“It was something like sculpture.” director Vardanyan thought for 5 years to “open” the absent image of Peleshyan

Lisbon, Paris, Dublin, Venice, Amsterdam… were not enough to get Artavazd Pesheyan’s portrait. Director Hrant Vardanyan thought for 5 years to “open” the missing picture of Peleshyan, a classic of world cinema, traveled around the world with a great documentarian, was silent for a long time during editing, listened to the sounds of Mirzoyan, Delalyan, Boyamyan, Bach and got the “Missing Picture” of the master.

“It’s my dream, it’s not Peleshyan’s dream, I needed to understand Peleshyan’s nerve to be able to make that film. Making this film was something like sculpting,” said Vardanyan.

It is not easy to tell about a non-speaking person. Vardanyan says that the trick is the environment created in the film story, where a dialogue with coded thoughts took place. The camera simply walks by Peleshyan, has coffee with him, rides a tram, enters a movie theater.

Theater students will be able to watch the movie “Missing Image” in March. The premiere was at the end of last year… it went unnoticed… Hrant Vardanyan regrets that he was at least criticized.

People living next to us today are not noticed, let alone filmed, said the director and emphasized that the film made with the tacit consent of the master is perhaps not so much about Peleshyan, but about those who are interested in him.

“I edit not only present but also absent images. That’s the reason why you see something new every time you look at it,” 86-year-old Peleshyan says in the film.

Vardanyan had carefully separated the present footage from the absent image and distributed it to the audience as a souvenir… Each one a piece of Peleshyan, every time they look at it, they might see something new.