European premiere

Should the Wind Drop

Local title
Kui tuul peaks vaibuma
Original title
Si le vent tombe
Director
Nora Martirosyan
Country
France, Armenia, Belgium
Year
2020
Programme
First Feature Competition

"Should the Wind Drop" unfolds against the backdrop of Nagorno-Karabakh, a self-proclaimed republic of the Caucasus, located between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Alain, a French auditor, has arrived to appraise the airport of Nagorno-Karabakh and greenlight its eventual reopening. This airport, with no planes or passengers, opens its doors every morning and welcomes the staff mimicking real activity. The airport crystallizes itself, the hope of an entire territory, fighting for international recognition.

As the audit progresses, through interviews with airport employees and his travels, Alain discovers a country that may only exist on certain maps, but yet constitutes a real nation with its population, its government, its constitution, its economy and its culture.

Touched by the stubbornness of the inhabitants, especially by Edgar, a local boy who runs a make-shift business in the airport by carrying "holy" water, Alain will risk all to help this isolated territory to open up.

In this topical and complex geopolitical context, the characters end up meeting around a common cause: freedom.

Semira Hedayati

First Feature Competition Special Jury Prize

Director
Nora Martirosyan
Screenwriter
Nora Martirosyan, Emmanuelle Pagano, Olivier Torres, Guillaume André
Cast
Grégoire Colin, Hayk Bakhryan, Arman Navasardyan, David Hakobyan, Vartan Petrossian
Producer
Julie Paratian
DoP
Simon Roca
Editor
Nora Martirosyan, Yorgos Lamprinos
Music
Pierre-Yves Cruaud
Production
SISTER Productions, Aneva Production, Kwassa Films
Runtime
Language
Armenian, English, Russian, French
Subtitles
Estonian, English
Director
Nora Martirosyan

Nora Martirosyan on Prantsusmaal elav kunstnik ja filmilavastaja. Ta on lõpetanud sünnimaal Armeenias Jerevani kunstikooli ning täiendanud end Prantsusmaal (Le Fresnoy) ja Hollandis (Rijksakademie). On lavastanud mitu auhinnatud lühifilmi. Hetkel õpetab ta kauneid kunste Bordeaux’ koolis. „Kui tuul peaks vaibuma“ on Martirosjani esimene täispikk film.

Best Film Award, grant of 5000 euros from National Geographic

Trailer
Q&A with the filmmaker