Amerikatsi

Charlie left Armenia as a child, escaping the Armenian genocide for the United States, where he built a life. In 1948, now an adult, he returns to his homeland hoping to reconnect with his roots. Instead he finds a country under Soviet rule, and after an unjust arrest he is imprisoned, sinking into despair. From his cell window he can see into the apartment of a prison guard, and the daily life he observes there gives him a way to endure his confinement.

Michael A. Goorjian directs from his own screenplay and produces alongside Robert Patrick Malkassian and Arman Nshanian. Goorjian also plays Charlie. The cast includes Hovik Keuchkerian as Tigran, Mikhail Trukhin as Dmitry, Nelly Uvarova as Sona, Narine Grigoryan as Ruzan and Jean-Pierre Nshanian as Warden Sargisyan, among 28 credited performers. The film is a co-production between Armenia and the United States, running 115 minutes.

Amerikatsi was released in July 2022. It is a comedy-drama that draws on the Armenian genocide as its starting point. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.3 from around 3,400 votes; on TMDB it stands at 7.1 from 35 votes. The large gap in vote numbers reflects the wider reach of the former, while both point to a similar level of approval.