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Land for as far as the eyes can see. From the window of the car carrying Vrej and his family, it’s hard to identify borders. And yet, for the breakaway republic of Artsakh, repeatedly under attack from Azerbaijan, it’s what matters most. With My Sweet Land, Sareen Hairabedian documents war and exile through the keen eyes of a child.

There are many adjectives that often accompany the word "land": fertile, mountainous, green, insular. Many adjectives that can describe its form and uniqueness. However, when the land itself is our home, and that home is threatened, those adjectives suddenly feel insufficient. Then, we need to call upon words that  express our emotions and declare the importance of this place for our...

What happens to the psyche of an 11-year-old boy when war is no longer a child's game but an everyday reality? This is a salient question that comes to the fore when looking at graphic images of children in the heat of war and genocide. Documentarian Sareen Hairabedian takes a different approach. Instead of violent evidence of lost innocence, in her debut feature-length documentary, My Sweet Land...

In 2019, Taika Waititi gave us Jojo Rabbit, a bittersweet portrayal of what it’s like to grow up during times of war. Even though the premise of Waititi’s movie is grim and bleak, the execution is surprisingly colorful, the conclusion is optimistic, good defeats evil, liberty arrives, the children are freed from war and propaganda. Sareen Hairabedian’s 2024 documentary titled My Sweet Land might...

Perhaps one of the words we hear most in life is to behave. As children, we hear it from our parents, then from our teachers, as we eventually integrate into a broader society with written and  unwritten rules we must obey if we want to be part of it. Most of us adapt, alter our personalities, and try to fit into the standards we need to follow to be accepted. But not Sanyi.

If you are walking in the streets of Budapest, be careful. You never know when the mischievous Sanyi might throw his middle finger, ball or speed-drunk brother at you. The boy won't apologize or regret what he's done, but will instead laugh in your face — and chances are you’ll laugh too. In KIX, Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész roamed the streets of the capital with this infernal duo for more...

Being a kid, playing in the streets of Budapest, one day you meet a guy with his camera. He films your games with your brother and friends. Scratching pants, playing  ball at the church gate, even drawing in the streets: the images appear blurred, passing from  one child to another, dynamic and shaky. Such a funny way of receiving attention, but also to attract attention.

A long chalk trail on the asphalt, like a sign on the streets of Budapest saying ‘I exist too’. Hoarse voices, the edges of the streets as a refuge, reluctant philosophies of life. Shaky and almost neurotic camera movements. Restless editing. Lurid photography. Outspoken and sometimes outright foul conversations. The trail keeps going, until it reaches a young boy tracing it on the sidewalk.

Following the shaking camera and loud sounds of skateboard wheels on concrete, we enter the life of an 8-year-old boy, Sanyi, when director Dávid Mikulán meets him for the first time at Boráros tér in Budapest. Sanyi is a rebellious kid who doesn’t like when people tell him what to do. He chooses to stay outside, play around, skateboard, and draw things on the streets with chalk. Home is a 28...