The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, we dedicate 2015 to an exploration of multiple facets of Armenian culture, history, and landscape through film in our series I Am Armenian.

Once the most celebrated masters of the ancient art of tightrope dancing in Armenia, Zhora and Knyaz—longtime bitter rivals—join forces to train the only student of tightrope dancing left in their country—a 16-year old orphan. (2010, Dirs. I. Sahakyan & A. Yeritsyan, 52 min.) A Q&A with director Inna Sahakyan follows the screening. Coffee, tea, and Armenian pastries will be available after the program.

Inna Sahakyan has been producing and directing films at Bars Media for over ten years. She began with small projects in the villages of Armenia for various International organizations like USAID and the UN, producing films such as 'Sold Out Childhood,' and 'Childhood Dreams' about orphans and children with disabilities. Inna was the assistant director on Vardan Hovhannisyan’s International award-film, A Story of War and Peace, and then went on to co-direct her first full length documentary, The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia, an International Co-production with NHK, PBS, YLE and SVT. Currently, Inna is producing/directing “Imprisoned Souls” documentary/animated film, which through archival interviews and animation, brings back to life stories of survivors of Armenian Genocide and lets their voices be heard. When Inna is not chasing stories, she spends her time raising two beautiful daughters and managing an office full of producers, directors, and interns.