueline Vartanian

Poster Design by

Steve Artinian



Jan 2nd, 2023 update

“The Desire to Live” the feature documentary detailing the stories of the survivors of the war in the Republic of Artsakh, directed/edited by Mariam Avetisyan, produced by Peter Bahlawanian, cinematography by Tigran Gasparyan, Music by Alan Derian, has 148 official selections in film festivals worldwide, has won 135 awards from 70 festivals, including 2 awards at the Cannes World Film Festival for Best Director Documentary Feature and Best Indigenous/Native People’s Film, as well as awards at the Toronto International Women Film Festival, the Arpa International Film Festival in Los Angeles, the WRPN Women’s International Film Festival, the London New Wave Film Festival, the Mykonos International Film Festival in Greece, two at the Accolade Global Film Competition, two from the LA Independent Film Channel Festival, the Golden Lemur International Film Festival in Lisbon, the Halo International Film Festival in St. Petersburg, four awards at the TEKKA International Film Festival in Singapore and has won six awards including Best Original Score at the Indo Malaysia Film Festival. Just in the past week, the film won at the Madras Independent Film Festival in India, won at the Hollywood on the Tiber Film Awards in Rome and on Armenian Christmas, won two awards at the Anatolian Film Awards in Istanbul, Turkey, which included Best Christian Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature Film. It also won Best Original Score at the Florence Film Awards in Italy and received the Silver Award for Best Documentary Film at The Hollywood Gold Awards. At the Docs Without Borders Film Festival, we won four awards, Best Human Spirit Film, Best Original Score, Best Docu-Drama Feature & Best Cinematography. At the Luleå International Film Festival in Sweden, film won Best First Time Director & Best Women Filmmaker. Best Documentary Feature at the Colombo Independent Film Festival in Sri Lanka and Golden Mount Film Festival in India. The film has five Honorable Mentions from the Santa Monica International Film Festival, London Movie Awards, the Florence Film Awards, Colombo Independent Film Festival and a finalist at Stafford Film Festival in England. 



The message continues to spread through our film and will bring positive outcome to the people of Artsakh and Armenia.


Support our projects by donating to our GoFundMe page, we are working on making a fourth season of our Doc Web Series 

