The Flight of Victoria Aleksanyan
Creative Armenia-AGBU Fellow Victoria Aleksanyan takes off
July 12, 2022 | by Creative Armenia
In her fellowship year, filmmaker and writer Victoria Aleksanyan filmed her most ambitious project Crossing the Blue. Learn more about the short film from our interview with the artist.
Crossing the Blue, written and directed by Victoria Aleksanyan
In her fellowship year, Victoria Aleksanyan started working on her new and ambitious narrative short film. Written and directed by Aleksanyan, starring Armine Anda and Alexander Strobele, the film tells the story of an immigrant woman who faces deportation to her homeland Armenia.
Aleksanyan had put a challenge before her—to create a collective yet very grounded character, who would embody the Armenians who emigrated years ago and are now forced to return back home. The challenge transformed into a year of obsessive work, with a strong crew, that also included award-winning director of photography and Creative Armenia Network member Leigh Underwood (1915, The Boy Scout).
Yet, other challenges were also in reserve, such as filming in Armenia. “One of the main challenges of filming in Armenia was the difficulty of communication with entities not connected to the film world. It’s always hard to make a point to people outside of the film world that you’re making a film and it’s not a funny business and a relaxed entertainment but a very serious set of administrative preparation and fieldwork, and there is a strict time frame to have things be ready and done in time, otherwise, the production loss can be unrecoverable,” mentioned Aleksanyan. “I’m sure, when we start making more films in Armenia, these problems will be solved, topped with the right amount of line producing.”
Crossing the Blue was produced by Hoshkee Film (Armenia) and co-produced by CineSud (Netherlands). The production has been supported by the National Cinema Center of Armenia, Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), Creative Armenia, AIWA, and Laurel Karabian Fund for the Arts.
When reflecting on her fellowship year Aleksanyan said, “The fellowship program played a truly big role in the whole journey of making this film done. I felt that an entire community immediately knew me right after the fellowship selection results were announced. It came unexpected and I felt more pressure to do something special. Of course, the monetary grant towards my film was a big input. Getting to know a number of remarkable mentors was a huge perk as well. Later, as we got closer to production, I constantly felt the support of the Creative Armenia team. I’m very grateful.”
