100th Anniversary of Foundation of Armenian Cinema - 1,000 dram 2023

Modern Silver Commemorative - 257

There were individual Armenians who, since the 1910s, had attempted to shoot Armenian films in different countries of the world. On April 16, 1923, the government of Soviet Armenia founded the Petkino (State Cinema), later renamed as “Haykino”, “Hayfilm” (“Armenkino”, “Armenfilm”). This is how the history of Armenian cinematography began. In 1926, Hamo Beknazaryan, the founder of homegrown cinema, made the first silent feature film, “Namus”, and in 1935, the first Armenian sound film, “Pepo”. In 1938, by the film “The Dog and the Cat”, Lev Atamanov founded the Armenian animated cinema; in 1954, the first Armenian color film “The Secret of the Mountain Lake” was shot.
The film production really started off in the 1950-60s as many memorable films were shot, including “The Song of the First Love” (directors: Yuri Yerznkyan and Laert Vagharshyan), “What’s All the Noise of the River about” (director: Grigor Melik-Avagyan), “Tzhvzhik” (director: Arman Manaryan), “The Boys of the Orchestra” (directors: Henrik Malyan and Henrik Margaryan), etc, in which Hrachya Nersisyan, Avet Avetisyan, Vagharsh Vagharshyan, Khoren Abrahamyan, Varduhi Varderesyan, Metaqsya Simonyan, Mher Mkrtchyan, Sos Sargsyan, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan and other actors shone with all their mastery.
In Cannes in 1965, Henrik Margaryan's film “The Priest’s Promise” was included for the first time in the short film program of the festival, and “Hello, It’s Me” by Frunze Dovlatyan was included in competition section in 1966.
There were many feature, animated and documentary films shot in the 1970-80s. Sergei Parajanov (“The Color of Pomegranates”), who was considered a cinema innovator with his unique worldview, and Artavazd Peleshyan (with his epic films using virtuoso editing and addressing national and universal themes), came to international fame and stood out in the world cinematography with a unique style. Robert Sahakyants' films were widely recognized in the animation genre.
In 1985, Albert Mkrtchyan’s film “The Tango of Our Childhood” was presented at the Venice International Film Festival, and the film’s leading actress Galya Novents won a special jury award.
During the independence period since 1990s, the Armenian cinema continued with some ups and downs. Private studios opened up and production volumes increased. By decision N 1110 as of July 20, 2006 of the Government of the Republic of Armenia "Hayfilm" film studio named after H. Beknazaryan was renamed to the “National Cinema Center of Armenia”, which is an organization implementing state cultural policy in the field of cinematography. The National Cinema Center of Armenia has largely contributed to production, promotion and development of the Armenian cinematography, and the newly emerged generation of directors endevours to expand the creative horizons of Armenian cinema while looking to hold best traditions.
The 100-year history of Armenian cinematography has created more than 700 feature films, about 2500 documentary, factual documentary and nearly 300 animated films.

Obverse: the logotypes of “Haykino” and “Hayfilm” studios.
Reverse: the stylized images of a film strip and а projector.
Designers: Lusine Lalayan (obverse), Eduard Kurghinyan (reverse).
The coin is minted at the Mint of Poland.

Denomination: 1,000 dram
Metal: Silver 925
Weight: 33.6g
Diameter: 40mm
Mintage: 200 pcs.
Edge: Reeded
Strike quality: Proof