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“Amerikatsi”, an Armenian film directed by Michael Goorjian, has landed the grand jury prize for best feature narrative and best cinematography at the 23rd Annual Woodstock Film Festival in New York in September.

The movie also won the audience award at the Hamburg Film Festival in Germany on October 8, the National Cinema Center reports.

The trilingual film (with English, Russian and Armenian dialogue) presents Soviet Armenia through the eyes of young repatriate Charlie from the United States who survived the Armenian Genocide as a child.

“Our story begins in 1947, as Charlie repatriates back to Armenia only to begreeted by the harsh reality of Soviet Communism. Almost immediately Charlie is arrested and sentenced to prison. Just as he appears to be succumbing to the terror of his situation, he discovers that the prison wall outside his cell window has been damaged during a recent earthquake. And through a hole he can see into a nearby apartment building... The Armenian couple who live in the apartment, Tigran and Ruzan, become Charlie’s only connection to the outside world, living vicariously through their private life, sharing meals with them, laughing, crying, singing and dancing with them, all the while discovering the Armenian culture he never knew,” the film synopsis says.

The film stars Hovik Keuchkerian, Mikhail Trukhin, Nelli Uvarova and Jean-Pierre Nshanyan.