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Through a powerful new Instagram reel, UPTOWN YEREVAN has captured the profound emotional depth of “They Say We Have to Leave,” a documentary installation by director Varsy Buchmann. The project, created over two years, gives a face to the immense pain and loss experienced by the 120,000 Armenians displaced from Artsakh in September 2023 by focusing on the stories of 120 women.

In the video, Buchmann speaks directly to the collective trauma that has silenced so many. “All Armenians, all over the world, have a collective trauma,” she states. “We are afraid to talk about it, we are afraid to think about it, we are afraid to feel anything.” Her goal was to create a space where people could confront this difficult reality. “I wanted to create a space where people can allow themselves to be part of the pain that more than 120,000 people went through,” she explains, poignantly adding, “And in this project, there are only 120. A drop in the ocean.”

The installation is an immersive journey through memory and loss. The first of its three rooms features the silent, haunting portraits of the 120 women. As Buchmann recounts, the process of capturing their stories was deeply emotional, yet filled with resilience. “Imagine tens and tens of women. I saw about 5-6 people a day,” she recalls. “Every one of them at the end said, ‘We will return anyway. Sooner or later, we will return home.'”

The second room features a powerful visual metaphor: oil, symbolizing global indifference. The final section is composed of personal video archives from the participants—glimpses of a life left behind but one that “continues to live in memory.”

The reel concludes with Buchmann’s core message about healing. “I know this is a painful process,” she acknowledges. “But I know one thing for sure: the only way to overcome pain is through consciously lived pain.” Through this project, she has created not just an exhibition, but a vital space for that difficult, shared process to begin.