On November 5, 2002 The Milan International Film Festival (MIFF) held its Award Gala at the historic Teatro Dal Verme. After a delightful tribute to Giancarlo Giannini, the Audience Award was presented to the producers of The Journey, Edwin Avaness, Emy Hovanesyan and Anghela Zograbyan. At the presentation were the star of the film Sona Tatoyan and co-producer Serj Minassian.
The Journey, is the story of Eve, a young woman who, as a child, had immigrated to New York from Armenia. The year is 1991 – the Soviet Union has crumbled and Armenia is going through the process of becoming an independent nation. This stirs Eve’s soul as she longs for her birthplace. The magazine she works for sends her to Armenia to cover the events unfolding there.
Thus begins a journey that leads Eve into her past, forcing her to face memories of her childhood. In the process, she rediscovers her homeland and its people and comes to terms with the loss of a childhood friend who had been killed. She also finds love.
MIFF was held between October 23 – November 4. The screening of The Journey was sold out on November 1 at Cinema Centrale. Eighteen feature films from around the world were competing for the Audience Award during the film festival. After accepting the Audience Award, the film’s directors Edwin Avaness and Emy Hovanesyan thanked the city of Milan, the festival organizers and the Armenian community of Milan for coming and supporting the film.