face

The human face is a unique imprint of one's experience, left by time and the events that have happened to them. You can pay for a subway ticket with your face, tell when a person is lying, and fall in love with a face. It all depends on the lens through which you look.

On Sunday, December 7, 1988, at 11:41 a.m. local time, a devastating 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck northwestern Armenia, specifically the city of Spitak and its surrounding areas. At the time, Spitak was an industrial city with a population of about 23,000. Over 80% of its buildings, including homes, schools, hospitals, and factories, were destroyed or severely damaged. The earthquake claimed the lives of over 25,000 people, injured tens of thousands, and left more than half a million homeless.

The Spitak earthquake became one of the deadliest natural disasters in Armenia's history. It inflicted enormous damage on the country and its people, leaving a deep scar on its collective memory. People's faces changed.

A portrait photographer travels to Spitak in search of the faces of the catastrophe's witnesses. It is a story of collective memory told without text, through the faces and portraits of people. What has changed in their faces, and can a camera capture it?

In parallel, the film tells the story of Alexander, a Spitak native who works as a plastic surgeon in a modern Moscow clinic. He helps people change their appearance in the hope of changing their destiny. For some, plastic surgery can be a catalyst for transformation, helping them overcome insecurity, improve their self-esteem, and live a fuller life.