Armenfilm
 | |
| Company type | Public (1923–2005; 2015–present) Private (2005–2015) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film |
| Founded | 16 April 1923 |
| Founders | Hamo Beknazarian Daniel Dznuni |
| Headquarters | Yerevan, Armenia |
| Owner | Government of Armenia |
Armenfilm (Russian: Арменфильм; Armenian: Արմենֆիլմ), also known as Hayfilm (Armenian: Հայֆիլմ), is an Armenian film studio company located in Yerevan. The studio company was founded on 16 April 1923 as a production unit of the Soviet State Cinema Organization, with Daniel Dznuni as the first director.[1]
Armenfilm was sold by the state to private investors in 2005 with a long list of conditions to revitalize the studio's equipment and produce new content. It was renamed as CS Film Studios but failed to produce the required new feature films. In 2015, the Government of Armenia decided that the new management had failed to satisfy the conditions of the sale and moved to reclaim the studio's assets.[2]
History
[edit]- 1923 - The organization "Goskino" was created within the People's Commissariat of Education of Armenia, as well as the association "Gosfotokino".
- 1928 - The studio was renamed as "Armenkino".
- 1938 - The studio was renamed as "Yerevan Film Studio".
- 1957 - The studio was renamed as "Armenfilm".
- 1959 - The newsreel and television sector was reallocated to the independent Yerevan Studio of Documentary Films.
- 1966 - The studio was named after Hamo Beknazarian.
- 2005 - The film company was sold to the company "Armenia Studios" (part of the holding CS MEDIA CITY, which in turn is owned by members of the Armenian diaspora in the United States – the Cafesjian and Sarkisian families. The new owner committed to invest $66 million into the studio over 10 years.
- 2015 - The studio was reclaimed by the Government of Armenia.
Establishment and early growth
[edit]The Armenian Film Foundation was established in 1923 by the centralized government following Armenia's 1922 entry to the Soviet Union. Armenian cinema prospered until the start of World War II when production declined. Following Hayfilm's comeback and renewal in the late 1950s, the motion picture industry started to accelerate once more. The Armenian film industry finally expanded to consistently release six to seven feature-length films annually in the 1980s. This happened due to receiving orders from the USSR's Central Television and working with Mosfilm, the biggest and most important studio in Russia and Europe at the time.[3]
Production
[edit]"Hayfilm" had considerable cinematic success in the 1960s, as it developed the duplicating and recreating of Armenian silent films. Some of the early works from the studio include Namus (1925), Zareh (1926), Shor and Shorshor (1927), and Has-Push (1928), directed by Hamo Bek-Nazarian.[4] In the late 20th century, the "Hayfilm" studio duplicated 42–45 films annually. Cartoon production began in 1967 and has continued since. 1978, the film studio relocated to a newly launched institution, developed film-making techniques, and issued 6-7 films yearly. During the same period, "The Hayfilm" studio acquired orders from USSR Central Television, partnered with the Mosfilm film studio, and, in the 1980s, reached accomplishments in the film industry. The "Hayk" Documentary Film Studio was established in 1990 when the "Hayfilm" documentary film creative association divided and rebuilt the documentary film library.[5]
Female contributions
[edit]The animation department of Armenfilm (HayFilm) was mainly employed by female artists. The women in this department developed their culture for around ten years and were critical for the next generation. Among them was Lyudmila Sahakyants, whose Congregation of Mice (1978) was a satire of the political and social environment that is still present today.[6]
Film industry post-independence
[edit]The Armenian cinema industry suffered considerably during the 1990s crisis when film production and consumption required electricity. In the same period, the blockade, the Spitak earthquake, and the Artsakh Liberation War caused theaters to close, filmmakers to leave, and local cinematography fell into a period of decline. State-run film production projects gradually became privately owned and controlled. The widespread privatization aligned with the first Diaspora investments into the industry which led to a resurgence in the Armenian film industry.[7]
List of films by Armenfilm
[edit]- Zareh (1926) – Directed by Hamo Bek-Nazarian
- Shor i Shorshor (1927) – Directed by Hamo Bek-Nazarian
- Has-Push (1928) – Directed by Hamo Bek-Nazarian
- Pepo (1936) – Directed by Hamo Bek-Nazarian
- Hello, It’s Me (1966) – Directed by Frunze Dovlatyan
- The Mulberry Tree (1979) – Directed by Gennadi Melkonian
- Tango of Our Childhood (1985) – Directed by Albert Mkrtchyan[8]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ Rollberg, Peter (2008). Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 56–59. ISBN 978-0-8108-6072-8.
- ^ Gishian, Ruzanna (21 August 2015). "Government To Renationalize Armenian Film Studio". «Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ Wilson, Carl (2015), Nelmes, Jill; Selbo, Jule (eds.), "Armenia", Women Screenwriters, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 209–213, doi:10.1057/9781137312372_21, ISBN 978-1-137-31236-5, retrieved 2025-03-02
- ^ Zakoyan, Garegin (1976). Армянское немое кино [Armenian silent films] (in Russian). Publishing House of the Aarmenian SSR, Yerevan.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "About us - NCCA". web.archive.org. 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2025-03-24.
- ^ "_UNDERSCORE Armenian Cinema". European Film Academy. 2024-06-06. Retrieved 2025-03-02.
- ^ Shakhnazaryan, Nana. "Reel Change | AGBU". agbu.org. Retrieved 2025-03-02.
- ^ "Armenian Cinema". Parajanov-Vartanov Institute. 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2025-03-02.
