Vardan Hovhannisyan
Encyclopedia
Vardan Hovhannisyan is an Armenia
n director and producer.
From 1988 to 1991, Vardan Hovhannisyan was a freelance cameraman and covered the hot regions and ethnic conflicts related to the post-Soviet transition for the international news. He was twice captured as a prisoner of war during the Kharabagh war. In 1993 he established Bars Media
Documentary Film Studio, one of the first independent film companies in Armenia
, which specializes in making documentaries about human stories, culture, history and other social issues. He has also been the executive producer of documentaries for organizations such as the United Nations, USAID, OSCE, the British Council and OXFAM.
His film A Story of People in War and Peace
has won over 20 awards including the FIPRESCI
prize, the Best New Documentary Filmmaker Award at Tribeca Film Festival
(New York, 2007), the Audience Award at Trieste Film Festival (Italy 2007), the Special Mention Award at the ZagrebDox Film Festival (Croatia 2007) and Docaviv Film Festival (Israel 2007), and was nominated for the Joris Ivens award at IDFA (The Netherlands, 2006). The film has been shown on the BBC
, ARTE
WDR, YLE, Documentary Channel US and will be shown on PBS.
Recently, he produced the documentary The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia
", an international co-production with NHK
, ITVS
, YLE, SVT, TVP
.
Vardan is also developing documentary films in Africa, Russia, Afghanistan, and at the North and South Poles. He is currently planning to start the production of his next film Hot Archeology in Afghanistan.
Vardan is a certified sports-plane pilot and first-class parachutist, experienced in aerial film shooting. He is a member of the EDN and the IDA.
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n director and producer.
From 1988 to 1991, Vardan Hovhannisyan was a freelance cameraman and covered the hot regions and ethnic conflicts related to the post-Soviet transition for the international news. He was twice captured as a prisoner of war during the Kharabagh war. In 1993 he established Bars Media
Bars Media
Bars Media Documentary Film Studio was established in 1993 by Vardan Hovhannisyan, who began his career as a frontline filmmaker covering hotspots in the former Soviet Union....
Documentary Film Studio, one of the first independent film companies in Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, which specializes in making documentaries about human stories, culture, history and other social issues. He has also been the executive producer of documentaries for organizations such as the United Nations, USAID, OSCE, the British Council and OXFAM.
His film A Story of People in War and Peace
A Story of People in War and Peace
A Story of People in War and Peace is a 2007 Armenian documentary film about Armenian filmmaker Vardan Hovhannisyan personal understanding of the human costs of war...
has won over 20 awards including the FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
prize, the Best New Documentary Filmmaker Award at Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
(New York, 2007), the Audience Award at Trieste Film Festival (Italy 2007), the Special Mention Award at the ZagrebDox Film Festival (Croatia 2007) and Docaviv Film Festival (Israel 2007), and was nominated for the Joris Ivens award at IDFA (The Netherlands, 2006). The film has been shown on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, ARTE
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
WDR, YLE, Documentary Channel US and will be shown on PBS.
Recently, he produced the documentary The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia
The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia
The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia documentary tells the story of Zhora, 78 years-old, and Knyaz, 77 years-old, who were once the most celebrated tightrope dancers in Armenia. Today they are the only existing masters who can keep this ancient art alive against the currents of contemporary society...
", an international co-production with NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
, ITVS
ITVS
Independent Television Service is a service in the United States which funds and presents documentaries and dramas on public television, new media projects on the Internet, and the weekly series Independent Lens and Global Voices on PBS....
, YLE, SVT, TVP
TVP
TVP may stand for:* Television Personalities, a rock music band* Telewizja Polska, Polish public television* Textured vegetable protein* Thames Valley Police, a police force in the United Kingdom...
.
Vardan is also developing documentary films in Africa, Russia, Afghanistan, and at the North and South Poles. He is currently planning to start the production of his next film Hot Archeology in Afghanistan.
Vardan is a certified sports-plane pilot and first-class parachutist, experienced in aerial film shooting. He is a member of the EDN and the IDA.