1:30pm. TBD

There Was, There Was Not

Director, Emily Mkrtichian 

There was, There was not  follows four woman living in the Republic of Artsakh, an unrecognized country reckoning with the aftermath of one war while on the precipice of another. In the midst of its uncertainty, four woman build a life with the hope of making their home a better place. When war breaks out again, what began as an observational meditation on woman's roles, after conflict becomes an urgent and intimate record of their lives interrupted once again by war. From taking up arms on the front lines to fleeing their homes as refugees, we watch each woman's life change irrevocably. The war ends in the unimaginable: the complete ethnic cleansing and erasure of their homeland. Amid these woman's struggle for survival in a new reality, this film becomes the myth of a home lost forever and the power of story to keep it alive. 

"Luka" (2023)

Written and Directed by Venice Lion winner Jessica Woodworth (BE/US)

Luka, a young and ambitious soldier, embeds himself in the legendary Fort Kairos where heroic warriors defend the remains of civilization. His hopes to serve as an elite sniper are crushed when he is assigned to maintenance and must submit to the code of Kairos: obedience, endurance, sacrifice. As he rises through the rank, Luka finds joy and strength in friendship with Konstantin, an enigmatic radar engineer and Geronimo, a light-hearted private.