Armenian filmmaker Jivan Avetisyan’s upcoming six-episode mini-series The Stateless Diplomat has been selected for the Tokyo Film Commission’s “Tokyo Location Fam Tour,” an international program designed to introduce filmmakers to filming opportunities in Tokyo and encourage future co-productions in Japan.
The Stateless Diplomat tells the story of Diana Apcar, Armenia’s first Honorary Consul, who represented Armenian interests in Japan at a time when women rarely held positions of diplomatic leadership. The project is currently in development and aims to become the first Armenian-Japanese co-production.
During the visit, Avetisyan and producer Adrineh Mirzayan conducted location scouting in Tokyo and Yokohama, where Apcar once lived. The team also visited Apcar’s grave in Yokohama, paying tribute at the site connected to her life and humanitarian legacy.
The drama series draws inspiration from Apcar’s life as an activist, writer and humanitarian who helped rescue more than 1,000 Armenian Genocide survivors seeking asylum in Japan before continuing their journey to the United States. Set across Armenia, Japan and the Armenian diaspora, the series explores themes of identity, exile, diplomacy and humanitarian courage.
The program took place from February 21 to 27 and brought together 16 filmmakers from around the world for an intensive location-scouting tour and networking events across Tokyo and surrounding areas.
The project is being developed in collaboration with Mimi Malayan, Apcar’s great-granddaughter and a scriptwriter on the series, and Dr. Meline Mesropyan, a Japan-based researcher specializing in Apcar’s life and humanitarian work.
“Many years of hard work and dedication to our vision of bringing Armenian stories to the big screen have brought us here to Japan. This is more than a project, it is history coming full circle,” Avetisyan said.
Avetisyan is a member of the European Film Academy and a Berlinale Talents alumnus. He is known for his award-winning films Tevanik, The Last Inhabitant, and Gate to Heaven.
