ARMENIAN FILM FESTIVAL LONDON

Following the success of its inaugural edition in 2024, the Armenian Film Festival London is proud to return to the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) for its second edition. Running across four days, this year’s festival, organised by the Armenian Film Society UK branch and held under the auspices of the Armenian Embassy in the UK, presents an expanded programme, offering a compelling insight into Armenia’s vast cinematic landscape.

THURSDAY 4 DECEMBER,

8.20pm, UK PREMIERE Monsieur Aznavour

dir. Mehdi Idir and Grand Corps Malade, France 2024, 134 mins., French with English subtitles

FRIDAY 5 DECEMBER,

4.30pm UK PREMIERE My Armenian Phantoms, introduced by AFSL / ICA

dir. Tamara Stepanyan, France/Armenia 2025, 75 mins., Armenian with English subtitles

7pm Hakob Hovnatanyan + intro talk by Anahit Mikayelyan, drink reception after the screening

dir. Sergei Parajanov, Armenia/USSR 1967, 11 mins., Russian with English subtitles

8.20pm UK PREMIERE My Armenian Phantoms followed by an in-person Q&A with Tamara Stepanyan , and a DJ set by Analog Armenia

SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER,

1.45pm British Armenian Focus Shorts + Q&A with filmmakers, hosted by Kira Adibekov.

• Imagined Landscapes, dir. Eleanor Ekserdjian, UK 2024, 8 mins.

• Pomegranate, dir. Zoë Morgan Chiswick, UK 2024, 14 mins.

• Doon, dir. Sarine Arslanian and Russell Agro, UK 2024, 7 mins.

• Saint Vassily, dir. Masha Egieva, UK 2024, 14 mins.

6 pm UK PREMIERE Die Like a Man + Q&A

dir. Eric Nazarian, US 2025, 119 mins.

SUNDAY 7 DECEMBER,

4pm The Sweet Hereafter, UK premiere of 4K restoration,

dir. Atom Egoyan, Canada 1997, 112 mins.,

6.30pm UK PREMIERE Universe25 + Q&A

dir. Richard Melkonian, UK/Romania 2025, 84 mins., English and Romanian with English subtitles

"After our successful debut and seeing how much hunger there is for Armenian films in London, we have raised the stakes even more this year with a fantastic programme. It features staples of Armenian/Diasporic culture such as Charles Aznavour and Atom Egoyan alongside Tamara Stepanyan’s breakthrough and daring British Armenian creatives — visual artists, dancers, musicians and filmmakers. No sophomore slump for us, as we are waiting for the magical moment of the lights going down before our films."

— Kira Adibekov and Tatevik Ayvazyan, Armenian Film Society London

Showcasing an exceptional selection of films from both the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian diaspora, the festival brings together established filmmakers and exciting new voices. Audiences will experience a wide spectrum of work, including feature and artists’ films, documentaries, shorts, and restored classics. The screenings will be accompanied by Q&As, film introductions, lectures, drink receptions and DJ sets.

The Festival will open with the UK premiere of the highly anticipated biopic and César Awards nominee Monsieur Aznavour, which traces the beginnings and rise of the inimitable French-Armenian crooner.

Another UK premiere, My Armenian Phantoms, offers the audiences a rare opportunity to engage with this year’s Armenian breakthrough filmmaker and the festival’s guest — Tamara Stepanyan. My Armenian Phantoms is a personal journey into the history of Armenian cinema and Armenia’s official Academy Awards submission.

Armenia-born, LA-raised, Eric Nazarian presents his new feature Die Like a Man, a testosterone-fuelled drama of street violence and revenge (UK premiere).

This year, we are introducing a new section, FROM SHADOWS TO LIGHT, presenting two extraordinary restored classics. Atom Egoyan’s Cannes Grand Prix winner The Sweet Hereafter (1997) is the UK premiere of the film’s recent 4K restoration. The festival’s collaboration with Sergei Parajanov Museum in Yerevan gives the audiences a rare opportunity to dive into Sergei Parajanov’s cross-arts short masterpiece Hakob Hovnatanyan (1967).

Finally, the festival’s British Armenian Focus showcasing home-grown talent returns with 4 award-winning shorts on the themes of identity, migration, resilience, homecoming — imaginary or visceral, and a feature. The London premiere of Richard Melkonian’s long-awaited debut sci-fi UNIVERSE25 is the intriguing finale to this year’s Festival.

Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery.

Armenian Film Society London would like to thank Ego Film Arts for the opportunity to organise the UK premiere of 4K restoration of The Sweet Hereafter.

Armenian Film Society London is grateful to the Sergei Parajanov Museum, Richard Anooshian, Benlian Trust, Yesai and Maria Mazmanian Foundation, Stephan Avetoom and each of those who contributed via crowdfunder for their support in making this festival a reality.

The screenings will be preceded by short films created by students at the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies in Kapan, in Armenia’s Syunik region.

Produced during a documentary filmmaking learning lab led by Armenian Film Festival London Co-Founder and Director Kira Adibekov, the project set out to document Kapan’s old train station, which today houses TUMO Kapan. The films mark the students’ first steps in exploring storytelling, cinema, and their communities through an advanced, professional lens.

TUMO is a free-of-charge educational programme that puts teens in charge of their own learning, with centres across Armenia and the world.