Spectators appreciate objectivity of film about Nagorno-Karabakh at "Artdocfest"

The documentary "Under Same Sun" by François Jacob, a Canadian filmmaker, about Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and confrontation around Nagorno-Karabakh is objectively covering the positions of both parties. The author has managed to maintain neutrality, the audience of the "Artdocfest" festival has pointed out.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in April, within the framework of the "Artdocfest" documentary film festival, a number of films were screened that show the developments in Southern Russia. Thus, the film "25 Years of Solitude" tells the love story of an Abkhazian veteran. The film is unexpectedly distant from any politics, the audience has noted.

François Jacob said that Thomas De Waal, the author of the famous book about the Karabakh conflict, was a consultant of his film.

The film tells that more than 25 years after the 1994 war, conflicting sentiments seem to be just as strong, and a chain of resentment connects with rejection.

"Both in Azerbaijan and in Armenia they said that they had been living there for two thousand years ... and that for at least 200 years both peoples have been living together," Mr Jacob said, noting that initially, people's statements sounded in the mainstream of official propaganda, but if it was possible to dig deeper, it turned out that people still had human feelings for the other party.

After the war of 2020, relations of the two nations have deteriorated significantly; and there is no longer any talk of reconciliation, François Jacob believes. In his opinion, both countries should "stop looking into the past, but think about how they will coexist now."

In his book "Black Garden. Armenia and Azerbaijan between Peace and War", Thomas de Waal noted that "this is not a conflict where both parties could slowly and gradually heal old wounds and return to a semblance of normal life."