MY SWEET LAND
Sareen Hairabedian / France, Ireland, Jordan, United States / 2025 / 18 min / Colour
Artsakh is a mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh—a picture-perfect landscape, yet littered with the mines of wars that have long scarred the post-Soviet Caucasus. The film follows the daily life of eleven-year-old Vrej and the rhythms of village life: tending bees, baking bread, playing boccewith walnuts. War is a lingering memory that dominates conversations and even creeps into children’s games. When conflict erupts once again in the region, Vrej is forced to flee with his family. In exile, he dreams of victory. Upon returning to the village he resumes playing, among chickens, cows, and ruins—but he is soon sent to military training exercises because, as a large billboard declares: “Strong Army, Safe Future”, Vrej’s path seems predetermined: to learn the rules of war, even as he and his people continue to hope for a future of peace.
Sareen Hairabedian
A documentary filmmaker living between the U.S., Armenia, and Jordan, she is the founder of HAI Creative, a production house that collaborates with humanitarian organizations. Her directorial debut We Are Not Done Yet (2018) won Best Documentary at the GI Film Festival in San Diego and was nominated at the International Documentary Association Awards. My Sweet Land(2024) won multiple awards at the Amman International Film Festival and was Jordan’s official Oscar entry for Best International Feature Film.
