By Mane Berikyan
In a historic first for Armenia, the country’s selection for the Academy Awards’ “Best International Feature” category — widely coveted as the most prestigious award in the world for foreign film — has made the Oscars shortlist. Armenia’s Amerikatsi is now one step closer to an Oscar nomination that would make history.
Amerikatsi tells the story of Charlie (played by Michael Goorjian), a survivor of the Armenian genocide who fled to the United States as a boy. Charlie repatriates to Soviet Armenia as an adult, where he is unjustly imprisoned. The film follows Charlie’s journey as it becomes entwined with that of an Armenian couple he watches from his prison cell, his only connection to the outside world and his homeland.
Read more: Armenia’s First Real Shot at the Oscars: Amerikatsi
With one week left until official nominations are announced, Awards Watch, seen by many as the most insider perspective into the Academy Awards, released its final 2023 Oscar predictions on Jan. 17. Armenia’s Amerikatsi was listed among the top five in the “Best International Feature” category.
The selections from the U.K., Spain, Germany and France were the other four films predicted to make it off of the category’s short list of fifteen and into the top five, which will then receive official Oscar nominations.
“It’s all politics”
The Academy Awards are unparalleled in prestige and caliber when it comes to the film industry. But what does it take for a film to make it this far?
If you ask filmmakers, they all offer a similar response: ‘It’s all politics.’ If so, then in 2023, it appears Armenia has learned how to play this political game.
“I think we’re running a very smart campaign,” Michael Goorjian, who both stars in and directs Amerikatsi, told CivilNet.
“We’re just trying to be personal and meet people individually and share the film in a way which conveys what the film is about.”
Alongside producer Patrick Malkassian, the team working on Amerikatsi’s Oscars campaign includes top PR firms which have represented Best Picture winners like Parasite and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Goorjian says they have been working diligently for months to target Academy voters through private screenings across the United States and Europe.
Small countries like Armenia and independent films like Amerikatsi face the worst odds when it comes to reaching an Oscar nomination, which relies largely on marketing campaigns and funding. After all, when over 100 films are in contention, and academy members are unlikely to find the time to view them all, how do they know which to watch? That’s where the marketing campaigns come in.
In the case of Amerikatsi, its efforts, which are entirely independently funded, are rivaled by those of films with the full backing of large governments like the U.K. and corporations like Netflix. The bottom line is funding, and campaigning is costly.
Amerikatsi’s campaign, in partnership with the Armenian Film Society, accepts community donations.
Nare Mkrtchyan, an Armenian-American director and producer whose short documentary about the Armenian Genocide made the Oscars shortlist for the “Best Documentary Short Film” in 2017, echoed the sentiment that more than filmmaking goes behind securing a nomination.
“In reality, it’s like a political campaign,” Mkrtchyan said. “You have to campaign for it, you have to have a PR team campaigning for it, you have to connect with the Academy members, you have to do articles and screenings and mingle and all those things to get the attention of the Academy.”
A message of hope from — and for — Armenia
Speaking to CivilNet, Goorjian pointed out one striking difference between Amerikatsi and the other fourteen films being considered for the Oscar nomination: Its message is one of hope.
“People want films that aren’t just about how terrible humanity is,” he said. And hope is what Armenia has to offer the Academy Awards this year.
Many others see the film as a beacon of hope for Armenia itself.
Yvette Amirian, a professor at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and award-nominated film and television editor, agrees.
“It’s rare for countries like Armenia to get this sort of recognition, for people within the film community to be aware of what a country like Armenia is capable of doing and bringing to the table,” Amirian told CivilNet.
When asked what an Oscar nomination would mean for Armenia, Amirian said, “It would literally change the country.”
She added, “Frankly, I think the fact that they’ve [Amerikatsi] even gotten as far this to be shortlisted opens that door already.”
Moreover, the film’s producer sees the potential Oscar nomination for Armenia as something that transcends the film industry.
“Armenians are famously overlooked, and the challenge with the Armenian community is we keep talking to one another,” Malkassian said.
“This film is an artistic vessel that gives us an opportunity to elevate the conversation about our common heritage for the world. That doesn’t only open up artistic doors for an award and recognition by the Academy Awards in the United States — it opens up doors for geopolitical conversations.”
Although the odds are stacked against Armenia’s Amerikatsi, the film has come a long way. A historic Oscar nomination for the country is well within reach.
Official nominees for the Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 23. Amerikatsi is now available on major streaming platforms.
