Month: October 2008

ADRIANA SEVAN AWARDED 2008 MIDDLE EAST AMERICA DISTINGUISHED PLAYWRIGHT AWARD

Broadway World
BWW News Desk
October 16, 2008
NY

The three theater organizations from across the nation, Golden Thread
Productions in San Francisco, the Lark Play Development Center in
New York, and Silk Road Theatre Project in Chicago, who formed Middle
East America (MEA): A National New Plays Initiative have awarded the
2008 Middle East America Distinguished Playwright Award to Adriana
Sevan. Additionally, due to the outstanding pool of applicants, MEA
has honored both Leila Buck and Sinan Unel with the 2008 Middle East
America Special Jury Prize.

The first of its kind, this prize provides a $10,000 commissionvfor
Sevan to write a new play, intensive developmental support from
the Lark, possible productions at Golden Thread and Silk Road, and
travel funds to be present at all stages of the process. According
to Lark Producing Director John Clinton Eisner, "Our nation’s energy
and innovation has often sprung from immigrant’s stories and global
perspectives, and this commission represents a new path for cultural
institutions learning to collaborate on building new repertoire
that more accurately mirrors and celebrates America’s ever-evolving
cultural landscape."

During the commissioned play’s development and production arc,
representatives of each partner organization will travel to each
city–Chicago, New York, and San Francisco–to observe the process and
to engage in public conversations and panel events about Middle Eastern
voices. Jury Prize awardees Buck and Unel will both receive $1,000
in recognition of the high quality of their writing and potential
contribution to the American theater. Sevan is an American artist of
Armenian, Dominican, and Basque ancestry; her one-woman show Taking
Flight, has been workshopped and performed at The Goodman Theatre,
Center Theatre Group, San Diego Repertory, South Coast Repertory,
and The Sundance Theatre Lab. About the award, Adriana says, "What
a blessing to have a trinity of theatres so committed to the heart
of my unwritten play, eager to share their wisdom and resources,
provide a nurturing community, and help the seeds of my story to grow."

About Sevan’s proposed new work, the Artistic Director of Silk
Road Theatre Project Jamil Khoury says, "This exciting first
commission promises to enrich the cannon of American theatre and our
understanding of Middle Eastern Americans. Adriana plans to conduct
research exploring themes of family, atrocity, migration, and memory,
including the untold stories of the Turkish Schindlers who helped
Armenians survive their Ottoman tormentors. The play is inspired
by Adriana’s grandparents who survived the Armenian genocide before
fleeing to the shores of New England."

Playwrights of Middle Eastern American heritage applied from all
over the U.S. and, according to Torange Yeghiazarian, Golden Thread
Artistic Director, "The quality of the proposals far exceeded our
expectations. The pool of readers highly recommended, to the final
selection committee, more playwrights than the Initiative can possibly
support in its first round. We hope that in the future we will be
able to award more than one commission."

The chosen playwrights were selected by: John Clinton Eisner (Lark
Producing Director), Jamil Khoury, and Torange Yeghiazarian. The
reading committee included a wide range of theatre artists and
managers: Suzy Fay, Malik Gillani, Kristin Horton, Isis Saratial
Misdary, Sonia Pabley, Jennifer Shook, Shilarna Stokes, Lloyd Suh,
Daniella Topol, and Tamilla Woodard.

For more information and application guidelines on Middle
East America: A National New Plays Initiative, visit:
Adriana Sevan, a native New Yorker, is an
award winning actress and playwright. Her critically acclaimed one
woman show, TAKING FLIGHT, has been thrilling audiences across the
country. It was recently awarded a 2007 San Diego Theatre Critics
Circle Award and is a finalist for a 2008 Audie Award for Best Solo
Narrative.

