Film about Jerusalem Armenians to be shot

Film about Jerusalem Armenians to be shot

PanARMENIAN.Net - The story of the Armenians of Jerusalem, a fascinating tale of courage, hope and endurance, sprinkled with the inevitable grains of turmoil and tragedy, is planned to be told, for the first time in a feature film, The Armenian Reporter says.

While there have been previous attempts to tell part of the story in a book or a film, the focus has always been too narrow to encompass the whole gamut of the Armenian presence in this city regarded by many as the centre of the world.

Australian-Armenian journalist/foreign correspondent Arthur Hagopian, the former Press Officer of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, who has been acting as consultant on a 3D IMAX film currently being shot in Jerusalem, is heading the project to bring the story of the Armenians of Jerusalem to the big screen.

"I have already had talks with leading film production companies and key players in the motion pictures industry, and they are ready to jump on board," Hagopian says. "They have the chutzpah, connections and expertise necessary to bring this project to life."

A few years ago, Hagopian launched a website project (http://arthur-hagopian.com/Armenians/Kaghakatzis/index.htm) aimed at preserving and maintaining the history, culture and traditions of the "Kaghakatzi" (native/city dweller) Armenians of Jerusalem, one of the three groupings of Armenians in the city. The "Kaghakatzi" bear the distinction of being the first Armenians to settle in Jerusalem, staking out the Armenian Quarter of the OId City as their choice of domicile. The other major grouping are known as the "Vanketzi". They are mainly genocide survivors or their descendants and live within the confines of the convent ("vank") of St James, seat of the Armenian Patriarchate.

The "Kaghakatzi" project is also tracing and cataloging the ancestry of the denizens of the Armenian Quarter, a community that is a genealogist's dream: every single "Kaghakatzi" is related to every other "Kaghakatzi," either directly or indirectly, in an unbroken chain that goes back centuries, according to Hagopian.

The "Kaghakatzi" enterprise has so far netted over 3,000 names, culled from the official "domar"s (records) of the Armenian Patriarchate, personal recollections, and the odd document or two: but at its peak, the whole Armenian contingent in Jerusalem, the "Kaghakatzi", "Vanketzi" and the small number of Catholic converts, totaled more than 15,000.

"Armenians have left an indelible mark on the annals of the golden city of Jerusalem," Hagopian remarks. "Their history is one of unbridled vigor and depthless vitality as manifested, for example, in the monuments they erected and the art they produced. The Cathedral of St James is unarguably the most magnificent Christian edifice in Jerusalem while their ceramics and pottery are incomparable in their artistry."

"We are planning to tell our story through the medium of a feature film that will delve deep into the soul of this unique segment of humanity and answer the question: what makes the Armenians of Jerusalem tick?" Hagopian says.

Hagopian will be writing the script and is thinking of directing the film.

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