Impact Days Catalogue
By Inna Sahakyan

In Front of Us

A California judge is compelled to act after witnessing the harrowing war crimes committed during Azerbaijan’s brutal conquest of Nagorno-Karabakh and its occupation of Armenia’s border regions. For survivors, she has become their last, best hope for justice. Her journey intertwines with Lala, an Armenian schoolteacher whose sister’s horrific killing and mutilation by Azerbaijani soldiers was spread online in a grotesque act of triumph. Once voiceless, Lala has risen as a powerful advocate for victims. In Front of Us paints a deeply moving portrait of two women’s fight for accountability in a conflict the world has chosen to ignore, revealing both the strength and limits of international law.

Section : Impact Days
Country : Armenia, Netherlands, United States
Original languages : Armenian, English
Director
Inna Sahakyan (Armenia / Armenia)
Producers
Vardan Hovhannisyan (Armenia)
Mariam Davtyan (Armenia / Armenia)
Bars Media
Completion
December 2026
Impact Statement
Violence turns human lives into propaganda, where war victims are silenced and weaponized to fuel further conflict. In Front of Us breaks this cycle, proving that war crimes know no borders - whether in Nagorno-Karabakh, Gaza, or Mariupol. Each life lost is a call for justice, a demand to end impunity. Through first-hand testimonies, victims reclaim their voices, exposing the true cost of war and the institutions that uphold - or fail - international law. But awareness alone is not enough. This film is a call to action - to educate, mobilize, and demand global policymakers to protect human rights. Indifference enables violence. Justice is the only path to everlasting peace.

Impact Goals
  1. Encourage grassroots advocacy and witness protection to stop ethnic cleansing and raise the voices of the victims.
  2. Push policy-makers for legal action, conflict resolution, and violence prevention.
  3. Raise awareness about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, its human rights violations and humanitarian toll.
Impact Strategy
  • Ignite conversations with decision-making international justice bodies through organized screenings.
  • Launch a platform featuring survivor stories and resources for the policymaking community.
  • Partner with human rights organizations to influence high-ranking policymakers to act.
  • Develop a targeted social media campaign for the general public and advocates, calling them to action.
Contact
Primary contact
Mariam Davtyan (Armenia): mariam.barsmedia@gmail.com

Film funders
Chicken & Egg Films

NGOs & International Organisations
The Human Rights Defender Office
Armenia
The Center for Truth and Justice
The Promise Institute for Human Rights (UCLA)
The Armenian International Women’s Association

Foundations & Philanthropists
Armenian Film Society
Individual philanthropists

Experts and Academics
Luis Moreno Ocampo, first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
Prof. Hannah R. Garry, Professor from Practice and Executive Director of The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA Law

Film funders
Chicken & Egg Films

NGOs & International Organisations
The Human Rights Defender Office
Armenia
The Center for Truth and Justice
The Promise Institute for Human Rights (UCLA)
The Armenian International Women’s Association

Foundations & Philanthropists
Armenian Film Society
Individual philanthropists

Experts and Academics
Luis Moreno Ocampo, first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
Prof. Hannah R. Garry, Professor from Practice and Executive Director of The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA Law