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The 1935 Soviet-Armenian drama film “Pepo” will be digitized in France. As the National Cinema Center of Armenia reported, the relevant agreement was reached in Lion during the trip of the Head of the Center Shushanik Mirzakhanyan. During the meetings issues related to the preservation of Armenian cinema heritage discussed, including through digitization, restoration and their storage.

The discussion focused on the two film stocks of Hamo Beknazarian’s “Pepo” drama kept in Toulouse Film Archive. A the suggestion of the French side the idea of creating one general digitized and restored version of the film was approved, and discussions are underway to organize the process in 2020.

To note, “Pepo” is a 1935 Soviet drama film based on Gabriel Sundukyan's 1876 play of the same name, scripted and directed by Hamo Beknazarian, with music composed by Aram Khachaturian. Considered the 'most outstanding' film in Soviet cinema before the outbreak of World War, the film has gained international recognition and has come to represent Armenian culture abroad.