As a playwright, she has created, developed, and performed her work at
the Sundance Theatre Lab, South Coast Repertory, The Mark Taper Forum,
The Lark Play Development Center, INTAR, and Dixon Place. In 2006,
TAKING FLIGHT, had its world premiere at The Kirk Douglas Theatre,
produced by Michael Ritchie and Diane Rodriguez/Center Theatre
Group. The play was then recorded live with LA Theatre Works for a
nationwide broadcast, on Public Radio, for the series, "The Play’s The
Thing." TAKING FLIGHT has continued to have sold out runs at San Diego
Rep, The Fountain Theatre, and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Sevan
is about to begin a nine month playwriting residency, led by Pier
Carlo Talenti, at The Mark Taper Forum. As an actress, she has just
completed a film called HARVEST, opposite Barbara Barrie and Robert
Loggia. She has appeared in multiple guest-starring roles on TV,
including "The Unit," "Law & Order," "Sex & the City," "Deadline,"
"Dellaventura," and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." Onstage, her
theatre credits include work at South Coast Repertory, Yale Rep,
Coconut Grove Playhouse, LA Theatre Works, The Public Theater,
Classic Stage Company, Shakespeare & Company, ACT, and HERE.

She currently guest teaches at CAL ARTS, and leads transformational
workshops for at risk girls using creative writing, improvisation,
and personal myth-making as tools for girls to discover and express
their vibrant, vital, and unique voices. GOLDEN THREAD PRODUCTIONS
is dedicated to theatre that explores Middle Eastern cultures and
identities as represented throughout the globe. Our mission is to
build an organization that consistently produces the highest quality
theatre about Middle Eastern culture and to establish a dynamic
artistic community and an expanding audience. And to make the Middle
East a regular part of the American Theatre Experience and make
theatre a regular part of the Middle Eastern community’s cultural
experience. Golden Thread Productions is led by Artistic Director,
Torange Yeghiazarian. For more information:

A laboratory for new voices and new ideas, the LARK PLAY DEVELOPMENT
CENTER provides playwrights with indispensable resources to develop
their work. The Lark brings together actors, directors, playwrights
and the community to allow writers to learn about their own work by
seeing and hearing it, and by receiving feedback from a dedicated
and supportive community. The company reaches into untapped local
populations and across international boundaries to seek outand embrace
unheard voices and diverse perspectives, celebrating differences
in language and worldviews. The Lark also plays a leading role
in advancing unknown writers and their works to audiences through
carefully stewarded partnerships with a host of theaters, universities,
community-based organizations, and NGOs, locally, nationally and
globally. The Lark is led by Producing Director, John Clinton Eisner
and Managing Director, Michael Robertson. For more information:

SILK ROAD THEATRE PROJECT showcases playwrights of Asian, Middle
Eastern, and Mediterranean backgrounds, whose works address
themes relevant to the peoples of the Silk Road and their Diaspora
communities. Through the creation and presentation of outstanding
theatre, we aim to promote discourse and dialogue among multi-cultural
audiences in Chicago. Silk Road Theatre Project is led by Artistic
Director, Jamil Khoury and Executive Director, Malik Gillani. For
more information:

