Private Project

Sandjak

In 1939, following an agreement signed by France, the Alexandretta Sandjak in Syria was annexed to Turkey. Thousands of Armenians, including my grandmother, flee Alexandretta for Aleppo or Beirut. In the fall of 1939, a small number moved inland to an already established “quarantine” zone near Burj Hammoud, which at the time was farmland. The camp takes the name of their homeland, Sandjak.

Navigating three types of images, shot in three different periods, the film explores the poetics of haunting through compositions of images that attempt to create an entanglement between the past and the present. An intimate but detached voice, a little stoic even, speaking of countless losses. The repeated affirmation of belonging to a place that is no longer.

  • Chantal Partamian
    Director
    Houbout, Tekrar, CHere N.
  • Ramzi Madi
    Sound Designer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 20 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 19, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    400 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Lebanon
  • Language:
    Armenian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Ecrans du Réel 2021 شاشات الواقع
    Beirut
    Lebanon
    July 6, 2021
    Lebanese Premiere
  • Lebanese Film Festival in Canada
    Montreal
    Canada
    Canadian Premiere
  • "One Shot" Film Festival
    Yerevan
    Armenia
    September 23, 2021
    Special Mention
  • Burnt Experimental Film Festival
    Montreal
    Canada
    March 17, 2022
    Audience Award
  • Alexandria Short Film Festival
    Alexandria
    Egypt
    North African Premiere
  • Toronto Arab Film Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
  • 9e édition du Festival Aflam
    Marseille
    France
  • Toronto Arab Film Festival
  • Pomegranate film festival
  • Middle East Studies Association 2022 FilmFest
  • 15e édition, Elles Tournent, Brussels Women’s Film Festival
  • Kask Cinema activities, Tashattot collective
  • SWANA film festival
  • Grande rencontre des arts médiatiques en Gaspésie
Distribution Information
  • GIV (GROUPE INTERVENTION VIDEO) Montréal
Director Biography - Chantal Partamian

Native to Beirut, to a Lebanese-Armenian family, I currently live and work in Quebec.
Across my work, celluloid, memory, obsolescence and political imaginaries merge to reflect on erasure, denial, repetition and blur. I explore themes of justice, migration, identity, gender and conflict through the combiantion of a variety of practices.

My work includes Chere N. Audience and Jury award winner at the Dresdner Schmalfimtage 2007. Tekrar, presented at Les
Instants Vidéo, Marseilles. Epistemic Space, in collaboration with the Armenian-Turkish cinema platform of the Yerevan Golden Apricot International Film Festival. Houbout a poetic essay, that very briefly explores fragments of a long distance relationship.

I have also collaborated on many feature length projects as Director of photography and/or Senior Editor and have worked as a producer, a trainer in Guerrilla film making, social media and film as well as film critique.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

In 1939, following an agreement signed by France, the Alexandretta Sandjak in Syria was annexed to Turkey. Thousands of Armenians, including my grandmother, flee Alexandretta for Aleppo or Beirut. In the fall of 1939, a small number moved inland to an already established "quarantine" zone near Burj Hammoud, which at the time was farmland.
The camp takes the name of their homeland, Sandjak.
Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, the camp gradually expanded
and its population diversified.
The increasing urbanization of cities in Lebanon has led to the eradication of the camp.
The Armenian diaspora in Lebanon has made no significant attempt to prevent the destruction of the camp or to understand or eradicate the material and social conditions that have ensured that a camp persists for at least 60 years.
Families in the camp reported receiving between $ 3,000 and $ 5,000
compensation from the municipality.