When French auditor Alain Delage (Grégoire Colin) is sent to theremote breakaway state of Nagorno-Karabakh to make an officialrecommendation about the feasibility of a new airport that wouldopen this troubled region in the South Caucasus to air traffic afterdecades of war and international isolation, he is drawn into thestruggles of a proud and willful people living on hope alone andbegins to defy his regulations to help them achieve their goals.Armenian-born writer-director Nora Martirosyan’s extraordinarydebut combines a precise, subtle depiction of a complex geopolitical situation with a poetic, sensual evocation of life in a placewhere the outside world is little more than a threat of gunfire butthe dream of a better future is inextinguishable. With its gleamingnew airport waiting for airplanes that may never arrive and aninvisible but lethally dangerous border lying somewhere over thehills, the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh appearscaught in such painfully absurd circumstances that some viewersmight think—or hope—that it is a fictional state. Sadly, NoraMartirosyan’s captivating first feature is as factual as it is timely:in the fall of 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over theregion, leading to thousands of deaths and mass displacement.
Cannes Label 2020 + ACID 2020