Directed by Hamo Bek-Nazaryan • 1928 • USSR/Armenia/Azerbaijan

To celebrate the centenary of Armenian film, we present a new restoration of this neglected silent classic by Hamo Bek-Nazaryan, the founding father of the nation’s cinema. A co-production of the Armenian and Azerbaijani national studios, this historical melodrama recounts the brutal suppression of an oil workers’ strike in pre-revolutionary Baku. Bek-Nazaryan’s mastery of the silent screen is on full display here, from the striking use of close-ups and densely-plotted narrative intrigue to the show-stopping devastation of the finale. Presented with a new score by Juliet Merchant.

HOUSE ON THE VOLCANO • Տունը հրաբխի վրա
Directed by Hamo Bek-Nazaryan
Written by Hamo Bek-Nazaryan and Pavel Folyan
Cinematography by Aleksandr Galperin
Music by Juliet Merchant
Starring: Hrachia Nersisyan, Tigran Ayvazyan, Tatyana Makhmuryan

Silent with Russian intertitles and English subtitles