An abandoned Soviet Union optical equipment factory situated in the capital of Armenia has turned into backgammon production. During routine conversations and feasts, the manufacturers bring up fragile independence’s problems and myths, symbols of which are carved into the game’s board.

Cast & Crew
Producer: Yervand Vardanyan
Director: Yervand Vardanyan
Director of Photography: Yervand Vardanyan
Production Design: Yervand Vardanyan
Sound: Ruslan Nasir
Editing: Ruslan Nasir

Yervand Vardanyan
Yervand Vardanyan is a historian, poet and a film director from Armenia. After obtaining a history degree (2012-2016, 2016-2018) in Yerevan State University, he published a story book The Island of Anarchists, which in 2018 received the Youth Award of the President of the Republic of Armenia. From 2018 until 2020, Yervand Vardanyan served in the Artsakh Defence Army. His practice is focused on interconnecting the past and the present, which is seen in his irregular periodical ‘Banche’ (2023), dedicated to the Banchean language and its presence, as well as Marquis de Sade, Mesrop Mashtots and a bit of Pataphysics. The debut documentary feature Orbita, which he directed and filmed, poses the same important topic of living through a generational ethnic trauma, which Armenia has endured through its vast and tragic history.

Filmography
Orbita (doc., 2024).