Individual Armenians attempted to shoot Armenian films indifferent countries of the world since the 1910s. On April 16, 1923, the government of Soviet Armenia founded the Petkino (State Cinema), later renamed as “Haykino”, “Hayfilm” (“Armenkino”, “Armenfilm”). This is how the history of Armenian cinematography began. In 1926, Hamo Beknazaryan, the founder of homegrown cinema, made the first silent feature film, “Namus”, and in 1935, the first Armenian sound film, “Pepo”.

In 1938, by the film “The Dog and the Cat”, Lev Atamanov founded the Armenian animated cinema; in 1954, the first Armenian color film “The Secret of the Mountain Lake” was shot. The film production actually started off in the 1950-60s as many memorable films were shot, including “The Song of the First Love” (directors: Yuri Yerznkyan and Laert Vagharshyan), “What’s All the Noise of the River about” (director: Grigor Melik-Avagyan), “Tzhvzhik” (director: Arman Manaryan), “The Boys of the Orchestra” (directors: Henrik Malyan and Henrik Margaryan), etc, in which Hrachya Nersisyan, Avet Avetisyan, Vagharsh Vagharshyan, Khoren Abrahamyan, Varduhi Varderesyan, Metaqsya Simonyan, Mher Mkrtchyan, Sos Sargsyan, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan and other actors shone with all their mastery.

In Cannes in 1965, Henrik Margaryan’s film “The Priest’s Promise” was included for the first time in the short film program of the festival, and “Hello, It’s Me” by Frunze Dovlatyan was included in competition section in 1966.

Many feature, animated and documentary films were shot in the 1970-80s. Sergei Parajanov (“The Color of Pomegranates”), who was considered a cinema innovator with his unique worldview, and Artavazd Peleshyan (with his epic films using virtuoso editing and addressing national and universal themes), came to international fame and stood out in the world cinematography with a unique style. Robert Sahakyants’ films were widely recognized in the animation genre.

In 1985, Albert Mkrtchyan’s film “The Tango of Our Childhood” was presented at the Venice International Film Festival, and the film’s leading actress Galya Novents won a special jury award.

During the independence period since 1990s, the Armenian cinema continued with some ups and downs. Private studios opened and production volumes increased. By a decision of July 20, 2006 of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, “Hayfilm” film studio named after H. Beknazaryan was renamed to the “National Cinema Center of Armenia”, which is an organization implementing state cultural policy in the field of cinematography. The National Cinema Center of Armenia has largely contributed to production, promotion and development of the Armenian cinematography, and the newly emerged generation of directors endeavors to expand the creative horizons of Armenian cinema while looking to hold best traditions.

The 100-year history of Armenian cinematography has created more than 700 feature films, about 2500 documentary, factual documentary and nearly 300 animated films.

Obverse: the logotypes of “Haykino” and “Hayfilm” studios.
Reverse: the stylized images of a film strip and а projector.
Designers: Lusine Lalayan (obverse), Eduard Kurghinyan (reverse).
The coin is minted at the Mint of Poland.
Technical specification
Face value 1000 dram
Metal/fineness silver 9250
Weight 33,6 g
Diameter 40,0 mm
Quality proof
Edge ribbed
Quantity of issue 200 pcs
Year of issue 2023

Collector coins are made of precious metals and are issued to present to the society the national, international, historical and cultural, spiritual and other values of the country, to immortalize these values in the metal and to meet the demands of the numismatic market.

Like any other currency the collector coins have face value which makes them the means of payment. However, the face value of these coins is much lower that their cost price which includes the cost of the precious metal used for manufacturing of the coin, mintage and other expenses. Low face value and high cost price allow these coins to be considered as the items of collection and not the means of payment used in money circulation. The collector coins have also the sale price set by the Central Bank of Armenia.

As the items of collection the collector coins are issued in very restricted quantities and are not reissued.
Numismatists, collectors and all interested persons can buy the Armenian collector coins in the sales salon “Numismatist” which is in the building of the Central Bank of Armenia and is open for everyone.