Peters Education Center Auditorium (West of Save Mart Center in the Student Recreation Center Building)
Discussant: Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Sponsors: Armenian Studies Program, Armenian General Benevolent Union, Greater Fresno Chapter, and AGBU Arts’ Armenians in Film Series
Doon: Directed by Sarine Arslanian
Through the ancient language of Armenian dance, renowned dance artist, Shakeh Major Tchilingirian invites us to listen with our hearts as she dances the stories never told, the grief too heavy for words, the love for a homeland many have never seen and the universal yearning to come home: to the body, to the self, to one another. Rooted in personal and collective memory, Doon is a cinematic offering to the body’s knowing and the subtle spaces where transformation begins – a creative act of remembrance, resilience and return – honoring the resilience of diasporic identity and the quiet power of embodied expression. In English, 6:57 minutes.
St. Vassily: Directed by Masha Egieva
USSR, 1982. Vassily is a devout and diligent student at the Theological Academy near Moscow, soon to become a priest. His orderly world falls apart when he is approached by a KGB agent who gives Vassily an ultimatum: to denounce his roommate or never become a priest. In English, 13:44 minutes.
Armenian Abode: Directed by Hrair Kalemkarian
Bound for Armenia, a family stopped in Bourj Hammoud, in pre-war Lebanon, and stayed. Sixty-five years on, a father walks these streets every day with his son beside him, calling on friends who fill the visit with stories, jokes, and legends whose origins have blurred into myth. A layered portrait emerges of a diasporic community weaving a permanent abode out of a transitory stopover, transforming this small corner of Beirut into a vibrant, lasting sanctuary of Armenian life. In Armenian with English subtitles, 22 minutes.
Land: Directed by Tsolak Mike-Galstyan
Land is a manifest of the pain and sorrow together with the hope and love to the Land. The movie delves deep into the human experience, portraying the anguish and heartache that comes with the struggles of war, displacement, loss, and longing. Yet, amidst the turmoil, it also celebrates the resilience, connection, and unwavering hope that ties people to their land, highlighting the beauty and love that persist even in the face of adversity. 9:14 minutes, no dialog.
Urish: Directed by Eva Rafaelyan
Urish is a fashion film and visual meditation on a Third Culture Kid whose childhood exists somewhere between memory and imagination. The film explores identity, home and the quiet dissonance of belonging everywhere and nowhere at once. In Armenian with English subtitles, 3 minutes.
The Space Between: Directed by by Kiri Manookin
When an American woman of Ottoman Armenian descent answers an ancestral call to move to Istanbul, she embarks on an intercontinental journey to confront the silence and shame surrounding her ancestral trauma. She doesn’t fully understand what she is chasing, only that her name, her history, and her emotional inheritance feel unresolved. Over the next few years, her journey takes her from Türkiye – a place some wanted her to approach with fear – and eventually to Armenia, where fate places her on a street and a stage that share her original surname. Suspended between identities, the filmmaker navigates inherited pain, belonging, and identity through emotional reckoning and deep cultural immersion. In English, 21 minutes.
All films screened on campus are free and open to the Public. Parking enforcement is not in effect after 4 p.m. on Fridays.
Fresno State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation, please contact us in advance of your participation.
CineCulture promotes cultural awareness through film and post-screening discussions.
CineCulture brings films and filmmakers from around the world to share their experiences, visions, and voices with our community. For 18 years, these films and post-discussions with directors, respected guest speakers, and local professors with relevant expertise have fostered and affected intercultural understanding of critical issues that deeply inform our local, national, and international awareness.
CineCulture is facing a significant funding reduction. During these challenging times, the films and filmmakers we invite not only educate and inspire us but are, as Harry Belafonte would remind us, “Artists are the gatekeepers of truth.” I hope that, together, we can gather the support needed to continue this vital, creative international exchange program.
If you’d like to help support CineCulture film screenings and director visits by making a tax-free donation, you can 1) Click on the link at the bottom of this page, follow the steps, and type CineCulture, or 2) Attend a CineCulture screening, use an envelope on the table in the back of the auditorium, and either give it to Dr. Mary Husain, leave it in the basket, or return it by mail.
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