First-ever Australian film on Armenian Genocide slated for July 31 releaseJune 23, 2016 - 18:21 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The first ever Australian-produced film on the Armenian Genocide, Shahane Bekarian’s “Children of a Genocide” will Premiere at Event Cinemas in Top Ryde on July 31, the Armenian National Committee of Australia reports. This 62-minute documentary, produced in association with ANC Australia, is about the struggle of Armenian children who narrowly survived the genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Exiled from their homes and forced onto death marches into the Syrian desert of Deir ez-Zor, more than 1.5 million perished. Sydney-based Bekarian uncovers archival interviews of 40 survivors who disclose their shocking stories. Driven by his grandfather’s story, the filmmaker searches for identity amongst a mélange of separate cultures. Having tracked down other survivors’ grandchildren, 100 years after the genocide, they compare today’s struggle to retain their ancient culture from assimilation and homogeny in the “lucky country” of Australia. With the 101st Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide commemorations in Australia having a particular focus on Australian links to the Armenian Genocide, the film “Children of a Genocide” will add to this awareness as it looks at eyewitness testimonies recorded in the 1980s to help understand the severity of the tragedy, ANC Australia says. Many descendants play a part in telling their story and how they live their day-to-day lives remembering the pain and sufferings of their ancestors. Regarding the Premiere of the film, Bekarian said: “I’m very excited and proud to bring my film Children of a Genocide to the greater community.” “The film intends to raise questions on how we’re coping with cultural preservation in multicultural Australia and how we deal with the genocide 101 years on, on an interpersonal level and in our day-to-day lives.” He added: “I hope that, with the use of survivor archive footage, it preserves the cause of our forefathers, echoes the connection to the youth, and helps us unite as a singular community.” Top stories Paris Center Pompidou Musée National d’Art Moderne will host the screening of Sergei Parajanov’s "Triptych" on December 15. The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. Partner news | Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. |