Documentary Film Premiere at NAI

Naregatsi Art Institute marked the 120th anniversary of the great stage master Artashes Arevshatyan 

On October 6th, Naregatsi Art Institute hosted the premiere of the documentary film dedicated to the 120th anniversary of Artashes Arevshatyan, Honored Artist of the Armenian SSR.

The opening speech of the event was delivered by Samvel Baghinyan, actor of the Gabriel Sundukyan National Academic Theater, RA Honored Artist.

There are names in the history of Armenian theater that cannot be adequately summed up by recalling just a single role or performance. One such figure is Artashes Arevshatyan, an Honored Artist of the Armenian SSR, whose creative journey intersected with the most prominent figures of 20th-century Armenian theater and cinema.

A documentary film dedicated to Artashes Arevshatyan’s 120th anniversary was produced at the initiative of his daughter, Jasmine Arevshatyan. It provides an opportunity to reflect again on the great artist, his stage life, and the cultural portrait of an entire era. The film’s screenwriter is Karen Vardanyan; the director and cinematographer is Samvel Ohanyan; and the sound engineer is Nerses Margaryan. The film features piano performances by A. Arevshatyan’s granddaughter, Maria Sahakyan.

Artashes Arevshatyan was born in 1906. He portrayed more than 150 roles in the theater. Throughout his prolific career at the prestigious Sundukyan and Paronyan theaters, he delivered masterful performances across a wide repertoire of celebrated Armenian, Russian, and European plays. Arevshatyan shared the stage with legendary icons of Armenian theater, including Hovhannes Abelyan, Vahram Papazyan, Arus Voskanyan, and Levon Yeramyan. 

His exceptional talent earned the deep admiration of towering literary and theatrical figures such as Yeghishe Charents, Alexander Shirvanzade, Levon Kalantar, and Vardan Achemyan.

In 1960, he played the role of the “ashugh Dosti” in the black-and-white film “Sayat-Nova”, starring alongside Babken Nersisyan, Metaksya Simonyan, Gegham Harutyunyan, Avet Avetisyan, Gurgen Hakobyan, and other renowned actors of the time.