In the high plains of southern Georgia, the Armenian village of Gandzani holds a past that has never fully settled. In A Fire There, Montreal-based Lebanese-Armenian filmmaker Marlene Edoyan follows three teenage friends at the threshold of adulthood. Henrikh studies international affairs and dreams of democracy in Tbilisi. Karlen tends animals while imagining work in Russia. Hakob moves through daily labour as love, duty, and expectation begin to narrow around him.
Edoyan redefines what a coming-of-age film can be. There are no clean breakthroughs here, no easy escape from home. Instead, she observes the slower passage into adulthood shaped by geography, family, tradition, patriarchy, and the pull of elsewhere. Filmed with remarkable sensitivity and cinematic precision, A Fire There moves with the seasons, somewhere between observational chronicle and visual poem. Winner of the Special Jury Award at Visions du Réel, this is a finely tuned portrait of young people learning that the future is never only theirs to choose.
Special Jury Prize, Visions du Reel 2026
Oct 4 & 5: Filmmaker Q&A
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Henrikh Malkhasian, Karlen Ispiryan, Hakob Harutyunyan
Canada
2026
In Armenian and Georgian with English subtitles
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Credits & Director
Producer
Dominique Dussault, Marlene Edoyan
Screenwriter
Marlene Edoyan
Cinematography
Etienne Roussy
Editor
Omar Elhamy
Original Music
Mathieu Charbonneau, Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux
Marlene Edoyan
Marlene Edoyan is a documentary scriptwriter, director, and producer with over 20 years experience in the Canadian film industry. Holding degrees in media studies and art education, she began her career as a production and artistic director for internationally co-produced animated films. In 2012, she founded Fauve Film, a production company dedicated to auteur documentaries exploring issues relating to human geography and identity. She has participated in numerous international labs with her films, and since 2021 has served as artistic co-director and programmer at the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal. She also programs for the online streaming platform Tënk.
Filmography: Figure of Armen (2012); The Sea Between Us (2019); Malika in waiting (2022)
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