GATE TO HEAVEN will be screening at the Las Cruces International Film Festival in March 2021.
In the midst of our unprecedented times coupled with the brutal war of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), GATE TO HEAVEN, a film by director Jivan Avetisyan from Armenia managed to receive a considerable amount of publicity especially in Europe, Russia, and the US within the last few months. The riveting war drama takes place in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) during the four-day war in 2016.
The story, haunted by his past, German journalist Robert Sternvall returns to Artsakh after 22 years when the Nagorno-Karabakh war reignites to cover the conflict. In the result of his journalistic investigation, Robert meets Sophia Marti, a young opera singer, who happens to be the daughter of missing photojournalist Edgar Martirosyan, whom Robert abandoned in captivity during the fall of the village of Talish of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992. As their romance develops, Robert’s guilty conscience catches up and he must face the truth of his past actions. Meanwhile the editor-in-chief of Berlin Post is preparing a grand exhibition to showcase Robert’s talent and celebrate his accomplishments, which is set to take place soon. Sophia is eager to attend the prestigious event not knowing what awaits her...
GATE TO HEAVEN was selected at Moscow International Film Festival Non- Competition Category...
The film’s creative team teamed up with MPM Premium International Sales of France early Spring of 2020 to participate in the Virtual Screening of Cannes Marché du Film. MPM Premium has received numerous leads across the globe, including the US.
Quickly thereafter, GATE TO HEAVEN was selected at Moscow International Film Festival Non- Competition Category. The creators of the film received an official letter by Festival Director six hours after the war began to avoid clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Moscow” as a “precautionary measure linked directly to Karabakh,” as reported in September by Kirill Razlogov, the festival’s director of programming. The team also received conflicting information that the screening had been cancelled as the film is being removed from the official program due to the political pressures received by Azerbaijani government officials. Link
Within few weeks of the Moscow Film Festival, the Golden Apricot International Film
Festival in Yerevan, Armenia took place which the festival launched the project “Dedication to Artsakh” and GATE TO HEAVEN was screened during the program. All proceeds of the program were donated to Artsakh.
Cinema for Peace Foundation in Berlin hosted a unique Virtual Screening of GATE TO HEAVEN and Conference for Peace on Nagorno Karabakh in December 2020. Lead actor - Richard Sammel from Germany and Producer Kestutis Drazdauskas from Lithuania and Executice Producer Adrineh Mirzayan from USA served as panelists and discussed topics such as the response of the international community, the role of civil society organizations in peacekeeping, and the role of filmmakers, human rights experts and EU politicians. Link
The accolades continue with GATE TO HEAVEN as the film has been selected in the Official Selection at the Las Cruces International Film Festival...
The accolades continue with GATE TO HEAVEN as the film has been selected in the Official Selection at the Las Cruces International Film Festival, which will take place the first week of March 2021. And our talented composer, Michele Josia of Italy, swept two incredible awards for his beautifully composed soundtrack, Silver Medal – Outstanding Achievement “Regarding the Controversial and Critical Acclaimed Film.” Michele’s second recognition comes as a finalist for “Best Score of the Month” at the TMA – American Tracks Music Award.
Finding a distributor maybe harder than making a movie. GATE TO HEAVEN has now found a home with US distributor Ketchup Entertainment who is dedicated to connecting independent films with the audiences that crave content beyond what’s being offered to them. Gate to Heaven is set to release Spring 2021 by Ketchup Entertainment.
GATE TO HEAVEN was produced by Fish eye Art Cultural Foundation (Armenia), Artbox Production House (Lithuania), 7 Morgen Filmproduktion (Germany), Glaam Media Invest (France), ARTsakh Arts and Cultural Foundation (USA), Timeless Production Group (Bulgaria), The Lab – a Media Production Company (Czech Republic) and Ala Bianca SRL (Italy).
Jivan Avetisyan and his team are currently creating two feature film projects – Revival and Black List...
Jivan Avetisyan and his team are currently creating two feature film projects – Revival and Black List, which are currently in the Development phase. Revival gained international interest by the selection committee of Berlinale Talents, Berlin International Film Festival. Within the Berlinale Talents 2020 framework, Jivan Avetisyan became the subject of a documentary by German international Broadcaster Deutsche Welle, DW Documentary. The project was also selected by Roy W. Dean Grant in the Hot Films in the Making category. The organization, From the Heart Productions, will host the film on their website for a year and help us raise funds. Black List has been inspired by the life of Alexander Lapshin, a popular Russian-Israeli travel blogger.
Jivan Avetisyan spent 38 days of his life in the Artsakh war, which began end of September. Jivan spent a substantial amount of time documenting all the atrocities and war crimes committed against the Armenian population of Artsakh including his family. He will integrate these photos and videos in his future film projects.
Jivan Avetisyan's quest is to continue to tell these stories, bring awareness on Artsakh, and promote peace through the art of filmmaking.
