By Mane Kirakosyan

_{(Photo by IndieWire)}

This year’s Oscar nominations were a display of cultural diversity, Anora taking home the Oscar for Best Picture, with Sean Baker winning four Oscars, including Directing and Editing, and the lead actress of Anora, Mikey Madison winning Best Actress.

Beyond its artistic and commercial success, Anora has broken barriers for Armenian representation in global cinema. The film stars Armenian actors, Karen Karagulyan and Vache Tovmasyan, featuring Armenian dialogue spoken in the film. The film’s victory marks a groundbreaking moment for Armenian language films on the international stage, bringing visibility to Armenian culture in Hollywood. The Armenian film community celebrates a milestone moment in film history. The film’s inclusion of the Armenian language and its global success pave the way for more Armenian stories to be told on the world’s biggest stages. 

One time during his interview, Karen Karagulyan, an Armenian actor who played Toros’s role in the movie Anora,  mentioned that “the film’s director Sean Baker allowed the actors to improvise in their native language,” at the same time Vache Tovmasyan, an Armenian actor who played Garnik in Anora, said that “he was feeling that they’re making something special but he never thought or dreamed of going this much far.”