My Sweet Land, a film by Sareen Hairabedian and Azza Hourani, will have its world premiere at the Sheffield DocFest in England. The film, which is entirely in Armenian with English subtitles, will be screened on June 13 at 6:15 p.m. at the Showroom, Bertha DocHouse, Screen 3; June 15 at 10:15 a.m. at Curzon, Screen 2; and June 16 at 3:15 p.m. at the Showroom, Bertha DocHouse, Screen 3.
My Sweet Land is a coming-of-age story set against a multigenerational war in the post-Soviet Caucasus mountains. It follows an 11-year-old boy named Vrej, growing up in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) who dreams of becoming a dentist in his picture-postcard village with its roaming ducks and golden bees. His sweet land, however, is strewn with mines from previous wars, shaping a country that remains unrecognized to the world. Vrej’s life takes a sudden turn when war erupts, forcing him to flee with his family. He spends his days in exile impatiently waiting for victory, but reality takes a different turn; Armenians lose the war. Upon returning to his surviving village, he confronts the devastation, new power dynamics and education that prepares children for near-future battles. Vrej must learn the rules of war…but can he carry a nation’s hopes on his young shoulders? The film is a testament to the people of Artsakh, where hope and trauma had shaped their resilience across generations.
Read also
About the director
Sareen Hairabedian is an Armenian-Jordanian documentary filmmaker based in the U.S. Through her intimate observational filming style, she captures the untold stories of the underrepresented. Hairabedian’s directorial debut We Are Not Done Yet is a 40-minute HBO documentary about U.S. veterans grappling with PTSD who use poetry to heal (Best Documentary, G.I. Film Festival, Nominee for Best Documentary Short at the IDA Awards 2018). My Sweet Land is her debut feature-length documentary featuring one child’s journey of disillusionment, trauma and hope. It’s the recipient of the IDFA Spotlight Award and is supported by ITVS, ARTE, the International Documentary Association, the Arab Fund for Arts & Culture, the Jordan Film Fund, CNC and others. Hairabedian is a fellow at DocNYCxVC Incubator and at Creative Armenia.
About the producer
Azza Hourani is a Jordanian producer and assistant director with over 15 years in the industry. She graduated from the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts in 2011 and has worked with National Geographic, the Doha Film Institute, MBC and various global non-profit organizations. Hourani produced My Sweet Land by Hairabedian, an IDFA Spotlight Award winner in 2021 (Sheffield DocFest, 2024). Her assistant director credits include notable films including Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider (Palme d’Or nominee 2022), Abu Bakr Shawky’s Hajjan (TIFF 2023) and Amjad Al Rasheed’s Inshallah a Boy (Cannes 2023). Hourani is currently developing her third short film, aiming for production by the end of 2024.
Select credits
Director: Sareen Hairabedian
Producers: Sareen Hairabedian, Azza Hourani
Co-Producers: Julie Paratian, David Rane
Executive Producers: Beth Levison, Carrie Lozano, Hallee Adelman, Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh
Co-executive Producer: Robina Riccitiello
Supervising Producer: Shana Swanson
Cinematographer: Sareen Hairabedian
Editors: Raphaëlle Martin-Holger, Sareen Hairabedian
Composer: Tigran Hamasyan
Sound Recording: Azza Hourani
Colorist: Shanna Maurizi
Sound: Tom Efinger
With support from
ITVS, Arte France, World of HA Productions, Spark Features Centre National du Cinéma et de l’image animée, The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, La PROCIREP, L’ANGOA, the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund, the Jordan Film Fund, Creative Armenia/AGBU, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse, Fís Éireann/ Screen Ireland, Fest Pitching Forum, MediMed, Astra Film Lab, FIPADOC, LIGHTDOX, East Doc Platform, Sunny Side of the Doc, The Gotham – Spotlight on Documentaries, Amman Festival Industry Days, Golden Apricot International Film Festival, Odesa Industry Days (B2B Doc)