Directed by Arman Manaryan • 1971 • USSR/Armenia

Adapted from one of the most celebrated works of 20th-century Armenian literature, Arman Manaryan’s soulful classic reflects on love lost and the ties that bind. Following the death of his beloved but unfaithful wife Heghnar, sculptor Mkrtich (Armenian screen icon Sos Sargsyan) creates a mysterious fountain upon her grave in her honour – one whose water only flows in his presence. As the years pass, his son becomes determined to discover its secret. Manaryan faithfully adapts Mkrtich Armen’s source novella for the screen, capturing the long-lost world of the author’s hometown Gyumri as it was in the 19th century, alternately austere and magical.

THE SPRING HEGHNAR • Հեղնար Աղբյուր
Directed by Arman Manaryan
Written by Mkrtich Armen
From the novella by Mkrtich Armen
Cinematography by Levan Atoyants
Music by Robert Amirkhanyan
Starring: Sos Sargsyan, Gegham Harutyunyan, Artavazd Pashayan

In Armenian with English subtitles