The director of the film There Was, There Was Not, Emily Mkrtichian, spent years documenting the lives of four women from Artsakh. Judoist Sose trains tirelessly, aspiring to bring an Olympic medal to her homeland. Political activist Siranush is campaigning to be elected as a council member to amplify women's voices in the country. Gayane, who fights for gender equality, has established a women’s support center. Lastly, Sose, a single mother, is demining areas still infested with mines from the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
The women find the courage to act in an environment where "being active is not for a woman." Despite working in completely different fields, they share a common goal: through realization of their own dreams to improve the lives of those living in an unstable and dangerous place.
The images of a dreamy, paradise-like country that appear on screen from time to time, much like commercials, contrast sharply with the documented quotidian. In this idealized and colorful place, people face numerous challenges, both internal and external, ranging from social injustice to the threat of war.
But in the end, all the aspirations crumble under the sounds of alarms, signifying a new war. What begins as an exploration of the dreams of the heroines and the documentation of their efforts to build new lives, metamorphoses into a chronicle of the tragedy that befalls an entire people. The “fairy-tale” title (the Armenian equivalent of “Once upon a time…”) takes on another, ominous and sorrowful meaning.
Alexander Melyan
The women find the courage to act in an environment where "being active is not for a woman." Despite working in completely different fields, they share a common goal: through realization of their own dreams to improve the lives of those living in an unstable and dangerous place.
The images of a dreamy, paradise-like country that appear on screen from time to time, much like commercials, contrast sharply with the documented quotidian. In this idealized and colorful place, people face numerous challenges, both internal and external, ranging from social injustice to the threat of war.
But in the end, all the aspirations crumble under the sounds of alarms, signifying a new war. What begins as an exploration of the dreams of the heroines and the documentation of their efforts to build new lives, metamorphoses into a chronicle of the tragedy that befalls an entire people. The “fairy-tale” title (the Armenian equivalent of “Once upon a time…”) takes on another, ominous and sorrowful meaning.
Alexander Melyan