Armenian-Russian film to center on devastating Spitak quake of 1988 (video)

 October 20, 2014 - 15:38 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - A film based on the 1988 devastating earthquake in Armenia will launch production in January 2015, Kavkaz-uzel.ru reported.

The Yerevan, Gyumri and Moscow-set Armenian-Russian film titled “11:41” will star Armen Jigarkhanyan, Yevgeni Sidikhin, Chulpan Hamatova, Rafael Kotanjyan, Mkrtich Arzumanyan and Sos Janibekyan.

The film, budgeted at $2,5 million was produced and scripted by Cinema Concept Production founder Alik Shahbazyan.

The film centers at a young woman (Hamatova) buried under the quake debris with her 1,5-year-old baby daughter who she keeps alive by biting through her fingers to feed the child with her own blood.

“These characters were based on real-life events, with the actual mother and daughter to be consulted during the film-making,” Shakhbazyan said.

The filmmakers hope to premiere the movie December 7, 2015 at 11: 41 through the assistance of World Armenian Congress.

On December 7, 1988, at 11:41 a.m. local time, magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook northwestern Armenia and was followed four minutes later by a magnitude 5.8 aftershock. In the epicenter, the village of Nalband, the tremors were reported to measure 10 on the Richter scale.

The earthquake leveled the cities of Spitak and Gyumri and left about 25,000 people dead, 100,000 injured and 500 000 homeless.