There's No Place Like Home
Syria. Somalia. Congo. Myanmar. Sudan. Afghanistan. Ukraine. These are just a few of the world's largest refugee crises. In October 2023 the indigenous Armenians of Artsakh joined the list.
Being forcibly displaced...leaving behind your livelihood...walking away from your home has sadly become commonplace in today's world.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME will uncover the universal tragedy of leaving behind ancestral lands, churches, schools, and of course everything you call HOME.
We are a group of producers, content creators, and storytellers who came together to document the experiences of these survivors. We never expected to personally witness another tragedy during our lifetime, but the war in 2020, the blockade in 2022 and the eventual ethnic cleansing in 2023 have sadly become part of OUR story.
In April 2024, Turkish President Erdogan suggested Armenians should forget the Genocide and move on. President of Azerbaijan, Aliyev, said the only good Armenian is a dead Armenian. Once again we find ourselves on the brink of annihilation. Without these first-hand accounts, these interviews with refugees, how can we ensure that this story is heard around the world and that it's never to be forgotten or ignored?
Funding
100% of the funds raised will go towards the project.
We have been filming for 6 months and have been personally covering the costs of filming. We are now coming to you to join us and help us complete this important project.
With the money raised, we will be using it to continue to work with our production teams in Armenia, complete production and post-production. We are also looking to buy license footage and music.
Additional Information
We started working on this project back in October 2023. We started doing interviews on the ground as Artsakh Armenian refugees began coming to Armenia. We were self-financing this project at first, but in order to complete this film and capture what's currently going on in Armenia now with the threat of losing the lands of Tavush and other Armenian regions, we feel that we need the proper funding to be able to move forward.
Thank you for taking the time to read this page. We hope you can be a part of our movie and help us bring awareness to what's happening in Armenia.
Diana Madison is a Producer, Actress and Entrepreneur. She has produced TV shows for Lifetime , CW network to digital platforms such as AOL On, Youtube and Roku. Last year in Cannes Diana received a “Rising Star” award at the French Riviera Film festival. Currently she is producing a documentary with Lionsgate called “The Mine” and producing two independent movies.
Shant is 4 time Emmy award-winning producer and storyteller.
He is based in NY where for the past 24 years he's produced shows at CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, BuzzFeed, and more. He's traveled to Armenia over 20 times and has worked on the ground for several organizations. In October 2023, he spent a month volunteering with World Central Kitchen to provide nourishing meals for the Artsakh refugees.
Ruzanna Kegeyan has over 20 years of experience in independent international film sales, production, and financing arena. She has been involved in some of the most notable films in the marketplace including the three-time Oscar Award winner CRASH, directed by Paul Haggis; the Academy Award-nominated sleeper hit THE ILLUSIONIST
Gohar Khojabagyan is a publicist and entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in fashion, arts, and culture - working with major luxury brands in New York and Los Angeles including Donna Karan, 7 For All Mankind, Cynthia Rowley, Cartier, and Burberry. Born in Yerevan and raised in LA she redirected her career and efforts toward the homeland after an impactful trip in 2016. Following the 2020 war, her activism, entrepreneurial spirit, and deep connection to Armenia led to the inevitable launch of 374 Collective - a communications agency dedicated to promoting Armenia and expanding its visibility on a global scale. Conjunctly, in 2021 she launched POMMIE, a premier high-end online retailer debuting Armenian designers to the US market. After years of spending months at a time in Armenia, she repatriated in early 2023, splitting her time between Yerevan, LA, and NY. During the Artsakh Genocide, she spent weeks in Goris, where her paternal roots are from, assisting refugees with shelter, food, and aid.
Artsakh refugee, Arnold Ghazaryan, is a young emerging filmmaker who got his start in the industry at the age of 14 working on the set of famed Armenian director Jivan Avetisyan’s film, The Last Inhabitant, filmed in the now-lost village of Khachmach - where Ghazaryan is from.
After three years at TUMO Stepanakert, he was accepted to Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography in 2019 with a full scholarship. Having just turned 18, he was unable to attend as he was called into the army where he quickly rose to tank commander and eventually served during the 2020 Artsakh war. After an injury led him to be released, he went on to pursue his dream of being a director and making films that share the stories of Artsakh and its people. Since the war, he has worked on various projects including System of a Down’s music video “We Protect the Land,” released independent short films featured in various European film festivals, and is currently developing a film on the heroic acts of his young brother fleeing the October 2023 genocide.
