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The medieval scribe Agathangelos bears witness to the fact that Gregory the Illuminator survived in a pit for over a decade. Gregory's survival was said to have been both a result of his faith in God and the compassionate efforts of an anonymous woman. During Gregory's sentence, Tiridates grew deathly ill and an Angel of God warned the King's sister that only through the prayers of Gregory would the King be healed. Consequently, upon freeing Gregory, Tiridates was healed and became witness to the power of the Christian God. In 301 AD Gregory the Illuminator christened the Armenian people, and Armenia became the first Christian nation in the world. "The Priestess", written by Vigen Chaldranian and Anahit Aghasaryan, draws inspiration from a mysterious line which mentions "an anonymous woman" recorded in the medieval manuscript "Armenian History" by Armenian historian Agathangelos. This unknown, yet essentially elemental woman was the keystone to Armenia's history as the first nation to accept Christianity. Through this mysterious plot, Chaldranian's aim was to create a film to celebrate Armenia's history and offer dramatic education on the subject.

Vigen Chaldranian was born on December 26, 1955 in Yerevan, Armenia. Having earned a Master??™s both in Film Direction as well as Theatre, at the beginning of his career he directed and often starred in several feature length and short films as well as a myriad of well-known plays. Since then he has gone on to direct seventeen films which have garnered him more than thirty prestigious, international awards and diplomas, among them the Gold Award at the World Film Festival in Houston, Texas in 1994. In 2001 he was honored by the President of the Republic of Armenia with the Movses Khorenatsi Award, which is bestowed upon those who display exceptional service to the arts and culture. In 2006 he was awarded the Anahit Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cinematographers' Guild of Armenia. In the name of the country he was hailed as Armenia's premier filmmaker with the most significant contributions to its culture, by the Parliament of the Republic. Most recently Mr. Chaldranian became ???The Honored Artist of RA???. Chaldranian is one of the filmmakers of our time, who makes films with a specific mission. One would be hard-pressed to find a film in which he does not embody the strife of a man in relation to his God, his people and his history. "The Best Foreign Film" by Armenia. "The Priestess", his latest work of art, which had its World's Premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, marks the first Armenian-American co-production in film history. Currently, having just completed ???The Priestess???, he has several projects awaiting his attention, one of which is of most value to him a film about Armenian Genocide - as, in the year 2015, its 100th anniversary is to be commemorated. With a profound feeling of debt to his roots and his ancestry, his land its people, and masterfully wielding his brush to paint his themes in a language which all people can understand and accept as their own, Chaldranian continues to create art defies boundaries of culture and challenges us to hope, to love and do kindness unto others unconditionally.