Harutyun Khachatryan (b. 1955, Georgia/Armenia) is an Armenian filmmaker whose works eloquently evoke Armenian realities through compelling imagery and cinematography. Early films The Voices of the District (1981) and Kond (1987) reveal local social and political tensions so effectively that Kond was banned in Armenia but won the main prize at Kiev’s film festival. Voted ‘Best Film of the 90s’ in Armenia, Return to the Promised Land (1991) is an intense portrayal of the newly independent country, devastated by earthquake, engaged in a bloody war and flooded with refugees. The Documentarist (2003) starkly chronicles Armenia’s difficult transition in the 90s, while Return of the Poet (2006) is a lyrical journey exploring material poverty and cultural richness, an expression of the soul of the country.
Khachatryan founded and directs Yerevan’s Golden Apricot International Film Festival, an important platform for cross-cultural exchange that creates opportunities, experience and training for local development.
The Prince Claus Award honours Harutyun Khachatryan for the aesthetic quality and moving content of his films, for preserving images of suffering caused by conflict as warning for future generations, for raising the profile of film in Armenia, and for his poetic use of cultural expression to combat conflict.
Harutyun Khachatryan
Photo: Ruben Khachatryan
Still from the film Return of the Poet by Harutyun Khachatryan
short interview on site of cinema without borders
Yerevan’s Golden Apricot International Film Festival
