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1489 is an Armenian documentary film directed by Shoghakat Vardanyan.

Over 2 years, Shoghakat documented her parents and herself waiting to hear about the fate of her younger brother Soghomon, 21, a musician, who had disappeared in the front line of the brutal 2020 Artsakh (Nagorno- Karabakh) war. She took the phone, turning our grief into a film as an act of escape from the situation and the upcoming tragic news about his death.

The title "1489" refers to the number assigned to Soghomon's unidentified remains, symbolizing the many soldiers who perished in the conflict and whose bodies remained nameless.

Plot

Shoghakat Vardanyan's younger brother, Soghomon, 21, a musician, was close to completing his mandatory military service when the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) War broke out on September 27, 2020. On the seventh day of the war, Soghomon disappeared in the war zone without a trace.

Though Shoghakat had never studied filmmaking, the overwhelming emotions her family experienced compelled her to grab her phone and document their daily ordeal. Initially, there was no intention to create a film—she simply recorded moments as her family waited, hoping for Soghomon’s return. Over the 44 days of the war, hope and despair alternated.

Shoghakat continued filming her family for another two years as they searched for Soghomon, wavering between hope and resignation. In 2021, a DNA match confirmed that bones found on the battlefield belonged to him. In 2022, the family finally received official notice of his death. Soghomon’s remains were coded as 1489—“Body of individual missing in action.”

While this number provided bitter closure, it brought an end to their uncertainty—a resolution that many families of missing soldiers still await.

Awards and nominations

See also

• Armenian cinema

References

1. Roxborough, Scott (17 November 2023). "War Documentary '1489' Wins Best Film at IDFA". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
2. "Շողակաթ Վարդանյանի «1489» ֆիլմը հերթական մրցանակն է ստացել Լոս Անջելեսի փառատոնում". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (in Armenian). 21 October 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
3. "2020 Karabakh war victims honored with minute of silence before '1489' screening at Czech international film festival". News.am. 28 October 2024. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
4. Hunter, Allan (20 November 2023). "'1489': IDFA Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
5. Barraclough, Leo (16 November 2023). "Shoghakat Vardanyan's '1489,' About Disappearance of Director's Brother, Wins Best Film at IDFA". Variety (magazine). Retrieved 24 November 2024.
6. Malgina, Anna (13 November 2023). ""Я делала этот фильм для всех парней, которые погибли". В Амстердаме показали картину о поисках погибшего в Карабахе брата". Current Time TV (in Russian). Retrieved 24 November 2024.
7. "1489 wins Best Film in the International Competition and Canuto's Transformation wins Best..." IDFA. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
8. "2024 DOC LA". Retrieved 24 November 2024.

Film Reviews

1. https://documentary.org/online-feature/war-without-rules-shoghakat-vardanyan-idfa-best-film-winner-1489  

“Had it not been for a spiraling rift that began with a pro-Palestinian protest on the opening night of last year’s IDFA, Armenian director Shoghakat Vardanyan’s 1489 surely would have been the big story out of the fest. It’s an unassuming debut by a first-time filmmaker who took the IDFA’s top prize for best film in the international competition.

Regardless, it was a bittersweet win that could likewise be read as a consolation prize, as 1489 is a doc that Vardanyan certainly never wanted to make. Its coldly bureaucratic title refers to the number assigned to a “body of an individual missing in action.” The film centers on one particular MIA conscript in the most recent struggle over the disputed Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) region—a 21-year-old student and musician (a pianist and saxophone player), and brother and son, named Soghomon Vardanyan. Simply put, 1489 is a distraught sister’s calmly clear-eyed, day-by-day, smartphone-shot account of her and her parents’ unenviable (ultimately two-year-long) search for her sibling's bones, some semblance of closure, and an ever-elusive hunt for answers.”

2. https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/453793/

"A shockingly raw and intimate film about the pain of uncertainty the director's family was going through after her brother disappeared in the third Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war. Produced with almost no budget, without taking part in any international development workshops or co-production markets, the film shot up to win the top prize at IDFA." (Vladan Petkovic)

3. ” This year’s IDFA winner of the Best Film and FIPRESCI awards is a miraculous achievement from an industry viewpoint. A small, low-budget, and genuinely independent film from a country with a modest presence on the contemporary film scene comes out on top of the world’s largest documentary film festival without passing through tens of workshops, labs, networking events, and other promotional gatherings now considered a must for newcomers seeking success.

What we see on screen is deeply personal and painful, so it leads us to assume that the Armenian debutant and, in fact, a professional piano player, Shoghakat Vardanyan, wasn’t necessarily after success. On the contrary – when, back in 2021, the project received the Armenian Prime Minister’s Award at the GAIFF Pro industry platform of Yerevan’s Golden Apricot Film Festival, she rejected it as she believed the film should not have any political connections. The film is not a political statement either, as it does not contain declarations «pro» or «contra,» although it was clearly made by an Armenian who is suffering because of the Azerbaijani military intervention in Artsakh. However, instead of focusing on the conflict, Vardanyan delves into the human experience of a striking tragedy for her family and premonitions of its inevitability. Most certainly of all, 1489 is an auteur work down to the very essence of the word: written, directed, filmed, and produced by Vardanyan herself under Marina Razbezhkina’s consultation as a creative producer, it is a one-(wo)man-film coming straight from the bottom of the heart – sadly enough, a severely broken heart.” - Marianna Hristova

https://www.moderntimes.review/1489/

4.https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/455563/

5. https://cineuropa.org/en/interview/461805/

6. https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/1489-idfa-review/5188028.article

7. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/war-documentary-1489-wins-best-film-at-idfa-2023-1235652396/

8. https://deadline.com/2023/11/idfa-2023-documentary-awards-winners-1235615852/

9. https://variety.com/2023/film/global/shoghakat-vardanyan-1489-idfa-1235792822/

• 2023 films
• Armenian-language films
• Films set in Armenia
• Nagorno-Karabakh War films
• Aftermath of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War
• Second Nagorno-Karabakh War