Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Toronto-based sales outfit Syndicado has boarded “The Black Garden,” which will have its world premiere in the main competition section at documentary festival CPH:DOX.
The film is directed by Alexis Pazoumian, a French-Armenian photographer-director based in Paris. The film focuses on children Samvel and Avo, soldier Erik and lumberjack and veteran Karen, who live in the Armenian community of Talish, in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region plagued by a century-old conflict.
Karabakh literally means “Black Garden,” referring to the large dark coniferous forest covering the territory. In 2020, a large-scale attack by Azerbaijan once again tips the region into chaos.
Samvel and Avo’s families find refuge in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Erik is wounded, with one leg amputated. Karen flees and wanders the streets of Stepanakert, the capital of Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh. “In a world steeped in patriotism and military culture, I intended to portray these characters caught in the limbo of war.
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