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12h ago

Tamara Stepanyan’s ‘Le Pays d’Arto’ Surfaces Armenia’s Scars Through a Personal Quest

The film follows a widow seeking documents in Armenia to secure her children’s nationality.

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Dans « Le pays d’Arto », de Tamara Stepanyan, Camille Cottin interprète une veuve qui, en voyage en Arménie, découvre que feu son mari n’était pas celui qu’elle croyait.
Ce film dramatique franco-arménien, porté par Camille Cottin, suit le voyage d’une femme partie légaliser la mort de son mari dans son pays.
Camille Cottin : "Le passé de cette nation est si fort qu'il constitue littéralement ses habitants".

Overview

  • Director Tamara Stepanyan says the decade‑long project was designed to address multiple national wounds rather than deliver a historical film about the genocide.
  • Camille Cottin plays the lead, traveling to Armenia after her husband’s death to trace his past and encounter the country’s traumas.
  • A central thread has the heroine pursuing a birth certificate so she can transmit Armenian nationality to her children.
  • Recent interviews place the release in a context of recovery, with France Inter noting an August 11, 2025 peace agreement that ended a new confrontation with Azerbaijan.
  • The film evokes unresolved damage and displacement, referencing Gyumri’s lingering earthquake destruction and the 2023 exodus of about 120,000 Armenians from Nagorno‑Karabakh.