KinoPark – #OurCinema

Brief:

The 70s and 80s were the Golden age of Armenian cinema. A future classic was released almost every year, and those films contextualized our culture, reflecting our values and influencing our society. 

Generations were raised on these classics, and people happily revisit them whenever possible. Our partner KinoPark decided to bring the gems of Armenian filmmaking back on the big screen to let everyone enjoy them. The plan was to create a more immersive experience and help people (re-)fall in love with these films.

Selecting the films:

There is no shortage of prominent films in the national cinematheque. The aim was to select those embodying Armenian life—evoking laughter and tears, portraying us in unique or relatable situations. “Men”, “A piece of sky”, and “We and our mountains” were the first films selected for the campaign.

Problem:

While quite famous in the 70s and 80s, these films lack a modern promotional tool—a trailer, a medium that was rarely, if ever, used in Soviet-era films.

During our campaign, aptly titled #OurCinema, the selected films would have to go toe-to-toe against the most hyped blockbusters on KinoPark’s big screens; which means we needed to properly announce their arrival.

Solution:

We created dynamic trailers for each film to help shed new light on familiar stories and generate interest with the younger audience. Each trailer reflects the respective film’s genre, story, or just the general vibe, and follows popular Hollywood tropes of trailer creation. The National Cinema Center of Armenia provided the films in upgraded quality which allowed us to get the best of their cinematography, sound, and music.

Film posters served as another strategic communication tool. Modern film posters steal all the attention from the competition with epic and in-your-face designs, and the original theatrical posters of our selected films (while iconic) would simply pale in comparison. To support releases, new posters were created—brighter, minimalist, featuring recognizable scenes from each film.

The first film was “Men”, a 1973 Edmond Keosayan masterwork about 4 taxi driver friends. Aram, the youngest of the bunch, falls for a beautiful girl he meets on the job but is too shy to approach. Frustrated with his hesitancy, Aram’s friends spare no effort to play the wingmen and push him to make a move—one terrible plan after another. But in the best traditions of the genre, all their attempts fail comically. Eventually, Aram realizes her heart lies elsewhere and stops pursuing her; finally, he settles with his neighbor’s daughter who was head over heels for him this whole time.

The trailer starts as a classic Soviet rom-com that escalates into a full-on action film with dynamic editing and high-speed car chase scenes.

Trailer music:

The main poster shows Aram in his brave attempt to stop a trolleybus from hitting his crush. Predictably, it is soon revealed that this was all a dream…

The 1980 Henrik Malyan classic is about Torik, a hopeless romantic and an orphan raised by his aunt’s family. His foster father tries his best to teach him the craft of donkey saddle making, but Torik, too clumsy and simple-minded for this world, would rather spend the day watching doves fly against the blue sky. As time passes, he grows to be a master at his craft and is ready to take the next big step—get married. Alas, no one wants to marry off their daughter to a saddler.

Shy and hesitant, Torik is coerced by his friend to visit a brothel where he meets Angel. He immediately falls for her and decides to marry her, much to the dismay of the entire community and the church.

The trailer channels the romance genres of the 2000s, with dramatic undertones that manifest Torik’s daydreaming character and the disapproval he is facing for his reckless decision.

Trailer music:

The main poster depicts the pivotal moment Torik meets Angel at the brothel and is too intimidated to even touch her.

Beloved Armenian classic, ‘We and Our Mountains,’ features 4 hapless shepherds who inadvertently roast a neighbor’s sheep and ransom their way out with money and threats. However, a policeman soon arrives to investigate the theft and ends up spending the next few days up in the mountains learning the ways of honest working men. The film portrays rural Armenian life and juxtaposes it with global events of the time, such as The World Cup, The Beatles craze, and the Cold War. Today, the film is a cult classic with iconic quotes that defined the Golden generation of Armenian filmmaking.

Meditative and mostly uneventful, ‘We and our mountains’ is, at its core, a police investigation story, hence a trailer that emulates the mystery crime genre with a touch of blissful naivete.

Trailer music:

The poster is a still from an opening scene where the protagonists dip their sheep in the pond, leading to the fateful confusion and kickstarting the film’s main conflict.

Film premiere:

The first film to premiere on KinoPark’s big screen was ‘Men’. Audiences came to revisit the Edmond Keosayan classic and as a bonus got a sneak peek of the upcoming films.