The Story So Far

ARMENIA UNCOVERED is an ambitious project that we’ve been working on for over 12 months.

Our goal is to share Armenia with the whole world, showing what it means to be Armenian and what modern Armenia is like today.

We’ve spoken with THOUSANDS of  the Armenian diaspora around the world to uncover exactly what it is people want to see in a film about Armenia today. Using your input and our vision, we'll give the world (and ourselves) the deep understanding of just who we are.

The Team

Host: Kev Orkian is without question one of the UK’s finest entertainers and an internationally acclaimed comedy pianist.

Director: Andy Simon is an award-winning Australian / Armenian journalist and television producer.

Guide: Ani Mouradian knows a lot about wine-making and Armenian culture and she will guide us on our journey throughout Armenia. 

Together, we are passionate about making this film and are determined to introduce the beauty of Armenia and its people to the world.

It's tough living abroad as Armenians and not knowing much about our homeland, and with an estimated 10 MILLION Armenians in the diaspora, there are many more who feel the same.

By supporting our film, ARMENIA UNCOVERED, we can share our heritage and culture with the world in an entertaining and informative documentary.

The Documentary

In a first for Armenia and the diaspora living across the globe, this documentary will uncover our nation for all the world to see.

In the film, we'll be sitting down with some of Armenia's most influential people to chat about what being Armenian means to them.

We've also asked thousands of you, the Armenians of the world, to tell us what you'd like to see in the documentary. Below is a little taste of your favourite things, which will play an important part in ARMENIA UNCOVERED...

Interviews With Musicians and Artists:

And many more we plan to include:

• Sirusho (singer / songwriter)
• The Beautified Project (pop / rock band)
• Lilit Hovhannisyan (singer / songwriter)
• Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Armenian football captain & Manchester United midfielder) 
• Tereza Gevorgyan (opera singer)
• Artur Aleksanyan (Olympic wrestling Gold medal winner 2016)
• Levon Aronian (chess grand master)
• Vahan Khachatryan (Fashion design guru)

Food and Culture

Food is close to everyone's heart and it has been THE most talked about and requested segment to include in our film.

Food plays a large role in Armenian hospitality which is also fundamental to our unique culture. We'll be uncovering everything there is to know about Armenian food by exploring and sampling a huge array of fresh produce at Yerevan's food market and joining forces with celebrity chef Levon Kaprelian who takes Kev on a culinary journey of Armenian cuisine. 

"What would a trip to Armenia be, without cooking and eating mountains of food," Kev laughs. 

Kev also volunteers to help Levon cook a delicious 5-star gourmet Armenian banquet to help celebrate a good friend’s birthday in Yerevan.

While Kev claims to know a thing or two about home-cooking, he’s got no idea what pressure Levon will put him under in the kitchen, rolling Dolmas, preparing Manti, slicing delicious Basturma and many more delicacies… Will he get it ready before the guests arrive?!?

Vernissage Market in the heart of Yerevan is the perfect place to uncover everything there is to know about what makes Armenians SO Armenian. So it will be here amongst the handicrafts, paintings, ceramics, jewellery, books and the local market sellers, that Kev will meet up with the well-known Armenian comedian Sergey Sargsyan for a quick lesson in what it means to be a REAL Armenian.

The People

Kev catches up with business leader Madlene Minassian and her husband - top jazz musician Arthur Ispirian – at their home in Yerevan to find out what life is like in Armenia today. The couple returned to Armenia with their two sons after years living in California.

Kev catches up with another Armenian jazz legend, Forsh Gevrokian, at his uber-hip club and gets a low down on Yerevan's incredible music scene. 

Our History

The Genocide Museum and Memorial

No trip to Armenia is complete without visiting the Genocide Memorial and Museum. 

"My great-grandparents were killed in the Genocide and we need to share these tragic stories with the world, so they are never forgotten," Kev says.

Mt Ararat and the monastery at Khor Virap

This is the birthplace of Christianity in Armenia - the first nation in the world to adopt the Christian religion for all its people in 301 AD.

