Marat Sargsyan an Armenian director lives in Lithuania for 16 years. Now he remembers every little detail about his arriving to Siauliai, the small city of Lithuania. He remembers the train, the snow and cold whether, he remembers smoking women, which was a shock for Armenian teenager. After several months Marat decided that he should earn money instead of taking them from grandparents.
“We went to a local TV of Siauliai to give an announcement, that I’m shooting weddings. My grandfather is unbelievable person. I just can’t describe him. He entered to the principal of the TV and told him, that I’m the best operator. I get red at that moment. You should see me. I was short and black as a gypsy. The principal of TV of course laughed , but at the same time he gave to me an old video camera and told me- Go and shoot whatever you want. I took the camera and taped all dogs and cats in the streets of Siauliai. The principal of TV watched at my tapes and he told me ok, you can work in our TV”
The work made him feel more self-confident and 18 years old Marat decided to invite parents to move from Armenia to Siauliai. After several years, Marat get bored from the little city and he moved to the capital, Vilnius. At first he can’t find a work in Vilnius TV-s. But then he was invited to a TV morning program as an Armenian guest to make Armenian traditional barbecue.
“I’ve never stand in front of the cameras. I was afraid, I drank konyak, get little bit drunk and started speak so much, that the next day I switched off all my phones, because I was ashamed what I did. Then after few days the editor of the TV called me and ask if i want to be show man in their morning cooking program, He told, that he never saw such thing, You didn‘t let our presenter to say a word, She just said Good morning and that‘s it. I laughed, but there is no way to step back, So I agreed”
After 5 years Marat Sargsyan was one of the most famous TV show-man in Lithuania, Everybody knew him, everybody loved him.” TV is an emptiness, It is like a circus. You must act as a stupid clown. Make yourself to look foolish for reaching higher...” But soon Marat noticed that he is getting sick with star fever, And it getting worse and worse. So he decided to quit the show-business.
“Though I was trying to control myself, but I was losing myself. Every minute I was waiting that everybody will recognize me, why someone didn‘t noticed me? And that was bothering me very much. But I couldn‘t do anything, The last thing was when I was waiting in the shop for my turn to pay, I heard that someone behind me was speaking about me, I turned and there was no one...I realize, that I‘m seriously sick.”
Marat says, that it was not so hard to quit, It was like salvation.”It was like I had golden and very beautiful dress, and everyone just loved it. But it was too heavy for me to wear it every day, And I just took off that dress”.
After leaving the glitter of show business Marat went in deeply for real art. Long discussions and conversations with Armenian artist Tigran Yukhanyan longed him to the deepness of the real art, he discovered the most important thing in his life.”And at that moment i just realized, that i was waiting for 27 years, that someone will open that doors for me, After that everything changed in my life”
In 27 years Marat entered to the Vilnius academy of music and theater, specializing in film and TV directing. Now he is on 2-nd year of his master education. His final bachelor degree work is Lernavan short movie.This movie is about the homeland, which is not longer exist. The center of the movie- a father and son, looking for father‘s homeland. Lernavan. However there is no such place and no one even heard about it. After a long strange trip by bus, father and son come to a place where neither domestic, nor human, neither nature nor earth...Everything is white, as white as an empty sheet of paper...
“The Lernavan is partly about me, because I had not been in my homeland for long time, It was about my own fear, that the homeland is not like I remember. Maybe it isn‘t changed at all and the only one who changed, that‘s me,.,,because my memories was not real anymore...”After shooting the Lernavan, Marat had a chance to
visit Armenia. And the ridiculous thing was that the same situation
happened to him, as had pictured in his movie. In his homeland he
decided to search for the real Lernavan. “I was searching, searching, No
one knows where is Lernavan, There was Lernapar, Lernapat, but no
Lernavan, I was asking to everyone, to taxi drivers, they were telling
me, there is no Lernavan, i was thinking, oh my God, it is a fantasy,
the exact thing is happening to me, as i wrote in my scripts. And
several days later in fruit celebration of Lori, I saw a note Lernavan. I
started ask viliage people about Lernavan, And then they asked, why am I
so interested. I told them my story.
They were so exited, that I made a movie about their village, that they invite me to Lernavan for a big party, They told me so many good things, without seeing my movie, without knowing who am I, So then I was joking with my Lithuanian friends telling them as an advice, to go to any Armenian village and say to people that you are writing a book or shooting a movie about their homeland and they will take you for a big party without asking what book, what movie?. That is a story of Lernavan, And by the way, when I came back from Lernavan, They called me and told, that Lernavan won a price in the Vilnius festival.
The Lernavan wins several awards already- Vilnius Film Shorts'2009, Lithuania – best fiction film, International Film and Music Festival Kustendorf‘ 2010, Serbia – press prize and “Bronze Egg”prize, International Film Festival „Kino pavasaris‘2010“, Lithuania – special prize for best young director‘s film, International Film Festival <<Golden Apricot>> 2010, Armenia , British Council Special Award and Hrant Matevosyan Special Award .
Lilit Nurijanyan
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