A NEW FRAME FOR ARMENIAN CINEMA
The Armenian Cinematographers Guild, in partnership with the Golden Apricot International Film Festival, IMAGO, Woods Center and GAIFF Pro, launched its first professional Master Class series in July. But this wasn’t just a string of talks. This was something more urgent — a shift. The kind you can feel in a room when everyone’s leaning forward, ingesting every detail.
The Armenian Cinematographers Guild (ACG) is a newly formed creative and professional union dedicated to elevating the visual standards of Armenian cinema, while fostering connections between local filmmakers and the global industry. It’s comprised of working cinematographers and camera crews, and it exists to elevate the craft, protect its practitioners, and foster a culture where long-term, world-class filmmaking can thrive. Recently, the Guild began formally welcoming Diaspora Armenian members, recognising the need to unite the global Armenian filmmaking community under one banner — technically, culturally, and collaboratively. This master class, in partnership with the Golden Apricot International Film Festival, was its first major public move.
From the beginning, ACG president Miko Malkhasyan and the board backed a vision that felt ambitious but overdue. Armenia didn’t need another event. It needed a space — a space to think, share, collaborate, and build. Not imported knowledge or surface-level hype either. We needed a place where real conversations could happen between people who make cinema.
The event officially kicked off, opened by Fred Kelemen. He talked about slowness, silence, movement— about time as a visual material. He provided insight into some of his favourite and accomplished shots. Long, slow, unbroken shots from his work — and talked through them with a kind of stillness that filled the room. Watching those sequences unfold, in real time, with Fred sitting a few feet away, was captivating. As someone who is a die-hard monochrome obsessive like myself, I felt a heavy connection to some of his work and insight. It felt rewarding.
George Mooradian ASC ACG guided the conversation with calm precision. Two artists speaking plainly about what it takes to build images that hold weight. Immediately, we felt how natural their conversation was, and it set the tone for the rest of the event.
That same day, the Cinema Foundation of Аrmenia laid out Armenia’s current film incentives — rebates, co-productions, state-backed support — but the takeaway was bigger than logistics. It was the clearest sign that Armenia isn’t just open for stories — it’s ready to produce them, to host them, and to back them.
Honest stories
Over three days, momentum grew..
Tamara Stepanyan spoke about In the Land of Arto — a quietly powerful debut that earned its world premiere as the opening film of the 78th Locarno Film Festival, shown on the legendary Piazza Grande. The film follows Céline (Camille Cottin), a French woman who comes to Armenia to register her husband’s death, only to uncover unsettling truths about his past. It unfolds with deliberate restraint, mapping memory through landscape and silence, and felt deeply rooted in place and emotion.
Then came Phedon Papamichael ASC GSC. His filmography speaks for itself. But what cut through was his honesty. No ego or any mythology. Just stories about failing forward, trusting instincts, and just overall insight on his journey. To have someone of his calibre be so down to earth, and to answer questions from the audience with such clarity, was worth every minute. Ford V Ferrari is a movie I always revisit, as a big car nerd, but it’s not just because of that that I continue to want to watch that film. A big part of it is the way it was shot and how the cinematography helped tell that overall story. Being such an amazing story on its own, and having a stacked cast, the film, to me, is very grounded, so to get a bit more insight into his process for that film was something special.
And again, George Mooradian was guiding all these great conversations.
For day three, Evgenia Alexandrova AFC sat with film critic Diana Martirosyan for a conversation that cut through everything else. They spoke about authorship, migration, and what it means to make quiet, deliberate cinema in a world obsessed with speed. No grand declarations either, just straight talk about working conditions, trust on set, and holding onto vision when everything around you pulls in the opposite direction.
An inspiring experience
To wrap things up, Miko, George, Fred, Evgenia, Timothy, and Vika Safrigina from Leitz Cine sat down for a final discussion. This was a very important chat among the panel and the guests, which allowed a variety of topics to flow. It solidified how important these last three days were for us, and it gave everyone the stamp of approval that not only does the audience want this to continue, but also the phenomenal guests who led the event.
And all of this happened alongside something just as important: tools on the floor and in our hands. Armenia’s two major rental houses — Taylor & Co and KinoTech — showed up for all three days, with cinema cameras, lenses, grip, and lighting ready to demo, dissect, and discuss. Godox and Leitz Cine brought gear of their own — from lightweight LEDs to premium glass — to give our small but important market a new taste of amazing tools for filmmaking.
Overall, as someone who grew up in the Los Angeles film industry and someone who’s only been back to Armenia full-time for almost two years as of now, it was amazing to be a part of something that felt so natural and inspiring. These types of events give purpose to wanting to continue moving forward and elevate Armenia’s cinema world. And this was only the beginning.