to release in February 2023

136 Awards

    148 Official Selections from 90 cities - 42 countries

      Festival Count

      Officially competed and screened in

      90 Cities    from      42 Countries


      Lisbon, Portugal

      St. Petersburg, Russia

      Montreal, Canada

      Los Angeles, USA x9

      Barcelona, Spain

      Craiova, Romania

      Budapest, Hungary

      Cannes, France x2

      Jaipur, India

      La Jolla, USA x2

      Nassau, USA x2

      Vienna, Austria x2

      Toronto, Canada x2

      London, England x4

      Mykonos, Greece

      Miami, USA x3

      Chicago, USA

      Rocher, Singapore

      New York, USA x4

      Laula Lampur, Malaysia

      Moscow, Russia x2

      Stafford, England

      Madras, India

      Rome, Italy x2

      Newport, USA

      Naples, Italy

      Sicily, Italy

      Florence, Italy

      Istanbul, Turkey x2

      Hollywood, USA x4

      Luleå, Sweden

      Washington, USA

      Buenos Ares, Argentina

      Colombo, Sri Lanka

      Kolkata, India

      Rancagua, Chile

      Helsinki, Finland

      Dallas, USA

      Cairo, Egypt

      Malacca, Malaysia

      Manila, Philippines

      Berlin, Germany x2

      Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela

      Athens, Greece

      Milan, Italy

      Amsterdam, Netherlands x3

      Las Vegas, USA

      Boston, USA

      Makati, Philippines 

      Austin, USA x2

      Singapore, Singapore

      Paris, France x2

      Dewas, India

      Hong Kong, China

      Manchester, England

      Malibu, USA

      Tokyo, Japan

      Madrid, Spain x2

      Bali, Indonesia

      Stockholm, Sweden

      San Paolo, Brazil x3

      Angkor, Cambodia

      Odessa, Ukraine

      Hamburg, Germany

      Reims, France

      Santa Cruz, Argentina

      Rangoon, Myanmar

      Kansas, USA

      Seattle, USA x2

      Encino, USA

      Houston, USA

      New Jersey, USA

      Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

      Portland, USA x2

      Sofia, Bulgaria

      Ticino, Switzerland

      Seoul, South Korea

      Punta del Este, Uruguay

      Jounieh, Lebanon

      Atlanta, USA

      Porto, Portugal

      Glendale, USA

      Sydney, Australia

      Mumbai, india

      Erbil, Iraq

      Dubai, UAE

      Culver City, USA

      Palm Springs, USA

      Aubonne, Switzerland

      Marseilles, France

      Zurich, Switzerland 

      Craiova, Romania



      WEB SERIES

      The Desire To Live - Web Series - Season 1 Episode 1

      I start this documentary series from Ariavan (Armenian: Արիավան), a new settlement in the Aghavno region of Kashatagh, Artsakh. It emerged as a new community of hope in Artsakh, built in 2014 for the locals, repatriated Armenians, large families, and newly married couples. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Independence of Artsakh, the Ariavan village has officially begun to become a viable community, which was now caught in war. 

      Filmmaker Mariam Avetisyan from Artsakh with her DOP Tigran are making a no-commentary-style documentary series to show post-war life in Artsakh called #TheDesireToLive. These short series are going to show the effects of the war on the regular people of Artsakh and their livelihood. If you want to learn more about Artsakh and the people that live in it, subscribe to the channel!  And this is my first episode done from Ariavan (Aghavno), where villagers still live, in fear of the enemy, but determined to stay in their own homes. The village is located in the Lachin corridor.   I will release more episodes as we go, we’re filming every week and are a 2-person team.  You can also support me by subscribing to my YouTube Channel, turning on the notifications, liking, commenting & sharing the video help a lot as well!

      The Desire To Live - Web Series - Season 2 Episode 1

      We begin Season 2 with a visit to the village of Kert (Armenian: Քերթ) in Artsakh's Martuni region where we learned about a horrendous attack on an ambulance and trucks from an eye witness. More than 40 people died from this one drone strike by Azerbaijan; they burnt alive. Armed drones are a weapon of mass destruction and should be illegal.   Another villager working in the field with her aching legs recalls the horror of bombardment by Azerbaijan. She tells us that her son is still suffering from PTSD and is not himself. She wishes "to be reunited with Armenia, and not be snatched by Azerbaijan again". We met with a family of a missing soldier. They had no contact with their son Arthur for the past 6 months and the evidence indicates that he is in captivity, but they can't get confirmation— Azerbaijan won't release the full list of POWs (prisoners of war). His bride-to-be and entire family pray for his return and hope that he's being treated well.  Unfortunately, the recent @HumanRightsWatch report confirmes that Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan are subjected to torture and inhumane treatment. “The abuse, including torture of detained Armenian soldiers, is abhorrent and a war crime,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe & Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It is also deeply disturbing that a number of missing Armenian soldiers were last seen in Azerbaijan’s custody and it has failed to account for them.” Full report: https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/19/a... #FreeArmenianPOWs 

      The Desire To Live - Web Series - Season 3 Episode 1

      Khnatsakh (Armenian: Խնածախ) is a village in the Tegh Municipality of the Syunik Province in Armenia. Khnatsakh is known for being one of the ancient residences of the Kashatagh Meliks and contains the partially ruined palace of Melik Hakhnazar I․  After the agreement was signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan in November 2020, the village of Khnatsakh became a border village. The Azerbaijani post is about 100 meters away, they monitor it every day. In this episode, we will show the destinies of two people. One of them is Gayane from Khnatsakh, who has always lived in Khnatsakh village and never remembers the Azerbaijanis being so close to their village. And another one is Voskehat, a refugee from Melikashen, who lost her house in one day and now lives in Khnatsakh while dreaming to return to Melikashen one day.

      Faces of Artsakh

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