Sona Karapoghosyan, 2025 East-West Resident
During her one-month residency at the iconic Villa Empain in Brussels, Sona immersed herself in Armenian cinema of the 1980s and 90s, revisiting films from that era and deepening her research. The residency offered her not only the focus to explore this period in depth but also the chance to connect with a vibrant network of international artists and cultural figures.
In our interview, Sona looks back on her time at Villa Empain, the discoveries she made about Armenian cinema, and the inspiring connections that emerged from her stay.
Having recently completed your East-West Residency at the Villa Empain, what aspects of the experience stood out the most for you?
Now, when I look back on those days at the villa, the first feeling I relive – and actually long for – is simply being there, surrounded by all that greenery: the beautiful forest, the pond, the light, and the sounds drifting in through my big window.
Your residency at Villa Empain involved research on Armenian cinema of the 1980s and 90s. Could you share more about this project, the inspiration behind it, and how your time in Brussels influenced its development and progress?
The 1980s and 1990s were a period in Soviet and post-Soviet cinema when national film industries began to experience a certain degree of artistic freedom (almost no censorship) while still benefiting from functioning infrastructures that made film production possible.
When I started working in the Heritage Department of the Cinema Foundation of Armenia (which, back in 2020, was still called the National Cinema Center of Armenia), I came across photos from films made during this period. Some of them struck me as remarkably bold and unconventional for their time. I started to watch, or rewatch, films by Vigen Chaldranyan, Suren Babayan, and others, and their cinema feels like a breath of fresh air: full of freedom and a spirit of experimentation – something I find lacking in contemporary Armenian cinema. So, my idea was to curate a program featuring films from this period – works that are both interesting and still relatively unknown, even to Armenian audiences.
During my stay in Brussels, I had the chance to revisit many of these films – and to watch some of them for the first time – thanks to the Cinema Foundation of Armenia, which provided most of the materials. I’m currently finalizing the program and will soon begin proposing it to various film institutions and cinematheques for potential screenings.
I’ve already begun discussions with Cinematek in Brussels, which has expressed interest in the project. We agreed to start with a single film, which will likely be screened in Brussels next spring. I’ll return to Belgium to present it. We’re now in the process of selecting the film, and I’ll be happy to share more details once everything is confirmed.
Moments from Sona Karapoghosyan's East-West Residency
From your experience, do you think Armenian cinema resonates with local audiences in Belgium and beyond? Based on that, which films would you consider ideal to introduce to these viewers?
Oh, definitely. During my stay in Brussels, I went to several independent screenings around the city and saw a very curious, usually quite young audience, with some niche films by completely unknown filmmakers even selling out. And if the film comes from a country they’ve heard of but don’t know much about, that becomes an extra motivation to attend the screening.
Also, the Belgian audience is not unfamiliar with Armenian cinema. A few years ago, Cinematek ran a program on silent Armenian films, and Bozar (the Center for Fine Arts) hosted a showcase of contemporary Armenian cinema for several years in a row. So I’m certain there’s an audience for all kinds of cinema, both classic and contemporary, because people – especially within the cinephile community – are genuinely eager to discover new films and filmmakers.
Aside from your original intentions, what new ideas or projects emerged during your time in Brussels?
In parallel with this program, I was also working on the curation of the Month of European Film, which we’re organizing for the second consecutive year in collaboration with the European Film Academy. My stay in Brussels coincided with the Locarno Film Festival, and I managed to take a short trip there. Not surprisingly, some of the films I saw at the festival ended up making it into our program.
At the moment, I’m finalizing the financing and negotiations with the film rights holders, and hopefully, we’ll be able to present the program to the Yerevan audience at the end of November.
Reflecting on your time as the East-West Resident, what do you consider the most valuable takeaway from the experience?
Human connections are always the most valuable takeaways from projects like this. I shared the residency with two amazing artists – Abdalla Al Omari (Syria/Belgium) and Petram Chalach (Lebanon) – and somehow, we really bonded. I joked that our residency felt like an indie American TV series about flatmates. Jokes aside, I truly hope this friendship will grow into a collaborative project between us. Let’s see!