Simoni Champan

A joyful family gathering on a balmy Sunday afternoon is suddenly interrupted by the news that Simon's grandfather is at death's door. The old man demands to see him. The problem however is that Simon's village is in Armenia, whilst his dying relative finds himself on the other side of the border, in Turkey. The shortest route, which would take him through Georgia, is out of the question due to an Abkhazian stamp in his passport; thus he is forced to travel to his grandfather's house, itself but a stone's throw from home, via Istanbul.

Shot with effortless grace, director Edgar Baghdasaryan's tragicomedy reflects on the absurdity of borders in a tale both light-hearted and profound. Forced to communicate by means of mere hand-written notes and binoculars, the protagonists nevertheless manage to get the message across. In doing so they demonstrate that borders can vanish when people stick together. ST