FROM THE DIRECTOR ABOUT YEREVAN THE FILM
My name is Natalie and I am the EP/Writer/Director of Yerevan. Making this film is very important to me, my team, and many gay Armenians. As an Armenian gay woman myself who grew up in Los Angeles, this film is personal to me, and based on true events. It is also one of the first of its kind to be written and to be made.
I am incredibly lucky and grateful that my family is so accepting of my sexuality, but that wasn't always easy and isn't the case at all for many Armenians. Many of our youth is still facing this struggle today, and are kicked out of their homes for being gay here in America. In Armenia, many LGBTQ+ Armenians fear being socially outcast by their friends and families, causing them to keep their sexual orientation or gender identity secret. In August 2018, 9 LGBTQ+ activists were violently attacked by a mob at a private home in the town of Shurnukh, sending two of them to hospital for serious injuries. The violent attack received widespread media coverage, and was condemned by human rights groups and the U.S. embassy. The attackers were later released by the police. Most recently, Armenia's Golden Apricot international film festival has run into controversy as rights activists accuse organizers of censorship for scrapping part of the event that featured two films dealing with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) themes.
There isn’t much content out there with visibility for Armenians and our stories, and especially with LGBTQ+ content. Even within our own culture, being gay is still taboo or not discussed within most families. I want to start opening up the narrative. I want to tell an Armenian story that represents another part of us outside of the genocide. There is so much more to our people than our past, and it starts with acceptance.
Now is the time in culture that people have been more open and craving LGBTQ+ stories and content, stories that come from women and are told about women, and minorities as a whole. YEREVAN will be a voice in this moment.
Myself and my close production crew need to raise a production budget of $35,000 to make Yerevan happen. We truly hope you can help, and every little bit counts! Even $5 gets us closer.
YEREVAN SYNOPSIS Yerevan takes place in Los Angeles. The film follows a first-generation Armenian American lgbtq+ 28 year old woman, as she is faced with the repercussions of her traditional Armenian mother when coming home late after a night out with her girlfriend, Rita. The lead of our film is on a journey of truth, coming to terms with being honest with her mother about her sexuality, and living her life for herself outside the constraints of her culture's expectations. This film will explore the challenges of what it is like being caught between the traditions of an Armenian family that thinks marrying a man is the goal, and living her truth as a gay woman.Half the film will be in English and the other half will be in Armenian and subtitled.
WHY THE TITLE I grew up in a household that watched the Armenian Teletime on channel 18 every Saturday. The bilingual variety show broadcasted Saturday and Sunday mornings on KSCI-TV. It was always on in the background when I was growing up, and I remember whenever it ended the song's chorus went "Yerevan, Yerevan.." (also the capital of Armenia). I still remember the song today, and it is very nostalgic for me and my childhood. There are approx 200,000 Armenians living in LA today who came here for opportunity and a better life since the late 19th century.
THE DIRECTOR HAS ALSO WORKED ON A documentary film entitled Interior Motives that is soon to finish the festival circuit. It won best short at The Berlin Short Film Festival and at IFS Film Festival Los Angeles. Our east coast premiere was at the Oscar qualifying Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival. In February of 2020 we had a sold out premiere at Neuehouse during Frieze LA. This project has been featured in Vogue, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Flaunt, Interview, Architectural Digest, WWD, AnOther, Surface, NY Times and many more.