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June 23, 2014
AGBU Offices in New York and Yerevan Host Exclusive Film Screenings
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Movie lovers in New York and Yerevan attended two exclusive AGBU-sponsored screenings this spring: Eric Nazarian’s short film “Bolis” and Ara Shirinian’s documentary “The Time of Jamanak.” The events, which filled the AGBU offices to capacity, sparked a dialogue on Armenian communities in Turkey.
During a discussion and Q&A, Eric Nazarian summed up “Bolis” for the New York audience: the story of a man who travels to Turkey to search for something he will never find, but finds something he never expected. Nazarian recounted his own journey filming in Istanbul, a city he described as an onion whose layers he peeled away on and off the set.
Nazarian spoke about the challenges of creating a movie that acknowledges the Armenian Genocide—which was completely unprecedented in Turkey’s film industry—and of Turkish citizens who are now, for the very first time, beginning to claim their Armenian ancestry. Nine of Nazarian’s crew members, he shared, approached him with accounts of their hidden family histories. That was in 2010, and the trend of Armenians “coming out” in Turkey has gained traction since, thanks in part to NGOs such as the Hrant Dink Foundation.
In Yerevan, journalists and public figures celebrated the newspaper Jamanak at a special event organized by AGBU and the Ministry of Culture. The world’s oldest Armenian diaspora paper, Jamanak was established in Istanbul by Turkish-Armenian writer Misak Koçunyan. It has had a daily, uninterrupted 106-year run, which is chronicled by the documentary.
Since its founding, the paper has been managed by four generations of the Koçunyan family. Ara Koçunyan, the current editor-in-chief, spoke at “The Time of Jamanak” presentation. He was joined by director Ara Shirinian, screenwriter Tigran Paskevichian and AGBU’s interim director Hovig Eordekian. Click here to see CivilNet TV’s coverage in Yerevan.
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