DOON
— Homecoming —
A poetic journey through ancestral memory and embodied transformation expressed through Armenian dance.
“Doon” (6:57 min, 2025). A short film by Sarine Arslanian and Russell Agro.
A visceral exploration of exile and homecoming through Armenian dance
Through the ancient language of Armenian dance, renowned dance artist, Shakeh Major Tchilingirian invites us to listen with our hearts as she dances the stories never told, the grief too heavy for words, the love for a homeland many have never seen and the universal yearning to come home: to the body, to the self, to one another. Rooted in personal and collective memory, Doon is a cinematic offering to the body’s knowing and the subtle spaces where transformation begins—a creative act of remembrance, resilience and return—honouring the resilience of diasporic identity and the quiet power of embodied expression.
In a world where disconnection has become endemic and many of us are exiled not just from place but from self and each other, Doon offers a gentle resistance. Through soulful movement, it invites us to reinhabit—to feel again, to reconnect and to remember what was never truly lost.
When we open ourselves to the dance, we open ourselves to transformation — from the inside out.
FILM FESTIVALS
Sustain Film Festival: Official Selection. World Premiere. ODEON Guildford & Guildford Institute, Surrey, UK. 29 August-1 September 2025.
Cyprus Film Festival: Official Selection. Starlit Screens, Limassol, Cyprus. 26-28 September 2025.
Pomegrenate Film Festival: Official Selection. Hamazkayin Theater AYC, Toronto, Canada. 10-16 November 2025.
Armenian Film Festival London: Official Selection. Part of the British-Armenian Focus strand. Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK. 4-7 December 2025.
IMARP - Mostra Internacional de Dança: Official Selection. Special Mention in the Sagrado é Feminino category. Cultural Centre of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. In-person: 4–5 December 2025; virtual programme: 7–31 December 2025.
