Armenian crime drama Thus Spoke the Wind, written and directed by Maria Rigel, will have its world premiere as part of the Proxima competition lineup of the 2025 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF).
The independent Armenian production stars Albert Babajanyan, Lusine Avanesyan, and Annika Abrahamyan, with cinematography by Ayrat Yamilov.
THR can now exclusively unveil the poster and a trailer for the movie.
The film tells the story of a family on the edge of society. Hayk, a withdrawn and aloof child, lives on a farm with his aunt Narine and gets mocked and called strange by others. After a lengthy stay abroad, his mother returns to the farm. “The locals openly condemn her behavior because she does not follow the rules of society,” reads a plot synopsis. “Narine, unable to forgive Anahit for the shame brought upon her with her behavior, decides to take revenge.”
The movie features local talent, most of whom are not professional actors. That choice reflects the director’s attempt to ensure “authenticity and create a sense of documentary realism,” she explains in a director’s statement. The crew consisted of local people and immigrants from the post-Soviet countries.
“The film continues the cultural traditions of Armenian auteur cinema,” Rigel says. “The documentary style of the film is combined with the bright color poetics of [Soviet filmmaker Sergei] Parajanov’s cinema, which reflects the modern world of Armenia, the clash of traditions of the past and present.”
She also notes the importance of the music in the film. “The soundtrack to the film was created by American composer Steve Brand,” known for his ambient music with tribal and ritualistic vibes, the director says. “His magical music perfectly emphasizes the spirit of modern Armenian aesthetics.”
The idea for the film first came to her in 2022 after relocating to Armenia. “I was deeply moved by this country – its culture, nature, and people. Contemporary Armenia holds within it layers of both the past and the present, coexisting in a constant, unresolved tension, and yet somehow complementing one another,” she recalls. “Through the story, I wanted to symbolically reflect the clash between the archaic
mindset of a traditional society and the quiet rebellion of a younger generation.”
The KVIFF description of the film also notes: “This cryptic, visually and aurally mesmerizing film, viewed through the eyes of a child forced to grow up too soon, is dominated by the all-pervading motif of the wind. Its rustling stirs the tension in a radicalizing conservative society, while its wailing heralds the irreversible consequences of raging human emotion.”
Watch the trailer for Thus Spoke the Wind below to get a first taste for its visual and audio style, as well as its characters.
