The project “Sasna Tsrer” (translated as “Frantic from Sasun”) is listed in the history of animation of Armenia as the leading full-length animated film with a time of 1 hour 20 minutes. This is the third film of the outstanding Armenian director Arman Manaryan, who is familiar to the viewer from the game films: the musical comedy “Karine”, the diploma “Tzhvzhik” and many others. The main components of the Armenian epos - “Sanasar and Baghdasar”, “Jojer Mher”, “Tsovinar” and “David Sasunci” were introduced into the animation masterpiece. The film was created by the artist V. Zakaryan, the animators R. Grigoryan, G. Yengoyan, A. Grigoryan, the authors of the musical accompaniment A. Manaryan and H. Sahakyan. The voiceover is read by actor V. Grigoryan, who skillfully recreated the original dialect of the inhabitants of Sasun. The main character Sasunci David speaks in the voice of the People's Artist of Armenia Khoren Abrahamyan. Co-author of the script and film director Manaryan, foreseeing all kinds of risks, pre-recorded the voice of the performer.
Full house in all sessions
The idea of filming a folk epic arose with the director back in 1995, but the filming process began only in 2002. in 2010, the long-awaited premiere of the animation project took place, which was based on the epic “Sasuntsi David”. The premiere was accompanied by a full house at all sessions. Spectators fell down, children and adults. The legend in essence represents the doctrine of the liberation struggle of the Armenian people against aggressors and foreign enslavers. Sasuntsi David is represented by a worthy descendant of his legendary ancestors, a hero, personifying stamina, fearlessness and heroism. The creators had great hopes for their project, hoping that it would play a prominent role in the formation of modern Armenian society, especially among the younger generation. They wanted for many children and youth to become an example of Sasuntsi David. The cartoon is a story about the hero’s childhood and adolescence, illustrates his battle in maturity with Msra Melik, focusing the audience’s attention on the hero’s devotion to the people and the Fatherland.
No semantic loss
As noted by modern art historians of Armenia, young people are currently unfortunately not inclined to read, so they hoped that watching the Sasna Tsrer animated film would be able to arouse the interest of the new generation in reading the epic. The creators had to work hard to present the project in a rich, vibrant form and, most importantly, without depressing semantic losses. They had an extremely difficult time, because they affected a layer that has a lot of unlit and sometimes forgotten topics. In addition, “Sasunci David” is a weighty, voluminous and powerful semantic work, which has not only ethnographic, historical, artistic, but also political value for the state. So the cartoon “Sasna Tsrer” cannot be regarded as a banal attempt to implement the creative ideas of the creators, everything is much more serious.
After 8 years
The idea of adaptation of the epic "Sasuntsi David" came to Arman Manaryan a very long time. He initially decided to focus on the ethnographic and historical aspects of legend. Initially, the director approached Sasna Tsrer as a monumental canvas. Work on the project was expected to be completed in three years, but the creators' aspirations went against the financial possibilities. The director was repeatedly forced to suspend production and search for sponsors. Finally, the company “Grand Candy” took up the financing of the filming process, thanks to her eight years later the film was released.
From Cannes to wide screen
The sponsor’s financial income helped the authors not only complete the filming process, in the Sasunci David animated film, the quality of the previously shot video and audio material improved noticeably, as the 3D computer program and other innovative animation technologies were used. The authors noted that the sponsors conscientiously and soulfully connected to their good deed.
The first acquaintance of the audience with the first Armenian full-length animation project “Sasna Tsrer” took place in Cannes in 2009. Separate episodes of the cartoon, presented by the creators at the Cannes Film Festival, caused genuine delight and interest not only among world famous animators, but also among eminent foreign producers.