About

Set in the early 1990s, The Lighthouse follows Lena (Ana Kapaleva) as she returns from Moscow to the small Armenian village of her upbringing to convince her grandparents to flee the approaching war. Lena’s homecoming is also a return to the innocence of her childhood – delineated by the ever-present swirling mists that seem to encompass the village. Despite the growing threat of armed conflict, her life and those of the villagers continue with almost somnambulist rhythms amid the gathering clouds of war.

An intimate, elegiac journey into the haze of personal memory and collective history, Russian-Armenian director Maria Saakyan’s debut feature marked the arrival of a unique voice in modern Eastern European cinema. While Saakyan’s untimely death at the age of 37 tragically ended her life and artistic output, her unique expressionistic lens lives on through this powerful cinematic work.

Ages 15+