MY ARMENIAN PHANTOMS (MES FANTÔMES ARMÉNIENS) Documentary

MY ARMENIAN PHANTOMS (MES FANTÔMES ARMÉNIENS)

U.S. Premiere

Screening to be followed by a conversation with director, screenwriter and producer Tamara Stepanyan.

Personal memoirs and collective cinematic nostalgia converge in Tamara Stepanyan’s tender love letter to her late father and a faded past of Soviet Armenia. Triggered by the sudden passing of her father — distinguished Armenian actor Vigen Stepanyan — and recalling those early days living in her homeland, Stepanyan, now based in Europe, begins an intimate dialogue with all the ghosts of her past. From Sergei Parajanov’s influence to Frunze Dovlatyan’s poetry, from childhood memories watching her father on the TV to interviews with her family, Stepanyan delicately reassembles a tableau of private and collective histories through the interwoven montage of home videos and Soviet era Armenian film archive, while also considering her place as a woman filmmaker in this storied legacy of men. A treasured excavation of a bygone era, MY ARMENIAN PHANTOMS conjures the transcending, universal dreams of diaspora. –Anna Li

Born in Armenia, Stepanyan moved to Lebanon in the 1990s before studying at the National Film School of Denmark. Now living in France, she is considered to be the new voice of Armenian cinema. Her first feature film IN THE LAND OF ARTO was the opening film of Locarno 2025.

Axelle Jean
Cinephil
Axelle@Cinephil.com

MEMBERS & PASSHOLDERS

Screenings

October 24, 6:15 p.m.

Chinese 3

Details

Country: France, Armenia

Year: 2025

Director: Tamara Stepanyan

Screenwriters: Tamara Stepanyan, Jean-Christophe Ferrari

Producers: Céline Loiseau, Alice Baldo, Tamara Stepanyan

Executive Producers: Céline Loiseau, Karina Simonyan

Director of Photography: Claire Mathon

Editor: Olivier Ferrari

Music: Cynthia Zaven

Running Time (minutes): 75

Languages: Armenian, French, Russian

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

AFI FEST
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.