The Point of Becoming Art

In the article, I discuss 1489 (2023), a documentary film by the Armenian filmmaker Shogakat Vardanyan. I try to analyze the filmmaker’s approaches and choices by juxtaposing the film’s scenes and the filmmaker’s statements in interviews. I pay special attention to the question of how the film achieves the effect of the immediacy of its images. I also address the dilemmas that the viewers face in regard to the immediacy and intimacy of the film’s images. I conclude my analysis by noting that the logic of filming and the logic of montage followed two separate strategies and produced different effects. But precisely in this difference lie the film’s persuasiveness and effectiveness.

The integral version of this article can be found in the printed KINO!