A TRAGEDY IN MOVEMENT
By Steffen Silvis

Prague Post
October 15th, 2008 issue
Czech Republic

Farm in the Cave stands poles apart from most Czech theater Stage
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However closely related they may be, there is little that the Czechs
share with the Poles. And, while diving into generalizations is always
a shallow plunge, there are a few stark characterizations between
these two Slavic cousins that are immediately apparent even at a
cursory glance.The most telling differences are philosophical and
religious in nature, something even official population surveys and
polls bear out. While Czechs are proudly atheistic and agnostic, the
Poles still cling to Catholicism. Temperamentally, the Czechs strike
one as cool rationalists, the Poles emotional Romantics. Subsequently,
the Czechs are confirmed social liberals, making the Poles seem like
backward conservatives (one need only look at how vastly different
the two cultures’ approach to homosexuality is).Yet, the very
Polish elements that make a confirmed liberal prefer life among
the Czechs nevertheless infuse Polish theater work with (for want
of a better term) a spiritual vitality that classic, technically
competent Czech theater lacks. That’s why the work of the Czech
theater troupe Farma v jeskyni (Farm in the Cave) is so remarkable
and unique.After seeing Farm in the Cave’s work, it isn’t surprising
to learn that the company’s founder and director, the Czech-trained
Slovak Viliam DoÄ~Molomanský, has ties to Jerzy Grotowski’s center
in WrocÅ~Baw. He has also worked with one of Grotowski’s great
disciples, Wlodzimierz Staniewski, the founder of the Gardzienice
Theater in Eastern Poland.Gardzienice, to quote Susan Sontag, is "one
of the few essential theater companies working anywhere in the world
today." No serious survey of contemporary European drama can avoid
Gardzienice, as it has had a major impact on both Continental and
North American theater.DoÄ~Molomanský’s Farm in the Cave shares much
of Gardzienice’s philosophy, one that springs from Staniewski’s work
with Grotowski during the master’s "Theater of Sources" period. It’s a
theater that goes back to the very source springs of drama: dance and
song.Gardzienice’s work starts with "expeditions," where the company,
walking and pulling wagons, searches the borderlands of Eastern Poland
for pockets and villages of traditional culture. There they absorb the
storytelling and rituals of the population they live among, and then,
in turn, present performances to their hosts utilizing the lessons
learned.Farm in the Cave also makes expeditions, and the piece they
will perform this week at their new space in Smíchov, Sclavi, is
primarily built from their experiences in eastern Slovakia, where they
searched for surviving centers of Ruthenian culture. The same cultural
richness one finds in the borderlands of eastern Poland exists in the
far corner of Slovakia, with its mix of Polish, Ukrainian, Slovak,
Ruthenian and Roma people, along with traces of lost Jewish and
Armenian presence.Farm’s Sclavi is a tragedy in song and movement. The
story is of a migrant worker from the Slovak-Ruthenian region who
returns from years spent in America to discover that he’s become
an outsider in his own land."Sclavi" is Latin for both "Slavs" and
"slaves," definitions that carried over into English: Slav(e). Sclavi:
The Song of an Emigrant, then, becomes a universal history of cultural
disruption, as people are forced to uproot themselves in search of
work.Through bruising choreography and a high-lonesome polyphonic
singing, the Farm troupe literally hits the stage in what is one of
the most powerful evenings of theater in Prague. In a bare space,
save for a Gypsy wagon, the company of eight (mostly Czech, with
one Korean and one French member) enact a gripping, painful ritual
of loss — loss of place, of one’s traditions and, thus, of one’s
soul.The brutal physicality and plaintive songs of Sclavi have the
ability to tap into our own primitive fears of straying too far from
the campfire.With what was gathered on their expedition, Farm in the
Cave also weaves some text into Sclavi, primarily from actual letters
from Slovak and Ruthenian emigrants sent back home, but also using
elements from Karel Ä~Lapek’s novel Hordubal. The performance is in a
mix of languages, but, as the piece is primarily movement and song,
language is no barrier, no matter what your native tongue.Sclavi is
something seldom encountered in the Czech theaterscape, but certainly
similar to what I’ve personally experienced after watching work by
Gardzienice, Bialystok’s Teatr Wierszalin, and all the surviving film
clips of the great Grotowski at work. Lasting an hour, Sclavi still
feels, weeks later, like an event — dare I say, a spiritual one.

–Boundary_(ID_2L1Y/QosNffvZziU8A0iiw)–

REFUGEES NO LONGER – A DANCE IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Magdalena Rahn

Sofia Echo
13:53 Thu 16 Oct 2008
Bulgaria

Like refugees, dance crosses national borders. And it was the Bulgarian
dance performance Bezhantsi that made its way to hall A5G3 of the
European Parliament in Brussels on October 15. The event took place on
the initiative of vice-president of the Party of European Socialists
Kristian Vigenin.

Vigenin’s fellow Bulgarians the Deputy Prime Minister for EU Funds
Management Meglena Plougchieva and the Bulgarian ambassador to the
European Union Boiko Kotsev also attended.

Bezhantsi is a performance in the repertoire of the troupe National
Art, under the direction of Neshka Robeva, former coach of the
Bulgarian national rhythmic gymnastics team. In Brussels, it was
staged as such that the dancers performed in the centre of a circle
created by work desks at which viewers sat. The show drew an audience
of more than 200, including European Parliament members and Bulgarian
professionals living in Belgium invited by Vigenin.

Telling the story of Bulgarians, Jews, Turks, Serbs and Armenians,
each with their national particularities, stories and lives, Bezhantsi
carries a message of hope, with the goal of the performance being to
give the opportunity to see not what divides, but what unites them –
the ongoing struggle for a better life, Robeva said at the event.

"The presentation of Bezhantsi […] perfectly fits into the European
Parliament’s priorities for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue
and work on immigration legislation," Vigenin said in introducing the
show, as stated in a press release from his local public relations
office. "I am happy to have the opportunity to have co-operated in
bringing here a show that, through music and dance, says more than
all of our resolutions, declarations and garrulous speeches."

