Search

Tamara Stepanyan

Birth : 1981-01-01, Armenia

History

Tamara Stepanyan was born in Armenia. During the breakdown of the Soviet Union, she moved to Lebanon with her parents in 1994, at a time when the country was coming out of the Civil War. After studying and working in Lebanon she moved recently to France where she is starting to write her first feature fiction script. In 2005 she graduated from the Lebanese American University (LAU) having studied in Communication Arts with an emphasis in Radio/TV/Film. Stepanyan made a number of films while in university including THE NEEDLE (2004) and THE LAST STATION (2005), and participated in film workshops in South Korea, Asian Film Academy as part of the Busan International Film Festival in 2007 and in Denmark, an exchange program in Den Danske Filmskole in 2012. In 2007 she travelled to Sudan and shot a 30 episode documentary for television about the Sudanese culture and food and traditions. Her works include My Beirut, a video/photo/audio installation that was part of Badguer I in 2009. LITTLE STONES a short documentary, FEBRUARY 19 a short narrative fiction won the Best Fiction Film Award at the Lebanese Film Festival. EMBERS is Stepanyan’s latest film that recently won the Best Documentary Award at the Busan International Film Festival.

Movies

Village of Women

Village of Women

Sound

Only women, children and old people live in this Armenian village, while the men work in Russia. A life with a rhythm of its own, an independent daily life marked nonetheless by exile.

Village of Women

Village of Women

Cinematography

Only women, children and old people live in this Armenian village, while the men work in Russia. A life with a rhythm of its own, an independent daily life marked nonetheless by exile.

Village of Women

Village of Women

Director

Only women, children and old people live in this Armenian village, while the men work in Russia. A life with a rhythm of its own, an independent daily life marked nonetheless by exile.

Costume Design

After the passing of her grandmother, a businessman's daughter goes back to her birthplace. After a little while, she receives the visit of her former classmates but their reunion take an unexpected turn. The guests tells her that they need some money to cover the murder they've committed.

Cinematography

With EMBERS, Tamara Stepanyan’s first feature-length documentary, the director seeks to honour the memory of her late grandmother, whom she was named after. Stepanyan visits the elder Tamara’s hometown in Armenia, where she spends time with her grandmother’s circle of friends, who discuss their memories of daily life with Tamara, bringing to light their ideological and political viewpoints in the process. As the conversations progress, a dialogue emerges between past and present – between the Tamara of today and the Tamara of two generations ago, whose life was shaped by her experiences during World War II. Despite the absence of the film’s central subject, her presence is deeply felt through her impact on those who survived her. Stepanyan’s mourning the loss of someone close to her heart is acutely apparent; here, she faces down that sorrow with a bright tribute to a wonderful woman.

Director

With EMBERS, Tamara Stepanyan’s first feature-length documentary, the director seeks to honour the memory of her late grandmother, whom she was named after. Stepanyan visits the elder Tamara’s hometown in Armenia, where she spends time with her grandmother’s circle of friends, who discuss their memories of daily life with Tamara, bringing to light their ideological and political viewpoints in the process. As the conversations progress, a dialogue emerges between past and present – between the Tamara of today and the Tamara of two generations ago, whose life was shaped by her experiences during World War II. Despite the absence of the film’s central subject, her presence is deeply felt through her impact on those who survived her. Stepanyan’s mourning the loss of someone close to her heart is acutely apparent; here, she faces down that sorrow with a bright tribute to a wonderful woman.