| 1926 | Zare

Released in late 1926, ZARE is the second Armenian silent feature film. As with the first Armenian feature NAMUS, it was written and directed by pioneer Armenian filmmaker Hamo Beknazarian (1891-1965). A thriller and a melodrama, the film takes place in 1915 on the slopes of Mount Alagyaz and tells the story of a Kurdish girl named Zare and her beloved Saydo, who unwillingly get involved in the games of tribal leader Temur-bek and the tsarist authorities. ZARE is considered to be one of the first (if not the first) film to depict the life of the Kurdish and Yazidi peoples. With this film Beknazarian cemented his place among the leading Soviet directors of the 1920’s. He was widely hailed as a master of his craft and an innovative filmmaker. While most films were depicting the East as an exotic land of beautiful belly dancers and endless caravans, Beknazarian was the first to show the oppressed and harsh existence of Eastern peoples, thus becoming the first realist of oriental cinema. Written and Directed by