Bezhantsi premiered at NDK (National Palace of Culture) on December
12 2007; it is back in Bulgaria at Sofia’s Sulza i Smyah Theatre on
October 27.

AHISKA TURKS: NOT QUITE HOME

Today’s Zaman
17 October 2008, Friday
Turkey

Ä°smail (R) and Habibe Gulel, who moved to Antalya from Kazakhstan
in 1993, are Ahıska Turks — an ethnic group that was deported to
Georgia from Central Asia during the rule of Joseph Stalin in 1944.

After 60 years of exile all over the ex-Soviet Union, many Ahıska
Turks have now settled in Turkey, but their dream of returning home to
the province they were deported from in Georgia is as strong as ever.

As immigrants here they have many cards in their favor, such as a
shared culture and language, but also face some of the challenges
other foreigners do, three generations of Ahıska Turks explained
their situation.

Turks, not Kazakhs, Uzbeks or Kyrgyz

One of the first questions you’re asked anywhere is about where you’re
from. The answer to this is a bit complicated if you’re an Ahıska
Turk as Stalin erased their homeland from the map after he exiled
them to Central Asia in November 1944.

Ferman Yusufali, who is now 75, provided a clear, concise reply
to that question, saying: "I was 10 when we were deported from the
region in Georgia known today as Samtskhe-Javakhetia. It’s on the
border area with the Kars-Ardahan region in Turkey-covering some
6,000 square kilometers in the Caucasus. In the 16th century the
Ottomans conquered our capital, Akhaltsikhe, and it became part of the
Cildir province. Today that corresponds with the Turkish provinces of
Artvin, Ardahan and Erzurum, the Autonomous Republic of Adjaria and
Samtskhe-Javakhetia in Georgia. After the Treaty of Kars was signed in
1921 about a third of the province-including Samtskhe-Javakhetia-was
ceded to the Soviet Union."

"Towards the end of WWII, Stalin deported the Ahiska Turks and 10
other ethnic groups (such as the Ingush, Crimean Tartars and Chechens)
because they had either collaborated with the Nazis or he suspected
they would," he went on, adding, "Even though at the time there were
an estimated 40,000 Ahıska Turks in the Red Army some 120-140,000
Ahiska Turks (old people, women, children and men wounded in the war)
were put in cattle wagons and deported to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan. Around 30,000 died from hunger, the cold and disease on
the month-long journey. Some 27,000 Ahiska Turks were killed during
WWII and we never found out where they were buried (we will never find
out where my father was buried); many Ahiska Turk soldiers returning
from the war never found their families. After Stalin’s death in 1953
only the Ahiska Turks weren’t allowed home because our homeland was on
the border between the ex-Soviet Union and NATO. In 1965 restrictions
on Ahiska Turks’ right to movement within the ex-USSR were finally
lifted and in 1981 my family moved from Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan,
a country with a similar culture and language. We were treated
very well there. That wasn’t the case for Ahıska Turks in many
other ex-Soviet Union countries though. Even though Stalin was gone
they still encountered mistrust and discrimination in all aspects
of life. That came to a head in1989 with violent clashes aimed at
Ahıska Turks in the Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan in which 100s of
Ahıska Turks were killed. "

So how did it become possible for them to come to Turkey and why
haven’t they returned to their homeland? Ferman explained: "Many
families moved here after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Turkey
passed a special law in 1992, referring to us as ‘Ahıska Turks’
(not the Georgian term ‘Meskhetians’) authorizing our migration
here. Initially 130 families were resettled in Igdir with help
from the Turkish government. The same law also made it possible
for us to become dual citizens. There are an estimated 200-300,000
Ahıska Turks worldwide (mostly in the ex-USSR) and since 1992 around
40-50,000 have moved to Turkey, with 700-800 famililes in Antalya. I
moved to Antalya with my family and relatives in 1997. The Georgian
government has passed law related to us returning to Georgia, but
it’s unsatisfactory. For example, it doesn’t contain provisions for
matters such as return of property or land or recognise the fact that
we were deported."

