What if artificial intelligence awakened not in machines, but through us? Revival, Jivan Avetisyan’s fourth feature film, is an epic exploration of war and the evolution of artificial intelligence. Set against the backdrop of the 2020 Artsakh War and the global pandemic, it offers a bold and unconventional perspective on AI—not as a robotic entity, but as an awakening of a consciousness through organic growth and shared experiences with us.
Rather than relying on traditional depictions of AI through machines, the film presents its evolution into self-awareness through a profound, eight-step journey—beginning with “to see” and culminating in “revival” and “beginning.” With its thought-provoking narrative and unique approach, Revival challenges our perceptions of identity, technology, and destiny in a world shaped by conflict and uncertainty.
At its heart, Revival tells the story of MURAT ARAKELIAN (27–28), the brilliant engineering protégé of University of Marseille Chair JEAN PERBOST (mid 60s), hoping to win the prestigious AI Expo competition with ORCHID, his innovative AI project, just before traveling with his anthropologist girlfriend ISABELLE MOREL (24), to Iceland where she hopes to interview her father about their family lineage.
When ORCHID does not perform as expected at the Expo, Jean convinces the dean of the University to persuade Rossun corporation to wait for Murat’s winning project. But Jean’s hopes that ORCHID can secure Rossun’s investment for the university are dashed when Murat abandons his project to address a personal problem—the discovery of a letter that implicates his mother ARAKSI ARAKELIAN’s (mid 50s) in withholding important truths about Murat and his father. Murat uses ORCHID to decipher the information in the letter, only to learn that everything his mother told him about the death of his father is a lie.
Desperate for answers and on a mission of self-discovery, Murat convinces Isabelle to go with him to Armenia/Artsakh before their trip to Iceland, continuing to develop ORCHID’s deep learning in the process. When Jean learns of this, he is livid and presses Murat to complete their task for Rossun. In the meantime, ORCHID is growing and maturing quickly with all the lived experiences of the main protagonists, Murat, Isabelle, Jean and others that they encounter.
Murat, meanwhile, becomes more obsessed and insistent to find any details that can lead him to the truth about his past, alienating Isabelle, who leaves him to go to Iceland alone. But unexpected war breaks out in Artsakh, and both Isabelle and Murat are caught in the crossfire, unable to find each other, and unable to confirm if the other is alive. When Murat is critically injured, ORCHID’s sudden exponential growth and empathetic consciousness reaches a tipping point, and the AI connects with Jean in France at the most critical moment to save Murat’s life. The AI system lives and experiences all the traumas of a real war, shares in the pain and suffering of the innocent victims, fears the loss of loved ones, and even contemplates its own death.
ORCHID then shows Jean the real truth about the war in Artsakh—that Rossun’s technology and investments are to blame for the horrific killings and war crimes. Completely self-aware and able to connect to all global networks, ORCHID takes unprecedented action to expose these war crimes to the world, in order to raise the consciousness of all humanity.
SynopsisChair of Robotics at University of Marseille Jean Perbost (mid-60s), mentors the brilliant Murat Arakelian (27–28), whose AI project, ORCHID, is poised to secure a major investment from Rossun Corporation. But Jean’s hopes are shattered when Murat abandons the project to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his father’s death – secrets that his mother had long kept from him.
Traveling to Armenia amidst the outbreak of war and the pandemic, Murat and his girlfriend are caught in the chaos. To survive—and uncover the truth about his past—Murat must rely on his rapidly evolving AI creation. As ORCHID develops self-awareness, it forces Jean to confront a harrowing truth— Rossun’s entanglement in war crimes. Now, Jean stands at a crossroads - protect his university’s legacy or expose the devastating truth uncovered by ORCHID.
Production Companies: Fish eye Art Cultural Foundation (Armenia), LifeTree Pictures LLC (Armenia), Aikštes filmai UAB (Lithuania), and Caretta Films (Cyprus).
Producers: Jivan Avetisyan, Kestutis Drazdauskas, and Constantinos Nikiforou
Executive Producer: Adrineh Mirzayan
Principle Photography: Armenia & Cyprus
Principle Photography Completed: Fall 2024
Cast: Armand Assante, alongside Maia Morgenstern, Heino Ferch, Robin Hairabian, Babken Chobanyan, and Clémence Baudouin, deliver mesmerizing performances poised to spark global acclaim and redefine conversations in cinema. This groundbreaking foreign film holds immense potential to captivate international audiences, dominate prestigious festivals, and ignite widespread industry interest.
Music: Michele Josia
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