A story of people in war and peace (2007)

directed by Vardan Hovhannisyan

“I was fascinated by the footage.
It’s remarkable material.”

— Nick Fraser, Editor, BBCDirector

“…what the film offers is something quite remarkable…it succeeds heartbreakingly in driving home the fact that somehow we know that nothing justifies the fact of taking the precious, irreplaceable life of even a single human being.”

— Peter Scarlet, Tribeca Film Festival Executive Director

Prompted by a question from his son, Hovhannisyan embarks on a journey to find his surviving trench mates from the Nagorno-Karabakh War of the early nineties with neighboring Azerbaijan and examines the lasting effects of the war during a time of peace. Timely and universal, A Story of People in War and Peace wrestles with the question of how to maintain dignity in the face of terror.

For close to 10 years, Armenian journalist Vardan Hovhannisyan has struggled to push the devastation caused by his country’s 1994 conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan out of his mind. As his son grows older, however, he finds himself faced with pointed questions about the war, and grapples to find a way to convey his experiences to the younger generation. Reluctantly, he begins combing through the footage he took during the conflict in the Nagorno Karabakh region, and resolves to track down his fellow soldiers in hopes that they may share their insights about the battle as well as the directions their lives have taken in the ensuing decade. Little prepares him for what he finds along the way. One of his comrades has endured a bitter divorce, resulting in strained relations between him and his children. One turns up in prison, while yet another can be found in a mental hospital, haunted by visions and voices from the battlefield. After frank and intimate conversations with each of them, it swiftly becomes clear to Hovhannisyan that these men are not only victims of war, but also “casualties of peace.” Interweaving footage from one of the conflict’s bloodiest battles with these interviews, the director creates a deeply personal and devastating portrait of war’s lasting damage.