Two “Manyunyas”, Two Premieres: Movie Screening and Book Signing in Moscow Cinema (photos, video in Armenian)

Newmag presents Narine Abgaryan’s novel with a new colorful book cover and revised editing. Narine Abgaryan’s books, which have been published by Newmag, are now considered to be Armenian bestsellers. The author made sure that everyone gets a book with her signature.“Armenian readers are exceptional. These kind words inspire and motivate me. I am very thankful to them.”

  

Director of the 10-episode movie “Manyunya” is Arman Marutyan, Ghevond and Sarik Andreasyans are the producers. After the casting process, Narine Abgaryan personally approved the cast, particularly the little actresses. “When I saw the pictures of the actors during the pre-production period, I really liked them. I have already watched two episodes. It is kind of unique that the movie is not solely stuck to the Soviet times. Armenia is so beautiful.”

 

Little Narine and her friend Manyunya were not present during the premiere. Instead, one of the most charismatic characters was attending the event. Julieta Stepanyan played Ta - Manyunya’s grandma, in the movie.  “This character was indeed surprising for me. I could never imagine. It was really tough for me. I’m not Russian-speaking, but the character was a Jewish grandma, speaking both in Russian and French. It was quite challenging to learn the texts, I had to learn them by heart. However, the character was not that hard to play. In fact, Ta and I have many similarities.”

 

Narine Abgaryan’s colorful and nostalgic novel has turned into a movie now, where all the characters - friends, parents, grandma and the little town have a unique impact. One of the characters in the movie is Narine Abgaryan’s mother - Nadejda Andreevna. The real Nadejda Andreevna is in the audience, closely and carefully following the development of the movie. She knows all the characters and their stories. “Manyunya is Narine’s friend. She is more of a collective character. Usually, books are better than movies. Hopefully, in this case we will see equally high quality.”

 

The Armenian audience got the chance to watch the first two episodes of the movie. The remaining episodes will be available on OKKO multimedia production company, which offers a 3-month free subscription. The head of international development of Okko Yevgeni Uryupin claims that choosing Armenia was not really a random decision. “Narine Abgaryan’s “Manyunya” is the first work that brought Okko to Armenia. We are here to tell Armenians more about our product and offer them our services.”

 

The users of Okko will get an exclusive chance of watching more than 100 thousand TV products from numerous movie studios all around the world, such as Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, as well as movies and TV series from European and Russian producers.

  

Before watching the new episodes of the movie, Newmag suggests reading the Armenian translation of “Manyunya”, which is an unusual story about two friends: Narine and Manyunya. The novel masterfully describes their childhood in Berd and also implicitly connects it to the whole Soviet generation. This is a story about bright, fun, but meanwhile tough childhood.