The solemn opening ceremony of the Salento International Film Festival took place with the screening of “Gate to Heaven”, a film about the April 2016 war in Artsakh by Jivan Avetisyan, the Union of Cinematographers of Armenia reported on Friday.

“Gate to Heaven” centers around 50-year-old Robert Stenvall, a European journalist, who returns to Artsakh in 2016 to cover the war which has been reignited after a 22-year ceasefire. During his time in Artsakh, Stenvall meets Sophia Marti, 35, a young opera singer, who happens to be the daughter of missing photojournalist Edgar Martirosyan, whom Robert abandoned in captivity during the fall of the village of Talish in 1992. Robert and Sophia’s frequent rendezvouses ignite a passionate romance.

The film features Tatiana Spivakova, Sos Janibekyan and Naira Zakaryan in lead roles and its Armenian and Artsakh premiere took place in 2019.

“Gate to Heaven” is a co-production of Armenia, Lithuania, Finland and France.