Thus Spoke the Wind
FilmFestival Cottbus: 6 November – 4 December 2025
•
1h 32m
Directed by Maria Rigel • 2025 • Armenia
Maria Rigel’s mercurial crime drama moves to the rhythms of the natural world, paying tribute to Armenian film icons like Sergei Parajanov. Hayk (Albert Babajanyan) is an introverted child living in the care of his aunt Narine (Lusine Avanesyan) in a remote village. His fragile order is upended by the sudden return from abroad of his absentee mother Anahit (Annika Abrahamyan): an impulsive figure with a shock of red hair whose attitudes to sex and work trouble the placid patriarchal surface of the village. Russian director Rigel brings visual poetry to her portrait of a society riven by generational and gender tensions.
THUS SPOKE THE WIND • Այսպես ասաց քամին
Written and directed by Maria Rigel
Cinematography by Ayray Yamilov
Music by Steve Brand
Starring: Albert Babajanyan, Lusine Avanesyan, Annika Abrahamyan
In Armenian with English subtitles
Up Next in FilmFestival Cottbus: 6 November – 4 December 2025
-
Kratt
Directed by Rasmus Merivoo • 2020 • Estonia
Rasmus Merivoo’s playful horror-comedy take on Estonia’s local legends is a wicked treat. The director’s own children star as Mia and Kevin, phone-addled city kids who are whisked to the countryside and left in the care of their eccentric grandmother (...
-
Dužan Duong on groundbreaking “Czech...
Director Dužan Duong speaks to Sam Goff about his groundbreaking “Czech Viet-film” Summer School, 2001, screening on Klassiki until 4 December as part of our partnership with FilmFestival Cottbus 2025. Dužan discusses his family history of emigration in and out of Europe, his film’s tr...
-
Director Maria Rigel on her Armenian ...
Director Maria Rigel speaks to Sam Goff about her Armenian crime mystery Thus Spoke the Wind, screening on Klassiki this month as part of our partnership with FilmFestival Cottbus 2025. Maria talks about transitioning from Russia to Armenia, the social tensions at play in her feature deb...
