Gyumri

The Czech independent filmmaker Jana Sevcíková is one of those DIY artists who for years diligently work on a film, devote all their time and energy to it. Sevcíková always chooses unique people and situations for her creative documentaries, spending a lot of time with her subjects. Her two previous documentaries were Old Believers from the Danube Delta and Min Tanaka’s Theater from Japan. The strength of her work lies in its authenticity and her ability to go deep below the surface.
About 25,000 inhabitants of the Armenian town of Gyumri perished in a powerfully destructive earthquake on December 7, 1988. More than one-third of the victims were children. For nearly 20 years, the affected families have been linked in their attempt to come to terms with the loss of their children and the birth of new children. Most of the children born after the disaster bear the names of their deceased brothers and sisters, whom they themselves have never known. For some parents, their new children have become a sort of substitute for those who died. The frequent comparisons with their deceased siblings can evoke an uncomfortable feeling in some of the children. Nevertheless, they continue to believe that the souls of their siblings live on with them, beside them, or directly inside them. (LC)