At home in Turkey

Being an immigrant anywhere can be a very challenging
experience. Culture and language are key factors to being able to
make the transition from one country to another but the Ahıska Turks
haven’t found the process difficult given their Ottoman past. Over
the past 60 years, wherever they have been, culture and language
have been of the utmost importance them, a way to assert and maintain
their identity. Added to which, their reasons for being here are more
profound than for the majority of other foreigners.

Being Sunni muslims religious occasions, such as weddings, funerals,
ramazan, bayram and circumcisions, are an important part of life as are
family (with three generations living in one household) and respect
for elders. Ahıska culture also includes popular beliefs found in
Turkey, such as "nazar." Their folk music is similar that in Turkey,
with the same instruments, but it also contains elements from Azeri,
Georgian and Armenian. "We have a very rich culture," said Habibe
Gulel who is 19 and studying politics at Ankara University.

Food can be a major issue abroad. Again this isn’t the case for
the Ahıska Turks as their cuisine is very similar to that found in
Turkey. "We often eat ‘pilav,’ ‘corba,’ ‘mantı’ (similar to Turkish
mantı but bigger), ‘dolma,’ ‘kaymak,’ ‘baklava’ and ‘komposto,’ just
like they do here. We also drink ‘ayran’ and ‘serbet,’" explained
Ismail Gulel, 55, who moved here from Kazakhstan with his family in
1993. "Of course, our food has also been influenced by where we’ve
lived and includes dishes from the Caucasus as well as from Central
Asia," he added.

Ahıska Turks have a major advantage over other foreigners here as they
speak a variety of Turkish similar to the Kars dialect. For the most
part it’s a spoken language as in places like Central Asia they had
little access to written Turkish of any kind before the 1990s. After
that Gorbachev introduced a one-hour Turkish class once a week and
Fetullah Gullen opened Turkish schools there. At home they spoke
Ahıska Turkish and in the outside world used other languages which led
to borrowing words from Georgian, Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Uzbek
for certain things. In Azerbaijan the situation is different, for as
Ferman pointed out, Azeri Turkish is studied at school and both Azeri
Turkish and Ahıska Turkish use a great deal of Ottoman vocabulary
and are largely untouched by Ataturk’s language reforms of 1928.

"When Ahıska Turks first arrive here it takes them about three
months to learn the Turkish spoken here," explained Habibe. "Some
people-like my brother who was 14 when we got here-go on language
courses to learn to read and write it," she added. Being here
also deepens their knowledge of the language, as Ä°smail explained:
"Although ‘Hurriyet’ is a girl’s name in Kazakhistan I didn’t realise
the name had a meaning until I got to Turkey." There are occasionally
misunderstandings, however, such as when they reply "kendim," which
comes across as very rude, instead of "anladım" (I understand).

Asked why he moved here from Azerbaijan, Ferman replied: "Because
I’m a Turk and I wanted to find out what that really means." Others,
such as Ismail, are very pleased to be in a country they feel safe
after enduring decades of ethnic and religious discrimination under
Soviet rule. "This is our fatherland; we’re very happy here. Above
all, here we no longer face the psychological pressure of a daily
threat of violence against us for being Turks," Ismail explained.

Immigrants all the same

Ahıska Turks, the same as any other foreigner here, are also faced
with the challenge of learning how things work in another country,
such as how to find accommodation, how the health system works or
where to pay your bills.

During their exile solidarity and mutual aid have been of the utmost
importance to Ahıska Turks and the situation here is no different:
throughout Turkey-in places as diverse as Hatay and Bursa-there
are 40 Ahıska Turk cultural associations. These also function as
a support network and drop-in centers, offering advice to Ahıska
Turks from many ex-Soviet Union countries e.g Ukraine, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan related to living in Turkey as well as on
matters related to filing a land or property claim in Georgia.

The issue of employment is a matter of concern for Ahıska
Turks. Ä°smail is among the few Ahıska Turks with a profession-he’s a
surgeon and now works at a state hospital in Antalya. He lamented that
only 5 percent of Ahıska Turks are trained professionals as a result
of discrimination in ex-Soviet Union countries. "In general they’re
unskilled workers," he explained, adding, "Many come to Antalya to
work in the tourism sector in response to the demand for people who
speak both Turkish and Russian. This was also the case for my family:
we initially settled in Igdir in 1993 but both my sons came to Antalya
to work in tourism." The whole family eventually relocated to Antalya
in 2005.

