MOTHERLAND
ABOUT
What if fighting for your country meant going against some of its most traditional values? Motherland is a documentary about the women who shake tradition to rid their country of landmines leftover from a devastating ethnic war. Individually outcast; together, a collective - the deminers support each other as they take on the dangerous role of breaking stereotypes and securing the future of their war-torn republic. Motherland follows two women who work full-time as mine clearance officers in Nagorno-Karabakh. They put themselves at great risk in order to save the lives of countless people who use these lands to farm, collect wood, attend school, and rebuild after war. Despite their courageous work, they still face the stigma of independent, working women in a country where they are often the property and responsibility of men. In following their stories, we explore not only their dangerous work, but their lives as they wrestle with the pain of their pasts, their dreams for the future of their children and their country, and the immense joy and bonds they share.
Emily Mkrtichian is an Armenian-American filmmaker and writer whose films touch on themes of Memory, Place and Identity. Emily has been a Flaherty Seminar Fellow, a LA Arts Activation Fund recipient, A Locarno Film Festival development grant winner, a UnionDocs Summer Lab Fellow, and participated in the Torino Film Creative Producing Lab. She is currently working on her first feature documentary film There Was, There Was Not, which has been supported by the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund, HotDocs, IDA, and Chicken & Egg Pictures.
Jesse Soursourian is an Armenian-American writer and director based in New York City. He co-directed the documentary film MOTHERLAND, about the women de-miners of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has screened at over a dozen festivals around the world including the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the Camden International Film Festival, and many others. As a screenwriter, he wrote the script for the short film Hugh the Hunter, directed by Oscar nominee Zachary Heinzerling, and which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His feature screenplays have gained recognition from numerous festivals and contests including Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope, in which he was a quarterfinalist. As a director, Jesse's short documentary, They Were Afraid of Us, screened at multiple festivals at home and abroad. Jesse has an MFA in Screenwriting from Columbia University.
CREDITS
Jesse Soursourian
Emily Mkrtichian
Jesse Soursourian
Sebu Simonian
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