Bonded Parallels

Norway, World War II. Hanna, whose husband Henrik participates in the resistance movement, gives temporary asylum to a prisoner of war, Arakel, by hiding him in her house in northern Norway. The presence of this stranger changes Hanna's life, and she starts writing about her mixed feelings in her diary.

Soviet Union, Armenia, 1988. Laura, 42, a single and fiercely independent math-teacher, lives a quiet and isolated life in Yerevan. It seems that nothing can change her rigidly ordered daily routine until she receives the diary of her mother, who died while giving birth to her. As Laura learns about her parents' story for the first time - a love story of desperation, loss and primal passion - she begins to experience a parallel story of forbidden love in her own life.

The project was developed by the AVANTI Training program for South Caucasus Filmmakers between 2003–2004, implemented by FOCAL and funded by the SDC-Swiss Development Agency. In 2004 a co-production agreement was reached with Hayfilm, the Armenian State studio. The shooting of the Armenian part of the film began in July 2005, until October. 2006 saw a contribution from the Norwegian Film Fund for commencement of shootings in Norway, and a co-production agreement was reached with ORIGINAL FILM AS in July 2006, with the Norwegian part of the shooting beginning the same month.

Further contributions towards the production were received from the Hubert Bals Fund (October 2006), the SDC-Swiss Development Agency (May 2008), the Armenian Ministry of Culture (March 2009), the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (May 2009), and Russian distribution company Paradise (May 2009). Production was completed in June 2009.

• 2009, June, 23 The World premiere in official program of 31st Moscow International Film Festival. Perspectives Competition
• 2009, July Golden Apricot IFF, Yerevan, Armenia, International Competition
• 2009, September NUR (Pomegranate) International Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, GALA Film and International Competition
• 2009, November Promoting Festival-revue of Best Feature Films CIS Countries: CIS: Open Borders, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan
• 2009, November 2nd International Film Festival "East & West, Classics and Avant-garde", Orenburg, Russia, International Competition
• 2009, December International Film Festival "Volokolamsky rubej" (Volokolomsk's boundary), Volokolamsk, Russia, International Competition
• 2010, February 4–6 The European premiere in 39th International Film Festival Rotterdam, Bright Future program
• 2010, April The North American Premiere in REMI AWARDS competition of 43rd Annual WORLDFEST-HOUSTON International Film and Video Festival.
• 2010, April Festival of the Best films of GIS Countries in Europe. Prague, Czech Republic.
• 2010, May Cannes Film Festival, Market screening.
• 2010, June Festival of the Best films of GIS Countries in Europe. Vienna, Austria.
• 2010, September 13 International Film Festival ARPA, Los Angeles, California USA, International Competition
• 2010, October 34th São Paulo International Film Festival. International Perspectives.

• Siri Helene Müller as Hanga
• Laurence Ritter as Laura
• Sos Janibekyan as Narek
• Serge Avedikian as Arakel

• Bonded Parallels at IMDb
• Film Festival Rotterdam
• Bonded Parallels at Theiapolis Cinema