Groong Links:
Guest Host:
Guest:
Topics:
- Diana Mkrtchyan’s personal and artistic journey
- The origins of Ojakh in Erhan Arik’s photographic work
- Filming the final testimonies of Armenian Genocide survivors
- Ethical and technical challenges of documenting trauma
- The erasure of Ojakh from official cultural promotion in Armenia
- Cinema as historical record and moral witness
- Mkrtchyan’s Artsakh footage during the blockade
Episode 499 | Recorded: December 27, 2025
Show Notes
Diana Mkrtchyan – Ojakh: On the Other Side of Silence
Episode Summary
In this episode, guest host Bedros Afeyan speaks with documentary filmmaker Diana Mkrtchyan about her feature documentary Ojakh: On the Other Side of Silence. The conversation traces the film’s nine-year development, its origins in Turkish photographer Erhan Arik’s Horovel project, and the urgent effort to document the last living Armenian Genocide survivors in border villages. The discussion also addresses artistic responsibility, dignity in testimony, cultural memory, censorship, and the continuity between Genocide-era trauma and the recent destruction of Artsakh.
Key Exchanges Between Bedros Afeyan and Diana Mkrtchyan
Urgency versus production timelines Mkrtchyan explains why Ojakh could not follow standard European documentary schedules, as many of the survivors were near the end of their lives. Delay meant permanent loss of testimony.
Dignity over victimhood Both stress that the film avoids sentimental framing. Survivors are presented as composed witnesses, not objects of pity.
The role of a Turkish photographer Erhan Arik’s presence undermines denial through human encounter rather than argument.
State silence versus living memory Despite minimal institutional support, audiences traveled from border regions to see the film.
From 1915 to Artsakh The discussion draws a direct line between Genocide testimonies and Mkrtchyan’s documentation of Artsakh.
Referenced Articles & Sources
Wrap-up
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Guests
Diana Mkrtchyan
Diana Mkrtchyan grew up in Armenia and graduated in Cinematographic Studies in Moscow. She is the author of five documentary films. Her first short fiction film, Gata, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival in 2008 and received numerous awards at international festivals. “Ojakh: on the other side of silence” is her first feature documentary. The film has already received several international awards, including Best Director in France and Best International Documentary in New-York.
Filmography (selected) Le don de St. Nikolaï (doc., 2007) Gata (short, 2008). Ojakh, on the Other Side of the Silence (2024)
Hosts
Bedros Afeyan
Dr. Bedros Afeyan is a theoretical physicist specializing in plasma physics and laser fusion since 1980. He also paints, sculpts and writes poetry. He is keenly interested in classical music, classical guitar, theater, cinema, and chess. He lives and works in Palo Alto with his wife Mariné. They have been together since the day they met in March, 1998. He is the current editor of The Literary Groong.