SYNOPSIS
Journey to Ararat is a documentary road movie focused on the strong ties between Mount Ararat and Estonia. As the first westerner, Baltic-German, Friedrich Parrot (1791-1841), born in Estonia, climbed the peak of Ararat (5137 m) together with five companions in 1829. Västrik and science historian, Erki Tammiksaar, search for the traces of Parrot in Armenia and Turkey and climb to the peak of Ararat exactly 180 years later. The film is divided into two parts – the first about the cultural voyage in Armenia, the second about the mountain conquest in Turkey.
CAST & CREW
Riho Västrik
Director
Producer(s)
Riho Västrik
Script
Riho Västrik
Director of Photography
Joosep Matjus, Riho Västrik
Music by
Sven Grünberg
Sound
Ekke Västrik
Edit
Liina Trishkina
Production company(ies)
OÜ Vesilind
Riho Västrik
Born 1965, Tartu, Estonia. Västrik graduated from Tartu University in history and journalism then obtained a Masters in Film Arts from the Baltic Film and Media School. His major interest in mountaineering was the first reason that pushed him to make documentaries; he yearned recording the beauty of mountains and human sufferings. Since 2003, Västrik has been attracted to Siberia and Far North. He has directed and produced films about Taimyr Peninsula, Sami reindeer herders and musk oxen. Västrik is an associate professor in Baltic Film and Media School.
Filmography
Snow Leopard (1999), The Chieftain(2004, short), In the Footsteps of Middendorff (2006), Otepää Gonne (2008, short), Saint George (2009, short), Lake and the City (2010, short), Crests and Troughs: the Life of a Coastal Fisherman (2011), Journey to Ararat (2011), Man with High Hat (2012), Burden of a Fire (2013).
