SECOND HOLY LAND Unearths the Last Missing Chapter of Christian History: Armenia’s Foundational Role in Christianity
SECOND HOLY LAND Unearths the Last Missing Chapter of Christian History: Armenia’s Foundational Role in Christianity
Landmark international documentary aims to bring Armenia’s ancient Christian heritage to global audiences while drawing attention to cultural preservation
By Samantha Krause
An ambitious new international documentary is setting out to uncover a chapter of Christian history largely unfamiliar to audiences around the world: Armenia’s foundational role in the development and preservation of Christianity.
SECOND HOLY LAND, currently in pre-production, will trace Armenia’s Christian story from the first century through the present day, combining historical scholarship, archaeology, scientific research, sacred geography, archival materials and interviews with leading clergy, scholars, historians and experts.
The project is being developed by award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker Vic Gerami, whose previous film, ARTSAKH: Armenian Genocide Continues, became an Official Selection at 82 international film festivals and received 40 Best Documentary Feature awards.
For Gerami, however, SECOND HOLY LAND is intended to accomplish something beyond documenting history. At a time when Armenian cultural and religious heritage faces destruction, alteration and erasure, he sees international awareness as a potential form of protection.
“SECOND HOLY LAND is much more than an Armenian documentary,” Gerami said. “It is about reconnecting Christians around the world with an extraordinary chapter of their own history that many have never been taught.”
A Christian Story That Began Long Before A.D. 301
Armenia is widely known as the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion in A.D. 301. But the story SECOND HOLY LAND intends to tell begins centuries earlier.
Jesus’ apostles, Thaddeus and Bartholomew, brought Christianity to Armenia during the first century, with Thaddeus arriving around A.D. 43 and Bartholomew around A.D. 60.
Among the sacred history explored in the documentary is the Holy Lance, the spear that pierced the side of Jesus Christ during the Crucifixion. The relic was brought to Armenia by the Apostle Thaddeus. It is preserved today at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The film will also highlight Thaddeus’ founding of Saint Thaddeus Monastery in A.D. 66, one of the first churches ever built and still the site of an annual pilgrimage today, along with Armenia’s monasteries, churches, cross-stones, manuscripts, sacred geography, and nearly two-thousand-year Christian heritage.
These sites and traditions will become part of a much larger cinematic investigation into Armenia’s place within the history of Christianity.
History Told as Discovery
Despite the historical scope of the subject, Gerami says he has no intention of making a conventional, didactic documentary.
Instead, SECOND HOLY LAND is being conceived as a cinematic journey in which the story unfolds layer by layer through mystery, discovery and visual storytelling.
“I do not want to make a dry, didactic documentary,” Gerami said. “I want audiences to experience discovery. Every chapter should make them wonder what they are going to uncover next, while everything we present is supported by historical scholarship, archaeology, scientific research, archival materials, sacred geography and interviews with leading clergy, scholars, historians and experts.”
That approach is intended to make the subject accessible not only to historians, theologians and practicing Christians, but also to younger generations and mainstream international audiences who may know little about Armenia.
A five-minute Vision Reel has already been produced to demonstrate the documentary’s scope, visual direction and approach to storytelling.
Watch the SECOND HOLY LAND Vision Reel
Cultural Heritage Under Threat
Azerbaijan has already demolished at least three Armenian churches in occupied Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), including Saint Sargis Church in Mokhrenes, Saint John the Baptist Church in Shushi and Saint Ascension Church in Berdzor, while other irreplaceable Armenian Christian sites remain at risk. Among them are Amaras Monastery, founded by St. Gregory the Enlightener in the fourth century and where Mesrop Mashtots later established a school teaching the newly created Armenian alphabet, as well as Dadivank Monastery and numerous other churches, monasteries, cemeteries, khachkars and historic monuments now under Azerbaijani control. Independent heritage monitors have documented both destruction and continuing threats to Armenian cultural sites in the region.
Behind the historical exploration is a more urgent objective.
Armenian cultural and Christian heritage has faced destruction and erasure, making the documentation and international visibility of ancient sites increasingly consequential.
For Gerami, that vulnerability is one of the principal reasons for making the film now.
“Attention is protection,” he said. “If millions of Christians around the world begin to recognize Armenia as one of Christianity’s great historic centers, it becomes much harder to erase Armenian history, destroy Armenian cultural heritage or attack the Armenian people without international scrutiny.”
The documentary therefore seeks not merely to record monuments and history, but to place Armenia’s Christian legacy more firmly within the global historical consciousness.
“My singular goal is to bring international attention to this crisis to help stop or slow down the systematic destruction of Armenian Christian antiquity and heritage,” Gerami said.
Bringing the World to Armenia
The filmmakers also see another potential long-term effect: introducing Armenia to a much larger international audience interested in Christian history and pilgrimage.
Faith-based tourism represents a significant segment of international travel, and Armenia possesses a concentration of ancient Christian monasteries, churches, sacred sites and traditions that remain relatively unknown outside Armenian communities.
“If Armenia attracts even a fraction of that audience, the long-term cultural and economic impact could be enormous,” Gerami said. “SECOND HOLY LAND is not simply about looking backward. It is about using Armenia’s extraordinary history to help protect and strengthen its future.”
The project is envisioned not simply as a feature documentary, but as the centerpiece of a broader educational initiative. Plans call for theatrical, broadcast and streaming distribution, along with educational use through universities, seminaries, churches, museums, libraries, cultural institutions and other platforms worldwide.
A Critical Stage
SECOND HOLY LAND has now reached the point where its filmmakers are attempting to move from pre-production into principal photography.
The production is seeking to raise $50,000 immediately, beginning with retainers for its cinematographer, assistant and lighting crew so the production team can commit to the schedule. Filming is planned to begin in Armenia in November.
Funding is being administered through Truth And Accountability League (TAAL), a registered 501(c)(3) public charity founded by Gerami.
The production is also offering Founding Producer opportunities with formal Producer Film Credit for supporters participating at designated levels.
For Gerami, the urgency surrounding the financing is directly connected to the larger urgency behind the documentary itself.
“We are racing against a silent, highly funded campaign of cultural cleansing that seeks to erase Armenian history and rewrite our place in the origins of Christianity,” Gerami said. “By bringing this history to global audiences, we can make that erasure harder to carry out in silence and create the international scrutiny needed to protect what remains.”
SECOND HOLY LAND is currently in pre-production, with filming expected to begin in Armenia before expanding to additional international locations.
Support SECOND HOLY LAND
If you would like to support SECOND HOLY LAND and help move the film into production, tax-deductible contributions can be made through Truth And Accountability League (TAAL):
