In theaters January 26-28 from Fathom Entertainment, Between Borders explores one family’s journey to find home. Between 1988 and 1994, several hundred thousand Armenians were displaced from Azerbaijan due to violence and ethnic cleansing, including the film’s real-life subjects, Violetta and Ivan Petrosyan.
Producer and co-writer Isaac Norris grew up in Russia in the 90s, where his parents (the film’s executive producers, Lonnie and Connie Norris) were establishing new congregations for the Church of the Nazarene. As the Petrosyan family fought to build a new life in Russia, they continued to face discrimination in their daily lives. Support and community came from their local church, where they first met the Norris family over 30 years ago.
It’s the story of one family that mirrors the stories of many. Between Borders is directed by Mark Freiburger and stars Elizabeth Tabish (of The Chosen fame) alongside Elizabeth Mitchell, Michael Paul Chan, and Patrick Sabongui. As the film arrives in theaters nationwide, Boxoffice Pro caught up with writer/producer Isaac Norris to discuss how the inspiring story encourages compassion.
This is a deeply personal film, based on the real experiences of close family friends. How did you navigate capturing a personal story for the screen?
It’s a story that’s 30 years in the making. When we hired the first writer to work on the film, he sat down with the youngest daughter, Olga. Then we did a Zoom call with Violetta and Ivan and captured that whole interview process. I wrote a couple drafts of the script and I would send them some questions. I was very familiar with a lot of their story from the interviews, from the time spent with them, and then ultimately, when [director] Mark [Freiburger] wrote it, he actually connected with them again for additional research and questions. So we were able to capture the story through three different people, directly from the family.
Every film is met with limitations when it comes to time and resources. You had just three weeks of prep and 20 days to shoot in Romania.
Yeah, it was pretty intense [laughs.] We shot everything in Romania. We realized the only scenes set in the States were in the courtroom. We just needed to find an interior that we could dress up and make it work for a courtroom. Thankfully, we had a mutual connection that had actually worked with the production service company that we worked with in Romania, so we were able to connect with them pretty early on. Our production designer, Vlad Bina, is from Romania. He worked on Tomorrowland in the art department. He worked on Man of Steel, The Lion King (2019), Pinocchio (2022). He’s worked on some huge films [and shows like] The Mandalorian. He was like, “Yeah, I’ll come on this film because it’s being shot where I’m from.”
You gathered impressive collaborators to work on this film. From cinematographer Rogier Stoffers, to colorist Mitch Paulson, to composer Hanan Townshend. How did you go about assembling your crew?
I had a friend in Fort Wayne, [Indiana] that I had breakfast with a few years ago that connected me to our co-producer and PR lead, Paige Collins, who’s in Nashville. I emailed her out of the blue a couple of years ago when we were starting and I was in the middle of writing the script. We spent half an hour on the phone and then a couple months later, she said, “Hey, I was thinking about you, and I was thinking that you should connect with Mark Freiburger.” Out of nowhere. We actually were connecting about a different film, but then he became the writer and director of our film.
Mark and our director of photography Rogier [Stoffers] were friends living in Austin for a few years. Mark said, “Hey, I’m going to send him the script to get his input on what’s the best way for us to approach this.” Rogier had just finished shooting Borderlands and he wrote saying, “Well, why can’t I help out with this movie?” And we said, “Because we probably can’t afford you.” He said, “Why not? Yes you can.” So he came down huge for us in that way. Then Rogier connected us with his colorist and Mark was friends with Hanan Townshend, who was our composer. So much of this was because of relationships and because people read the script or understood the story and said, “Hey, I want to be a part of this.”
You initially approached actor Elizabeth Tabish at a screening of The Shift, asking if she’d be interested in reading the script.
From the beginning, our executive producer said that she would play a great Violetta and I wholeheartedly agreed. I thought, for me to make my best effort, I would prefer to not even think about asking another actress until we can at least get it in front of her, either her people or her.
I was heading to Nashville and didn’t know that she’d be there until I had arrived. I was like, “Oh, she’s actually coming to this screening.” I thought, I’ll just mention to her that I have a script, not knowing at all that she was part Armenian. She recounted later that was the whole reason that she decided that she would read the script—it’s an Armenian story. She wants to tell Armenian stories because her grandmother’s Armenian. People that aren’t of faith might say, “Oh, that all just came together for you.” Well, sure, you could say that.
All of those pieces falling into place is something of a miracle.
Yes, it really is. For Liz to even consider reading my script. For Rogier to even consider working on our film. All those things. They just don’t happen.
Elizabeth Tabish commented on the power and privilege of getting to tell Violetta’s story back to her in moments where the real Violetta Petrosyan was on set during the courtroom scenes. When did you show the family the film and what that was like for you as a filmmaker?
I honestly don’t think there could have been a better way of screening something that’s so personal to them, that’s in some ways traumatic, in some ways touching. We had them all over to my parents house. It was just my family and their family. It was really, really special. It’s definitely a moment that I cherish above most moments from making this film.
I’ve got to call out the youngest daughter, Olga. She’s pretty stoic and she’s not necessarily a crier. I specifically sat myself where I could kind of watch them. Two minutes into the film, I saw her start to cry and she did not stop. Afterwards, they came over and just hugged us and said, “Thank you for telling our story.” It was very, very special. Olga, Violetta, and Ivan also came out to our screening at the Armenian Film Festival in LA.
What was that moment like for them? Being in a theatrical setting with others witnessing the story of their refugee experience?
That one was also really special for them, because they actually had some Armenian family that lived in Glendale that came. Because we screened it at the Armenian Film Festival, a lot of Armenians came out. A lot of people came up to them afterwards and said, “Us too. We have that story.” That was very meaningful for them. One of their aunts came up and just grabbed my hand. She couldn’t say anything, she was that emotional. It was very special for their family.
Your dad is an executive producer who is obviously very closely tied to this story. What was that like working together on this project?
That was really cool, because my dad is not your traditional filmmaker. He actually is the vice president of a construction company that builds homes. He’s started doing this on the side. What he would say is, “I came home from serving on the mission field with these stories that were almost like burdens on his shoulders. Somehow, somebody needs to share these stories.” They’re beautiful, or they’re touching, or they’re miracles. Sometimes all at the same time.
When he started talking about Violetta and Ivan’s story, I said, “Hey, can I help steward this story?” For him to have trust in me—because I had never done it before—was really, really special. It’s pretty neat to be able to work with my dad in that way, and hopefully, carry out a vision that he started with.
What does this moment mean for you? For your first feature to have theatrical distribution from Fathom Entertainment and for this film to have a home in cinemas.
It’s kind of unbelievable, to be honest. I still go back to one of our producers, Jude Walko. He’s probably done a hundred films and he said, “This just doesn’t happen. Movies don’t get into theaters the way that this one is, even at 800 theaters. It just doesn’t happen.” He’s worked on so many and so many don’t make it to that point.
For us, there’s this enormous sense of gratitude that we get to have this opportunity. This is the first feature I’ve ever produced. I’ve got to make sure that I check myself—this isn’t the norm. The next one I do, it might not be the same. This is really special. To know that it’s going to be in hundreds of cities across the nation and shares a very timely story—and a shared story amongst, not just Armenians, but so many people that have been forced from their homes and have had to reconsider what home really means.
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