100 lives

There is a saying in Armenian - “A human should live a century”. This is the core of the 8-minute experimental movie “100 lives”, the shootings of which took place 12 years. The movie shows up as a gallery of portraits.
The narrative structure is minimalistic, there is no dialogue, and the images are accompanied by a minimalist-style hypnotic-mood music in the background to help the audience to dive into the visuals.
Portraits come in the reverse age order — from a 100 year old woman trying to brush her hair to a newborn baby in the maternity home taking his first breath. Much of the footage was filmed in underpopulated areas, including forgotten villages and war-affected border settlements, where death is waiting right around the corner. The protagonist of the film is a generalized character of the human being. People of different professions and mindset took part in the filming: doctors, actors, drivers, musicians, models, etc. The frames are linked by symbolic actions that are bridging one character with another In different places and circumstances the shots give the viewer the impression of being part of a personal and introspective ritual, where the meaning is open to individual exploration. Each frame captures the subtle expressions, the depth of emotions, and the intricate details of the characters' eyes, allowing the viewers to connect with the subjects on a profound level.
Slowly, step by step, the ordinary people living in a small Middle-Eastern country that the viewer sees on the screen are undergoing a mystical metamorphosis, transcending the boundaries of mortality and becoming living icons, transcending their mortal existence and becoming part of the natural landscape.