This spectacular monastery sits at the foot of Mt Ararat and has been carefully preserved for centuries at Khor Virap and it has a very special story involving "Gregory the Illuminator" who was imprisoned there for 14 years.

We'll be sending Kev down into the dungeon to experience what it might have been like. You can hear more in a radio interview Kev did late last year about the project here

And the Beauty of Artsakh and Stepanakert

Kev is also keen to get to Stepanakert - the main city of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabagh) to share its beauty and history with the world.  “We want to get out of Yerevan and see as many rural villages as possible on our way to Artsakh," Kev says.

Your Support

By supporting this valuable project you'll become a  part of a special community whose contributions will help Armenians (and the world) get a deep understanding of who we are.

We're a nation spread across the globe and this will be one of the first times modern Armenia is shared with the world on film in such a comprehensive and entertaining way. While filming, we'll be compiling an on-location Video Library of exclusive behind the scenes footage in Armenia, including bloopers and out-takes of Kev Orkian on set, which as Backers, we will give you exclusive on-line access to.

But why not go one step further and join Kev Orkian for an exclusive "One Night Only" Premiere Screening of the film in Los Angeles, London and Sydney, followed by an intimate Q&A with Kev and the director.

What we need

We need support from as many people as possible. A major part of any film is how much demand we can show the film has. The more people we get, the better chance we have of getting wider distribution for ARMENIA UNCOVERED. Funding will help us to get the film completed. A trip to Armenia means we capture all the footage we need to finish the film and share the stories of Armenia and its people, with the world. We plan to spend 14 days covering as much of Armenia as we can, but we need the funds to make this possible, to pay for things like:-

• Travel, transport and accommodation -
• Film equipment and local crews -
• Editing and post-production -
• Distribution and administration to make sure we can distribute ARMENIA UNCOVERED to a wider audience…
• Rewards, events and merchandising to say thank you to all of you - our fans - who have helped us get this far to make the film possible.

How much?

We’re using flexible funding to get the money necessary to complete the documentary. We're already part-way through the journey and so far have funded the pre-production, research and planning from our own pockets. We've now reached the limit of what we can do and need YOUR SUPPORT to go the rest of the distance. Therefore, any money from this Crowd Funding campaign will go directly towards the actual filming and editing of the film.

$55,000 is the absolute minimum we need to get the film made, but we might not be able to cover as many stories as we would like and may not be able to get to all the places we want to go.

$65,000 will allow us to travel to more places in Armenia and to film a lot more stories in many more towns and villages, including a trip to Artsakh and Stepanakert.

$75,000 will enable us to end the film with a big live concert from Yerevan, featuring Kev Orkian on stage with some of the country’s biggest musical stars from pop, rock and jazz through to classical.

Filming Budget and Crowdfunding

Filming a documentary is a huge process, requiring many hands and expensive equipment to produce a world class production. Another big part of our decision to rely almost entirely on crowdfunding, is that we want this film to be independent, non-political and free from bias. We’re here to make a film about Armenia, its talented people and their stories, and are trying to avoid relying on corporate dollars to fund it. 

How you can help us make this film?

Indiegogo is the first stop on our incredible journey. It allows us to connect directly with you, our fans, and to deliver directly to you. A successful pre-order campaign will allow us to pay for everything needed to make the film, from travel and crew costs, through to post production, administration, event screenings and all the merchandising needed for our campaign rewards. But most importantly, it will afford us the opportunity to make a film that will put Armenia on the world stage. Without you, there is no documentary!

By supporting this pre-order campaign, you are helping us to create what we believe will be the ultimate Armenian documentary. Without YOU our campaign backers, film donors, and paying fans, it would be near impossible for us to make this film. So, from the bottom of our hearts, we say thank you and promise you, this film will make you laugh and it will make you cry, but above all, it will make you PROUD!

Other Ways You Can Help

You can share our campaign in any way possible. By letting any of your friends and family know what we're up to, is almost as good as backing us! Word of mouth is one of the greatest tools of all!

Risks & Challenges

We are a committed and dedicated team focused on getting the story of Armenia and its people out into the world. We plan on getting the film made any way possible providing we reach our minimum target. 

THANKS FOR READING AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!