ArmInfo. Armenian films "All I need"by Katya Spivakova and "My sweet land" by Sarin Hayrapetyan have been censored due to pressure from Azerbaijan, as stated by Menua Soghomonyan, a representative of the civil association "Hayakve", during a press conference in the courtyard of the Moscow cinema on December 19.
As the representative of "Hayakve" explained, Azerbaijan's intervention results in the exclusion of films with national content from festivals. These films address current issues highlighting the ethnic cleansing e in Artsakh and other violations by Azerbaijan. Soghomonyan pointed out that this situation is being ignored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports. According to him, these departments justify their inaction by claiming that the directors have not contacted them regarding this issue.
In turn, Armenian director and public figure Hovhannes Ishkhanyan noted that this is not the first time Azerbaijan has censored Armenian films. However, according to him, in October 2020, when a similar situation occurred with regard to Jivan Avetisyan's film, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other organizations issued statements. Ishkhanyan stated that they are planning to send a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies in Armenia calling for attention to the issue. Additionally, the letter will be sent to various festivals, as the problem affects not only Armenian interests, but also the rights of the creators. "I call on all directors, filmmakers, festivals and organizations they know, to join in demanding the protection of Armenian directors' rights," Ishkhanyan said.
The public figure then read out the appeals of Katya Spivakova and Sarin Hayrapetyan, in which they expressed their positions on the situation. Spivakova indicated in the letter that her film had been included in the list of top films before being unexpectedly removed. Moreover, they learned about this from the Azerbaijani media, which labeled the film as Armenian propaganda. She also emphasized that these incidents are not unique and questioned whether the individuals who made the decision to ban the film actually viewed it and understood it content. It should be noted that the initiators of the press conference were the Hayakve Civil Association, the Diplomatic Fund of Armenia, the Platform Dock documentary film platform and the Eye for an Eye community of Armenian documentary filmmakers, photographers, writers and artists.