About the Film
Synopsis
Meet Mariam Avetisyan, a brave young filmmaker from Artsakh with her no-commentary-style documentary feature film and Web Series to show post-war life in Artsakh called #TheDesireToLive.
Two seasons of The Desire to Live - Web Series, all 26 episodes, short documentary film format, are available on youtube and show the effects of the 2021 war on the Indigenous population living in Artsakh and the how their livelihood has been affected and threatened.
If you want to learn more about Artsakh and the people that live in it, follow her story and donate to this project!
Our feature documentary is presently competing in festivals around the world from October 2021.
#thedesiretolive documentary films will bring awareness to the people who live in Artsakh and work to bring #peacetoArmenians,
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
January 17th, 2022 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 57 official selections in film festivals worldwide, has won 41 awards from 21 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.
It is presently "in consideration" for 149 festivals worldwide.
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 third season of our Doc Web Series
TRAILER
Check out the trailer to our Documentary Feature Film
41 Awards
47 Official Selections from 37 cities - 21 countries
Festival Count
Officially competed and screened in
37 Cities from 21 Countries
Lisbon, Portugal
St. Petersburg, Russia
Montreal, Canada
Los Angeles, USA x3
Barcelona, Spain
Craiova, Romania
Budapest, Hungary
Cannes, France x2
Jaipur, India
La Jolla, USA x2
Nassau, USA x2
Vienna, Austria x2
Toronto, Canada
London, England x3
Mykonos, Greece
Miami, USA x2
Chicago, USA
Rocher, Singapore
New York, USA x2
Laula Lampur, Malasia
Moscow, Russia
Stafford, England
Madras, India
Rome, Italy x2
Newport, USA
Naples, Italy
Sicily, Italy
Florence, Italy
Istanbul, Turkey
Hollywood, USA
Luleå, Sweden
Washington, USA
Buenos Ares, Argentina
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Kolkata, India
Rancagua, Chile
Helsinki, Finland
Faces of Artsakh
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The Desire To Live
The Desire To Live
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