Cineuropa has gained exclusive access to Sareen Hairabedian’s debut feature-length documentary, My Sweet Land, which was recently completed. Hairabedian is an Armenian-Jordanian docmaker based in the USA. Her work focuses on the untold stories of the underrepresented. Hairabedian’s directorial debut, We Are Not Done Yet, is a 40-minute HBO documentary about US veterans grappling with PTSD who use poetry to heal themselves. It was crowned Best Documentary at the GI Film Festival and was nominated in the Best Documentary Shorts category at the 2018 International Documentary Association Awards.

Hairabedian’s debut feature is a coming-of-age doc set against a generation-long war in the post-Soviet South Caucasus. Eleven-year-old boy Vrej, who dreams of becoming a dentist, is forced to leave his homeland of Artsakh (also known as Nagorno-Karabakh) during the 2020 war with Azerbaijan. Months later, upon his return to his surviving village, he must learn the ways of war in order to defend his endangered homeland.

Key crew members include editor Raphaelle Martin-Hölger, composer Tigran Hamasyan, colourist Shanna Maurizi and sound designer Tom Efinger. Hairabedian lensed the picture herself, whilst producer Azza Hourani also served as the sound recordist.

Commenting on the project, Hourani told Cineuropa: “My Sweet Land has been an integral part of my life for the past five years. We have been working tirelessly to tell the story of Artsakh, and I am committed to ensuring that the film will be widely viewed, through international festival screenings and broadcasting.

“We also want to focus on the longevity of the movie’s message – not only on screen, but also through the film’s impact in supporting and securing the wellbeing of the children and the victims of such an unequal war, like our [now] 15-year-old protagonist, who is now a refugee along with his family in Armenia, while his land is a mere memory,” Hourani continued.

My Sweet Land is being produced by Hourani and Hairabedian for HAI Creative (USA), and co-produced by Julie Paratian for Sister Productions (France) and David Rane for Soilsiú Films (Ireland). Beth Levison from Hazel Pictures (USA), Hallee Adelman from World of HA Productions (USA), Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas are serving as the executive producers.

Attached broadcasters are ARTE France, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse and ITVS. The latter funded the picture through Open Call, which will qualify the film for a US broadcast. Other partners involved are Spark Features, the CNC, PROCIREP-ANGOA, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Screen Ireland, the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC, the International Documentary Association – IDA, the Jordan Film Fund – JFF and Creative Armenia/AGBU.

The release date is yet to be disclosed.