SCREAMING TO BE HEARD
By Richard Duckett Telegram & Gazette Staff
Worcester Telegram, MA
Feb 8 2007
Rockers partner with newswoman for documentary about genocide
Just before he ordered the invasion of Poland in 1939, Hitler,
in justifying launching World War II and the pending horrors and
Holocaust, reportedly said "Who, after all, today remembers the
(slaughter of) the Armenians …"
He was referring to the Armenian Genocide, which began in 1915 during
World War I and saw 1.5 million Armenians living in Turkey killed at
the hands of the authorities of the Ottoman Empire.
It would be the 20th century’s first genocide.
But as the 21st century steadily gathers momentum with its
distinctive noises, the memory of the Armenian Genocide is still
loudly reverberating.
In the documentary "Screamers," which opens at Showcase Cinemas
North tomorrow, a U.S. metal band, System of a Down, passionately
protests the refusal of even the current government of Turkey to
recognize the events of 1915. The documentary intersperses concert
footage of the band with archive film from the Armenian Genocide,
the Holocaust, and recent tragedies such as Darfur. There are also
several interviews, including one with the 96-year-old grandfather
of one of the band members of System of a Down, who is a survivor of
the Armenian Genocide.
"Screamers" director Carla Garapedian also interviewed Turkish-Armenian
editor and writer Hrant Dink, who had been outspoken in Turkey about
the Turkish government’s "denial" of its past.
Dink had been condemned by the Turkish government, even receiving
a six-month suspended jail sentence in 2005. He speaks out in
"Screamers." But his voice was silenced last month when he was shot
to death outside his office in Turkey by a lone gunman.
The Turkish government condemned the shooting, but the 92-year-old
genocide obviously still rattles with the sound of gunfire.
"He (Dink) was talking exactly about the issues that made him a
target," Garapedian said. "He knew his life was in danger. He knew
he was on a hit list because he was in our film."
Garapedian well recalls the time she spent with Dink for the film.
"We had a really nice day. That was a day I’ll always remember. He
was fun, so full of life, a big bear of a man. Very tall with a big
smile. When I saw pictures that he had been shot from behind, it was
so undignified to see someone you knew shot from the back and felled
like a tree …
"He was killed for his beliefs. There is no other way."
During a telephone interview last week, Garapedian said she plans to
be in Worcester this weekend for the local opening of "Screamers."
"I’m very aware of the significance of opening there."
Worcester has an important historical place in the annals of
Armenian-American history. It was the city where many Armenians
first settled in the United States after fleeing their homeland, and
the first Armenian church in North America was built here. A vital
Armenian-American culture remains. Garapedian said she has visited
Worcester several times.
Herself the granddaughter of a survivor of the Armenian Genocide,
she grew up in Los Angeles but is now based in England. She said she
went to the London School of Economics initially for a one-year term
of study, and ended up staying there. Then she stayed in England,
working both for the BBC and ITV’s Channel 4.
Still, she has also traveled the world making documentaries,
including the Emmy-award-winning "Beneath the Veil" about women in
Afghanistan. Her work has also taken her to Chechnya, North Korea
and Equatorial Guinea.
However, "Screamers" is Garapedian’s first film to tackle an issue
from her own heritage.
"I had very little to do with the Armenian issue, except that I was
the grandchild of an Armenian survivor," she said. "It’s very much
part of my DNA. You grow up with that. But to actually make a film
about that – it felt too personal." That would change when she went
to a System of a Down concert in 2004.
"I didn’t know their music really well. What impressed me was that
the fans already knew about the Armenian Genocide. That really shocked
me. Most Americans don’t know about it, and here is this band that’s
doing it." The band is not only speaking out, but is a multiplatinum
selling outfit famous for such diverse numbers as "Holy Mountains"
and "P.L.U.C.K."
As Garapedian met and talked with band members, the idea of a
documentary began to take shape.
"The rage and passion of the music lends itself to the subject,"
she said of the Armenian Genocide.
With its mix of music, history and message, "Screamers" sounds like a
highly ambitious film. Some critics have suggested that it is perhaps
overly over-reaching. A reviewer in the New York Post did not seem
to get the film at all. Another reviewer said there is too much music.
Garapedian has been monitoring the rottentomatoes.com movie review
site, and noted that the film has a 75 percent approval rating so far.
"I think that’s not bad for a rock and roll documentary about a very
tough subject. The intent is to reach young people. I made that choice
very consciously. We had a screening at a temple in L.A. and 700
kids showed up. The rabbi said he had never seen anything like it,"
Garapedian said.
"It’s the young people who are gonna make the difference. I wanted to
be a bit more academic, but I knew if I did that I’d bore people. I’m
prepared for some reviewers not buying into that."
Last month "Screamers" was shown at the U.S. Library of Congress.
After the screening, Garapedian said a Turkish woman stood up and
commented, "That was very powerful, but you only showed one side."
"I responded by saying, ‘You’re in the Library of Congress, where
there are archives. Down the road is the Holocaust Museum. Why don’t
you ask the Turkish government to open up its archives?’ "
Turkey, Garapedian said, has "never resolved the Armenian issue,
let alone the Kurdish issue."
But the issues won’t go away or be forgotten.
"My hope with the film is not that we change this overnight, because
we’re not going to, but that we have an open and honest debate about
it," Garapedian said.
Renowned glass artist and Holden native Donna Eicholtz was commissioned
to design a piece of commemorative jewelry for use by "Screamers." Her
pendent is a symbol of an "eternal spiral."
Eicholtz, who lives in England, said, "The spiral symbolizes power
and independent movement. This commemorative piece focuses on movement
of awareness and action, with the spiral flowing into a fire. … As
glass never deteriorates, this film burns on eternally."
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