Given the nature of the tourism sector many Ahıska Turks come for
just the season and save money to take home. Ä°smail highlighted
that in Kazakhistan, for example, the average monthly wage is $100
and that here they can earn from $400-1,000 a month. "It’s not easy
for seasonal workers as they work long hours, sleep 10 to a room and
are fed badly," he emphasised.

The future

Turks are curious about whether foreigners intend to stay here. Asked
where he sees himself in 10 years’ time, Ferman replied: "I’ll be
here in Turkey; I’m tired of moving." For his part, Ä°smail said: "If
the Georgian government doesn’t amend its policies towards us then we
will live and die here, always missing our homeland." Habibe replied:
"If the circumstances change and we are recognised as ‘Ahıskas,’ I
would like to become a governor in our homeland. If that doesn’t happen
then I’d like to stay in Turkey and become a governor somewhere here.

–Boundary_(ID_vWg4ymCMApY51AWUlDM49w)–

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
By Anna Malpas

St.Petersburg Times.ru
Oct 16, 2008
Russia

The latest reality show on Russian television follows the format by
bunching together "the usual suspects" as contestants.

On Saturday, TNT started its latest reality show, "Who Doesn’t Want
to Be a Millionaire." The nine participants are locked in a bunker
underground and have to agree on which of them wins a $1 million
prize. The catch is that every time one of them walks out, the prize
money is cut in half. The idea comes from the United States, where the
show aired on Fox as "Unan1mous." It has also been shown on Britain’s
Channel Four.

In the Russian version, the host is It Girl Ksenia Sobchak. On
Saturday, she didn’t actually go down into the bunker but only
appeared on a video screen in a sober suit and dark-framed glasses. At
the beginning, she announces that the contestants are 300 meters
underground, although disappointingly, we have to take her word for
it and don’t see any winding tunnels.

The bunker looks quite pleasant inside, with a central hall where
the contestants vote, a smaller room where they argue with each
other around a table, and women’s and men’s dorms similar to those
in "Big Brother." It also seems to be rather hot, as the contestants
constantly wipe their brows. This is possibly just a tactic to enable
the more photogenic ones to show off their hotpants.

The choice of contestants follows the usual logic of reality shows,
running the full range from loud and shouty obnoxious man to blonde
stripper to gesticulating gay guy. The contestants are pigeonholed
with brutal directness in the script. One is announced as "an open
homosexual," while another is labeled as "a representative of the
Armenian diaspora" (read: successful businessman).

In the first episode, the contestants agreed right away that they
would have to share the money in some way. All but two contestants
— the gesticulating gay guy, Pyotr, and the shouty obnoxious man,
Mikhail — wanted to nominate the most reliable-looking contestant to
take the million and divvy it up. They picked out Maria, who said she
was an encyclopedia publisher. And you know what, they were right, as
she does exist and has even won an award from President Vladimir Putin.

Mikhail, who is a market trader in Rostov-on-Don and looks far older
than the advertised 26, said he didn’t trust Maria, as "99.9 percent
of people would take the money and run." With that prize, you could
afford some cosmetic surgery to change your appearance, he pointed
out. Cue discussions with Alexander, who boasted of contacts who could
"find anyone" and talked knowingly of how a "fake passport isn’t so
easy to get nowadays." They ended up forcing Maria to write down all
her passport details and cell phone numbers of her friends.

Maria said she wanted to give her share to a hospice but also mentioned
a loopy plan to build a center in the Moscow region that would help
people live longer with stem cell therapy.

As my opinion of human nature plummeted, gesticulating gay guy
Pyotr coyly hinted in diary room asides that his sob story was not
entirely true. He had won some sympathy from the other contestants
with a story about how he accidentally burnt down a wooden house and
had to compensate the residents to the tune of 4.5 million rubles
($172,000). This story did not gel very well with his carefully teased
hair, new-looking clothes and tan.

Winning the contest is supposed to be all about strategy — and one of
the contestants is even a poker player. That could be interesting to
watch, but this is definitely a case where the nice guys finish last.

THE CRUNCH: LOCAL MEDIA MOGULS TOP LIST OF MINNESOTA’S BIGGEST POLITICAL GIVERS
By Paul Demko

Minnesota Independent
10/16/08 10:48 AM
MN

Stanley and Karen Hubbard are in a league of their own when it comes
to political contributions. In the first 18 months of this election
cycle the couple doled out $163,500 to federal political candidates
and causes — $40,000 more than the next most generous Minnesota
household. Republicans have largely been the beneficiaries of their
largesse, with more than 80 percent of that money ending up in GOP
coffers.

