Hakob Melkonyan

HAKOB MELKONYAN

Born in 1984 in Armenia. Since 2009 he has been living between France and Armenia. His studies at the University of Cinema and Theatre in Yerevan (2001-2005) and then at the University of Cinema and Television in Munich (2006-2009) gave him the necessary distance from the history of his country, which he now feels ready to return to.

In 2010, he took part in a GREC (Groupe de Recherches et d'Essais Cinématographiques) writing workshop with his short film project "Le Mur blanc". His instructor was French director of photography Caroline Champetier.

After directing a number of 52-minute documentaries for France Télévisions, in 2015 he wrote and directed his first feature-length documentary "L'Arbre", about the Armenian Genocide. It is an Armenian, French and Turkish co-production. The film was screened in seven countries and won the Grand Prize at the Vues Du Monde Festival in Montreal in 2016.

In 2020 he wrote and directed his second feature-length documentary, "Blocus", about an Armenian village. For thirty years, its inhabitants have been trying to survive the war on the border between Azeris and Armenians. It is a Franco-Armenian co-production. This film was developed during DOCMONDE's writing residency in 2018 and made as part of the Lumière du Monde collection.