Songs of Solomon

Songs of Solomon (Armenian: Սողոմոնի երգերը, romanized: Soghomoni yergery) is an upcoming period biographical drama film directed by Arman Nshanian, depicting the life and music of Komitas Vardabet, who was an Armenian composer, ethnomusicologist and priest, who lived during the years of the Armenian Genocide.[1] The movie has been selected by Armenia to compete in the 93rd Academy Awards.[2]

Not to be confused with Song of Songs, sometimes called "Songs of Solomon".
Songs of Solomon
Directed byArman Nshanian
Produced by
Screenplay byAudrey Gevorkian
Story bySylvia Kavoukjian
Based onThe historic Armenian figure, Komitas Vardabet, and the Armenian Genocide
Starring
  • Samvel Tadevosian
  • Arman Nshanian
  • Sos Janibekyan
  • Arevik Gevorgyan
  • Tatev Hovakimyan
  • Jean-Pierre Nshanian
  • Artashes Aleksanyan
Music byAndranik Berberyan
CinematographyAnthony J. Rickert-Epstein
Edited byAnthony J. Rickert-Epstein
Production
company
  • People of AR Productions
  • Oscar Gold Productions
  • Aneva Productions
  • Vallelonga Productions
Release date
  • October 19, 2019 (2019-10-19) (premiere)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryArmenia
LanguageArmenian

Plot

A relative of story writer Sylvia Kavoukjian shared a story about her grandmother, who were small children during this period the Armenian Genocide. She had a friendship with a Turkish girl, and they eventually became characters in the film, but made older by Kavoukjian.[3] The reason was that Kavoukjian wanted to include the character of Komitas and his music in the story, since he lived in the same time era of the Genocide, in order to present the characters as peers.[4] This story would eventually become the seed of the film’s storyline. Nshanyan wanted to make it into a short film, but was persuaded by the producer, Asko Akopyan, to make it into a full feature film. Nshanyan then worked on the screenplay with screenwriter, Audrey Gevorkian, and then helped with pre-production.[5]

The film will therefore be centered around the music of Komitas.[6] It will also display the life of Komitas before and up to the Armenian Genocide. He originally lived from 1875 to 1915.[7]

Production

The production of the film was set in Armenia. The director is Arman Nshanian. The producers are Arman Nshanian, Oscar-winning Green Book producer and co-writer Nick Vallelonga and Asko Akopyan.[8]

According to Nshanyan, the Armenian locals were very helpful to the production.[1]

Release

The film premiered on 19 October 2019, at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles with the entire cast and crew. The film was then set to be released to the public 24 April 2020 in Armenia - the same date, on which Armenians commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Although, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the release was indefinitely postponed. However, in an interview with VoyageLA, the screenwriter Audrey Gevorkian stated that the film will be premiering in September 2020 in Armenia.[9]

The film has been selected to be shown at several movie festivals of 2020: Rhode Island International Film Festival, Dances With Films, Ojai Film Festival, Ischia Global Film Festival, Ischia Film Festival, Madrid International Film Festival, ARFF Paris International Film Festival and SAFILM - San Antonio Film Festival.[10]

In January 2021, the movie was acquired by Cloudburst Entertainment and which plans to release it in the same year.[8]

Reception

Accolades

Although not being released in cinemas worldwide, the movie has been chosen by the Armenian National Film Academy to be competing in the "Best Foreign Language Film"-category at the 93rd Annual Academy Awards, which will be held on April 23, 2021.[2][11]

See also

References
  1. "Songs of Solomon private screening - red carpet (...) Armenian film". YouTube. Brave New Hollywood. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. McNary, Dave (2020-12-15). "Armenia's 'Songs of Solomon' to Compete for International Feature Film Oscar". Variety. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  3. "Int'l Critics Line: Anna Smith On Armenia's Oscar Entry 'Songs Of Solomon'". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  4. "Sylvia Kavoukjian on Writing Movie". Facebook. Diana Madison. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  5. ""Nick Vallelonga - Oscar Winning Producer of "Green Book" - an interview with Nick Vallelonga and Asko Akopyan as featured in Diana Madison's podcast Dream Big". OwlTail. Dream Big by Diana Madison. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  6. "KOMITAS: the past unsung". Aneva Productions. Aneva Productions. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  7. "KOMITAS - Pomegranate Film Festival". Pomegranate Film Festival. Pomegranate Film Festival. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  8. "Armenia's Oscar Entry 'Songs Of Solomon' Acquired By Cloudburst For 2021 Release". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  9. "Meet Audrey Gevorkian". VoyageLA. VoyageLA. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  10. ""Solomon's Songs" film representing Armenia in Oscar donates $33,000 to the army". asekose.am. Asekose. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  11. "93rd Academy Awards". Armenian National Film Academy. Armenian National Film Academy. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
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