Stanley Hubbard The owners of Hubbard Broadcasting, which includes KSTP
radio (AM-1500) and TV (Channel 5), are not newcomers to the political
game. Since 1990 Stanley has made 468 political contributions totaling
more than $1 million to federal campaigns across the country, according
to the Center for Responsive Politics. Meanwhile, Karen has distributed
204 donations totaling more than a quarter of a million dollars.

Critics have sometimes accused Hubbard Broadcasting of letting the
owners’ political beliefs interfere with its journalism. Most recently
the company’s flagship TV station aired a rare editorial praising
the behavior of police officers during the Republican National
Convention, despite more than 800 arrests and accusations of police
misconduct. Left unmentioned was the fact that Hubbard Broadcasting
was a corporate sponsor of the event and that Stanley Hubbard served
on the RNC Host Committee’s executive board.

In 2006 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch pilloried the
company for its coverage of a gaffe by running mate Judi Dutcher
regarding ethanol fuel E85. "Stan Hubbard is a political hack and he
has a news media station that is full of political hacks," Hatch said
at the time. "What they did is they took her out of context."

The top 100 givers in the state have made $4.1 million in federal
political contributions since the beginning of 2007, or more than
$40,000 per household. Republican donors have cut checks for $2.3
million, while their Democratic counterparts have contributed $1.8
million. To get a better understanding of the state’s most generous
political patrons, the Minnesota Independent commissioned a study by
the Center for Responsive Politics looking at the top 100 contributors.

In the first six installments of this series we looked at the bottom
90 members of the list, those contributing between $23,000 and
$67,000. Today we hit the top 10. Donors on this section of the list
contributed a total of $1,077,859 to federal political candidates and
causes during the first 18 months of this election cycle. Democrats
dominated this portion of the list, collecting nearly $700,000 from
the top 10 donors.

Right behind the Hubbards on the list is another influential media
figure, John Cowles Jr. A native of Des Moines, Cowles came to
Minneapolis in 1938 after his family purchased the Minneapolis Star
newspaper. He eventually rose to become CEO of Cowles Media Co. and
publisher of its flagship newspaper, the Star Tribune. In 1998 the
company was sold to the McClatchy Co., and since then Cowles has been
a prominent philanthropist and major Democratic contributor. So far
this election cycle, Cowles and his wife, Sage, have given $122,000
to campaigns and causes.

Mark Dayton Not surprisingly, some of the other biggest names in
Democratic political circles crop up at the top of the fundraising
pyramid. Former Sen. Mark Dayton hits fourth place on the list,
contributing at least $105,900 to Democratic campaigns and causes
through the first 18 months of this election cycle. Roughly half
that money ($52,000) went to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee. Although Dayton walked away from the Senate in 2006 after
just one term, he is often rumored to be mulling a run for governor
in 2010. Spreading around lots of cash to Democratic candidates will
undoubtedly endear him to the party faithful.

Not far behind Dayton is his ex-wife, Alida Messinger. The Rockefeller
heir, whose brother is Sen. Jay Rockefeller, has given at least $95,900
to Democratic efforts since the beginning of 2007. Messinger, who is
invariably referred to as secretive in media reports, has long been
one of the most prolific Democratic donors in the country.

A 2003 study by the Center for Public Integrity found that she’d given
$2.3 million to so-called 527 groups during a two-year period, ranking
her behind only Jane Fonda among the country’s most generous donors
to such organizations. She hasn’t stopped writing checks since. An
April study by the Campaign Finance Institute determined that she had
contributed $433,000 to 527 groups in the first 13 months of this
campaign cycle, making her the 11th largest donor to the advocacy
organizations nationwide. She also has written a $1 million check
this year to bolster support for a ballot referendum in Minnesota that
would raise the sales tax to provide funding for the outdoors and arts.

Jim Deal is a relative newcomer to the world of big-time Democratic
donors. The retired insurance executive first made a splash in 2006
when he donated $100,000 to Minnesotans for Change, an organization
set up to thwart Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s re-election plans. "Minnesota’s
on a disastrous collision course," Deal told the Star Tribune at the
time. "Obviously, I’m a liberal."

