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The cinema of Armenia was born on April 16, 1923, when the Armenian State Committee on Cinema was established by government decree.
The first Armenian film with Armenian subject called "Haykakan Sinema" was produced in 1912 in Cairo by Armenian-Egyptian publisher Vahan Zartarian. The film was premiered in Cairo on March 13, 1913.
In March 1924, the first Armenian film studio: Armenfilm (Armenian: Հայֆիլմ "Hayfilm," Russian: Арменкино "Armenkino") was established in Yerevan, starting with Soviet Armenia (1924), an Armenian documentary film.
Namus was the first Armenian silent black-and-white film (1925), directed by Hamo Beknazarian and based on a play of Alexander Shirvanzade describing the ill fate of two lovers, who were engaged by their families to each other since childhood, but because of violations of namus (a tradition of honor), the girl was married by her father to another person. The first sound film, Pepo was shot in 1935, director Hamo Beknazarian.
More recent directors include:
Modern day Armenian cinema produces two or three features, eight shorts and fifteen documentary films each year.