MOVIE OF THE WEEK October 10, 2025: THERE WAS, THERE WAS NOT
A filmmaker’s quest to document the lives of four women attempting to contribute to their community through dedication, service, and passion unexpectedly becomes a powerful portrait of living through war in Emily Mkrtichian’s moving documentary There Was, There Was Not. As she introduces viewers to the embattled Republic of Artsakh and the people who call it home, Mkrtichian tells a story of resilience and perseverance that demands to be heard.
Artsakh, a region between Armenia and Azerbaijan whose history dates back millennia, has been through many conflicts over the centuries. But after the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994, the Arsakhian people hoped that peace might last. That’s what drew Mkrtichian, who splits her time between the United States and Armenia, to film her four subjects, all of whom had lived through that war and wanted to help ensure there was never another. Viewers meet Sveta, a single mother of three girls who works a dangerous job removing buried landmines; Siranush, a public servant who runs for local office despite stereotypes and skepticism; Gayane, a loving mother and wife who runs Artsakh’s only Women’s Center and is devoted to helping other women escape dangerous circumstances; and Sose, a world-caliber judo master who dreams of Olympic glory.
All four find their hope and sense of purpose challenged to the breaking point when war returns to Artsakh in 2020. Mkrtichian’s camera shifts from capturing scenes of the women’s daily lives at work and with their families to documenting artillery fire and evacuations. Sveta frets over not knowing what’s happening to loved ones and sends her daughters away for their safety, Gayane and Siranush reluctantly accept the need to leave the home they love but continue to fight for silenced voices to be heard, and Sose trades her moves on the mat for life on the front lines. They know that, even when they’re able to return to their beloved home, it won’t be as they left it.
The movie’s title comes from the first line of every Armenian fairy tale. But while it’s the storytelling equivalent of the English-language “Once Upon a Time” tradition, the phrase has an inherent tension thanks to its opposing halves—”there was” and “there was not.” That same tension is present throughout Mkrtichian’s film: in the way Sose is both a tough-as-nails fighter and vulnerably childlike in her love of dolls, in the way Sveta faces danger every day but is determined to protect her children at all costs, in the way Siranush wants to fight for change while still embracing the traditions of her homeland, and in the way Gayane challenges other women to upend their lives through her work while maintaining domestic rituals at home. That tension is also key to what makes There Was, There Was Not so memorable as a film as it pivots from peacetime to war, it’s subjects’ lives changing irrevocably in a blink. – Betsy Bozdech
Team #MOTW’s comments:
Sherin Nicole Emily Mkrtichian’s lens lingers on the communal bonds of Armenian women and families in Artsakh, capturing the hollows of displacement and arms holding tight to identity when the world shifts beneath the feet. With a vérité style that invites us to listen in the quiet spaces, There Was, There Was Not doesn’t just recount the shockwaves of war—it pulses with the lifeline of a community refusing to be erased.
Leslie Combemale So much about mythology and fairy tales are about patriarchy, with cautionary tales for women who act up. The message? DON’T. It’s a great wrapper for this documentary about women struggling to find their way in a changing landscape where their voices are increasingly silenced. Losing our history, losing our collective memory as women is being threatened by authoritarian rule around the world, and that is an undercurrent of this documentary. It finds universality in its focus on specific women and their experiences. There Was, There Was Not is heartbreaking, but also speaks to the resilience and determination that women all over the world have in common. KEEP on KEEPING on.
Jennifer Merin American-Armenian director Emily Mkrtichian’s compelling documentary, There Was, There Was Not chronicles the lives of four women citizens of the South Caucasus Republic of Artsakh, an independent democratic state situated between warring Azerbaijan and Armenia. The film gets up close and personal with the women, all of whom are strong, empowered and determined career professionals. Their stories are about survival and their struggles to protect their families and to rebuid their community and country after the ravages of war and the horrors of ethnic cleansing. Their circumstances become even more dire and heartwrenching when the fighting and destructionb egin again. The documentary’s title, There Was, There Was Not, is actually a traditional Armenian phrase that’s used at the beginning of Armenian folk tales. As its use indicates in this instance, while the film reports the circumstances of the four women and their activism, it also serves to memorializes the heartbreaking demise of an ethnic community and its culture.
Loren King What a perfect title for this gorgeous and gutting documentary that weaves memory and reality, past and present. Director Emily Mkrtichian traces the lives of four women living in a dangerous war zone between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We follow the everyday lives of a domestic violence activist; a woman seeking elective office; another who destroys land mines and warns residents of the danger; and a young Olympic-hopeful wrestler who will soon become a soldier. Each has her life upended when war breaks out again and they are forced to flee their beloved homeland. The film is both an eye-opening geopolitical expose and an intimate, heart-wrenching look at lives destroyed by political disputes and ethnic purges. It reminded me of last year’s Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, although a completely different documentary. The specific remote setting and the shared intimacy of women who must rely on one another to overcome hardships is unforgettable.
Liz Whittemore There Was, There Was Not is the Armenian version of the English phrase ‘Once Upon A Time.; As we know, not every fairytale has a happy ending. Filmmaker Emily Mkrtichian’s documentary follows four women. Sosè is a young Judo star who dreams of an Olympic medal. Siranush is an aspiring politician in a field of men. Gayane runs a Women’s Center that creates fun activities while also providing aid to abuse victims. Sveta is a mother of two girls and dismantles landmines from the previous war. The documentary is a stark before and after of the displacement of indigenous people used as political pawns. It is another entry on the growing list of ethnically cleansed populations. There Was, There Was Not is a reminder that in times of tumult, home is not a physical place. Home is a woman. The creatures who record history by gathering stories, and curate an environment of love and safety through loss and unpredictability.
Cate Marquis Rather than “once upon a time,” Armenian folk tales begin with “there was, there was not.” American-Armenian director Emily Mkrtichian’s documentary There Was, There Was Not is not an Armenian folk tale but it is a tale of the past, of a now-vanished place called Artsakh, the place her family once lived. She grew up hearing tales of Artsakh, the homeland they were forced to flee, tales which made it seem like a fairy tale, a place her relatives described as “heaven,” until it wasn’t. Touching and ultimately heartbreaking, There Was, There Was Not follows the lives of a handful of women who describe their lives in their tiny traditional village in Artsakh. The mostly ethnically-Armenian region in the South Caucasus had fought hard to win it’s independence from Azerbaijan after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the end of the war, the new nation enjoyed 30 years of peace. The documentary recreates that peaceful life in the Artsakh village, where the women enjoyed the area’s natural beauty, abundance of fruits and vegetables, and good neighbors. Director Emily Mkrtichian excels at bringing out the character of each woman featured in the documentary, women who lead diverse lives, and puts the film’s emphasis on resilience and courage, as it unspools its tale of a land lost forever.
FILM DETAILS:
Title: There Was, There Was Not
Director: Emily Mkrtichian
Release Date: October 10, 2025
Running Time: 94 minutes
Language: Armenian with English subtitles
Screenwriter: Documentary
Distribution Company: Watermelon Pictures
AWFJ Movie of the Week Panel Members: Sandie Angulo Chen, Betsy Bozdech, Leslie Combemale, Loren King, Cate Marquis, Jennifer Merin, Nell Minow, Sherin Nicole, Liz Whittemore
Other Movies Opening This Week
Edited by Jennifer Merin
