People, Years, Life

Overview

Using images shot in Russia and Armenia from World War I to the 1930s and retrieved from a Soviet film archive, Gianikian and Ricci Lucchi constructed a meditative film about the status of Armenians as a people without a state. Inspired by the diary of Gianikian’s father, People, Years, Life uses rare footage depicting the region’s major historic events: the end of Tsarist Russia, violence in the Caucasus during World War I, the 1918 Armenian exodus from Azerbaijan. Gianikian and Ricci Lucchi’s treatment of the material manipulates the speed of the images, adds color and music, and magnifies various parts of the image, so that the movement of bodies across the frame begins to carry the weight of exile, mourning, dispossession.

Details

Status

Released

Release date

January 1, 1990

Original language

English

Spoken languages

Italian

Countries

Italy, Germany

Production

ZDF

Director

Angela Ricci Lucchi,Yervant Gianikian

Writer

Angela Ricci Lucchi,Yervant Gianikian

Budget

Not recorded

Revenue

Not recorded

IMDb

tt0183951