Mariam Ohanyan: “Our goal is to support and inspire women in the cinema industry”

“When I had to choose a future career, I said I wanted to be a director, but the family replied that this specialty is not for a woman,” says film director, director of the “Woman” International Film Festival Mariam Ohanyan.

According to the suggestion of her father, she entered YSU Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics, and then continued her studies at the Faculty of Sociology but love towards cinema did not leave her. “After graduating from the university, I was admitted to the Hayfilm Studio as an assistant, then it was very difficult. I’ve always felt that being  woman has hindered me because there are more men in the cinema, it’s hard for a woman to enter that field,” says Mariam Ohanyan.

In the early 2000’s, she started filming on various topics related to women’s issues, but the film critics’ feedback was mostly the same  – women’s issues are not urgent and important, there are more topical issues. All this, however, was not an obstacle, but a stimulus, contributing to the creation of a film festival, thanks to which the filmmakers could talk about the various issues they were troubling.

The innovative idea to provide female filmmakers with an extra platform was launched in 2004 when Mariam Ohanyan initiated the first International Women’s Film Festival in Armenia where the directors of all the films were exclusively women. For the past 14 years, the film festival has united worldwide female filmmakers in one place, in Armenia, creating the opportunity to see the world from a woman’s perspective. Over the years, the film festival has gained recognition. Last year there were 60 films from 20 countries of the world, besides film screenings, master classes, roundtables and discussions were held at the film festival as well.

It is also interesting to note the criteria to be met by the film to participate in the film festival. According to Mariam Ohanyan, the most important criterion is that the film should be an art work. “Art requires new forms of searching, new words, depth of work. It should make people think. Art is working with the essence of a person, “she underlines.

The jury of the festival includes both Armenian and foreign experts.

Speaking about the films presented by film directors from Armenia and other countries, the founder of the film festival notes that Armenian directors do not mainly focus on women’s issues.

By the way, she recently had the opportunity to present these issues to the Forum titled “Gender Equality in the Cinema”, held in Yerevan by Eurimages. During a talk with WomenNet.am, she particularly mentioned that during the years of teaching at the State Institute of Cinema, she studied gender equality in Armenian cinema.

“We have serious problems with choosing women’s characters, actresses, and trusting women’s roles in film production. With a simple example I can say that the characters in the film are almost always stereotypical – a woman, a mother or a mistress. You will hardly find female characters who think, act, play some role in the development of the plot.

Summing up the event, Mariam Ohanyan mentioned that one of the most important achievements of the festival is that despite having no means, it is already somehow recognized. The “Woman” International Film Festival will be held this year for the 15^th  time, once again uniting the works of female directors from different countries around the world.

Full text in Armenian