The Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia, Zhanna Andreasyan, accompanied by Deputy Minister Daniel Danielyan and Director of the Cinema Foundation of Armenia Davit Banuchyan, visited the Armenfilm film studio to assess the current state of the premises — once a hub of the Soviet film industry — as well as the existing issues and development potential. Special attention was given to the film heritage archive: for years, ancient film reels have been stored here without proper preservation conditions, putting not only the quality of the films but also cultural memory at risk.
The Minister emphasized the need for state oversight in preserving film heritage, stressing that the cleaning and digitization of film reels must become a priority. This is undoubtedly an important step, considering that the Armenfilm archive includes golden-age works of not only Armenian but also Soviet cinema — from the 1920s to the late 1980s.
Davit Banuchyan presented a relaunch plan for the film studio, aiming to revitalize national film production and attract new financial flows. He highlighted the need for collaboration with the private sector and international partners, as this remains the only realistic path forward given the current closed market and limited public resources. According to the Minister, much work lies ahead, and a clear timetable must be developed to implement the program step by step.
However, it should be noted that this is not the first attempt to breathe new life into Armenfilm. In 2005, the studio was privatized with a promise of nearly 30 billion AMD in investments. The project eventually failed, and in 2015, the state regained its share — effectively acquiring a ruined and inactive property. The government paid the investor to reclaim the area. In 2019, another attempt was made to revive the studio through a lease, but once again, the effort ended in a court case. In 2023, against the backdrop of news about the Academic City, the Prosecutor’s Office initiated a criminal case regarding damages of approximately 10 million USD caused to the state during the 2005 privatization process.
Even today, amid plans for renovation, the legal status of Armenfilm remains unresolved. According to information provided to KinoPress by the State Property Management Committee in April, the studio’s land is still in an uncertain condition. Although it was designated as “of overriding public interest” in 2024 for the construction of a future Academic City, “no action has yet been taken regarding land transfers within the scope of the project, as the process is still unclear.”
In this context, questions arise: are the authorities’ statements about the revival sufficient to yield tangible results? Can the state system overcome years of legal and financial uncertainty and restore Armenfilm to its former prominence in Armenian cinema?
