Discover the courage it takes to escape “the life” on and off the track and the momentum needed to end sex trafficking for good.

Who was this man, this poet? If you ask anyone today, without hesitation, they would say Charents was the poet of the people. A man who lived through his country’s tumultuous history; witnessing a brutal genocide against his people, experiencing the loss of Armenia’s historic homeland and the despair and hunger that followed. He later participated in a calamitous civil war and a revolution that brought a new hope, only to be superseded by the gloom and terror of the Stalinist years. More than just a victim of the times, Charents became a martyr to his people and many consider him to be the father of modern Armenian literature.

This literary travelogue takes viewers on a journey from Armenia to the poet’s birthplace in Kars, Turkey, with Grikor Babakhanyan – a poet in his own right. Grikor, together with his friend and historian Volodya Arushanyan, sets off to discover Charents’ childhood home in Kars. Traveling through Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey, they make new acquaintances who share their enthusiasm for Charents’ poetry. Along their path, the inimitable beauty of the Transcaucasian mountainous landscape is revealed.

Weaving in between Grikor’s journey to the poet’s birthplace are stylized readings of Charents’ poems and interviews with experts and ordinary people, creating a fascinating narrative of the poet’s life and works.

Forgotten Freedom Fighters looks into the lives of a group of former combatants living in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra who have given up waiting and have decided to do something for themselves. It also documents the unconventional use of “ecotherapy” to help former combatants deal with past trauma and move forward with their lives.

As South Africa gears up for general elections on 22 April 2009, Forgotten Freedom Fighters asks whether Jacob Zuma, a former freedom fighter himself, and widely believed to be the country’s next president, will address the issue of the forgotten men and women who helped bring democracy to the country.

In an age where games on PlayStations and iPhones are ubiquitous, it is refreshing to walk the streets of Armenia’s cities and villages and see people of all ages playing chess. Chess, called “shakhmat” in Armenia, is more than a game; it’s a cultural tradition. In fact, World Champion Garry Kasparov compared the popularity of chess in Armenia with the popularity of football in Latin America.

Unlike games where luck is involved, such as the role of the dice in backgammon or the luck of the draw in a card game, chess is a game based purely on one’s mental abilities. Benjamin Franklin wrote of chess: “The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualities of the mind are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions, for life is a kind of chess.” The fact that chess helps people navigate life’s challenges is something Armenia has recognized. In 2002, under the initiative of grandmaster Smbat Lputian, the Chess Academy of Armenia opened its doors to become one of the leading chess-teaching institutions in the world. And most recently, Armenia became the first and only country in the world to make chess a compulsory part of school curriculum, thanks to a $3 million initiative passed in 2011. Chess is now mandatory in the third and fourth grades – students play chess two hours a week every week for two years. Part of the program’s goal is to improve children’s logic and reasoning skills and to build character. But it also aims to produce chess champions.

Our documentary film will explore Armenia’s passion and enthusiasm for the game, weaving interviews with chess historians and grandmasters together with archival and verité footage. We will also tell the stories of a handful of Armenian children, who are on track to become champions, following them as they navigate the challenging world of tournaments and pin their hopes and dreams on being good enough to compete at the annual World Youth Chess Championship. In a country where poverty is rife, how do their parents manage to raise the funds needed to travel to national and international competitions? What drives them to compete? What does the future promise for a grandmaster in Armenia? We will also get to know the current World Youth Chess Champion, thirteen-year-old Aram Hakopyan, who will travel to this year’s World Youth Chess Championship in South Africa to defend his title.

Finally, we will ask the question – are chess players really the smartest people in the world?