The protagonists of Harutyun Khachatryan’s films — wandering artists who have forever lost their homeland and are in search of a home — are the people, whom the director, camera in hand, has been following throughout his nearly four-decade-long creative journey. These narrative paths have taken Khachatryan from Odessa to Tallinn, from Los Angeles to Moscow, becoming intimate films that together form a collective mosaic of an entire generation of artists.Among this mosaic, full of melancholy, music, and endless conversations, 1994’s Last Station holds a special place. This film will close the 22nd edition of the Golden Apricot Film Festival in honor of the director’s 70th anniversary. Last Station tells the story of Egyptian-Armenian actors Nora Armani and Gérald Papasian, who travel to Los Angeles in search of their American dream. Failing to achieve Hollywood fame, they stage a small theatrical performance based on Armenian poetry and begin touring the world. In one of the cities, they are joined by another exiled artist, played by Armen Jigarkhanyan. Soon, they arrive at the last station — Armenia — where their paths separate. Employing the epistolary style as the film’s primary narrative device and blurring the boundaries between documentary and fiction, Khachatryan, together with co-writer, co-producer, and co-director Armani, and co-writer Papasian, craft archetypal characters who, sadly, cannot stay together. Enriching the narrative with Armenian poetry, multi-genre music, and equally poetic urban landscapes, the director creates a film about shattered dreams, about letting go of one another, and yet about continuing the journey — a film filled with longing and warmth.