That outlay of cash may have been made in vain, but it hasn’t
stopped Deal from continuing to be one of the DFL Party’s biggest
backers. Since the beginning of 2007, Deal and his wife, Pamela,
have contributed $119,560 exclusively to Democrats, making them the
third most generous household in the state.

On the Republican side of the ledger are a couple of prominent local
business executives. George Anderson is vice president of operations
at Roseville-based Crown Iron Works. He and his wife, Barbara, have
contributed $94,400 to political campaigns since the beginning of 2007,
with all but $4,400 of that money going toward Republicans. George
Anderson also made a $10,000 contribution in 2006 toward a campaign to
outlaw gay marriage. "I don’t have anything against anyone personally,"
Anderson told Minnesota Public Radio at the time. "But I think it’s
important to keep that definition straightforward, and not muddle
it up."

Brad Anderson Brad Anderson has also been a reliable source of cash for
GOP candidates. The Best Buy CEO, who got his start as a sales clerk
at stereo store Sound of Music, took in compensation of $49.3 million
last year. Roughly $75,000 of that money ended up funding Republican
campaigns. Among his contributions: $10,000 for the Republican Party of
Minnesota and $5,000 for Sen. Norm Coleman’s Northstar Leadership PAC.

Gerard and Cleo Cafesjian are the rarest of big-bucks political donors:
they give generously to both parties. The couple have contributed
a total of $102,700 this election cycle, split between Democrats
and Republicans. Staunch conservatives like Rep. Michele Bachmann
($5,500) have enjoyed their support, as have liberal politicians
like Rep. Betty McCollum ($3,000). Gerard Cafesjian is a prominent
Armenian-American businessman who made his fortune as an executive
at West Publishing Co. The couple is best known for spending $1.2
million to restore the Como Park carousel.

Here’s the complete list of donors occupying slots 1 through 10:

1. Stanley and Karen Hubbard, Lakeland, Hubbard Broadcasting, $163,500

2. John and Sage Cowles, Minneapolis, retired, $122,000

3. Pamela and James Deal, Anoka, NAU Companies, $119,560

4. Mark Dayton, Minneapolis, retired, $105,900

5. Cleo and Gerald Cafesjian, Naples, retired, $102,700

6. Joseph and Christina Sriver, Minneapolis, designer, $100,050

7. John and Sheila Morgan, Minneapolis, Winmark Corp., $96,850

8. Alida Messinger, Minneapolis, philanthropist, $95,900

9. George and Barbara Anderson, Champlin, Crown Iron Works, $94,400

10. Bradbury and Janet Anderson, Minneapolis, Best Buy, $76,999

Previously in The Crunch:

Minnesota’s top 100 political givers: 11 to 20

Minnesota’s top 100 political givers: 21 to 30

Minnesota’s top 100 political givers: 31 to 40

Minnesota’s top 100 political givers: 41 to 50

Minnesota’s top 100 political givers: 51 to 75

Minnesota’s Top 100 political givers: 76 to 100

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FILM AND SYMPOSIUM EXPLORE MODERN-DAY GENOCIDES
By Barbara Taormina/[email protected]

Salem Gazette
tainment/arts/x398368862/Film-and-symposium-explor e-modern-day-genocides
Thu Oct 16, 2008, 09:15 PM EDT
USA

Salem – About four minutes into Apo Torosyan’s new film, "The
Morgenthau Story," New York County D.A. Robert Morgenthau calmly
offers a bone-chilling comment.

"If the world had reacted to the genocide of the Armenians, Hitler
would have been reluctant to go out and kill Jews in a wholesale
fashion," says Morgenthau, who at 89 can bring the heft of a historical
perspective to his opinions.

But the world didn’t react. No one listened to Morgenthau’s
grandfather, Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. ambassador to Constantinople
in 1915, who tried to warn the West that the Turkish government was
systematically killing the 1.5 million men, women and children who
made up the country’s Armenian minority population.

And because no one listened, because no one chose to remember,
the world seems to have been, as philosopher George Santayana says,
condemned to repeat history — in Germany, Cambodia, Bosnia and now,
in Darfur.

"How as humans we don’t learn from our mistakes I don’t know," says
Torosyan. "But, I always believe in hope."

And it’s hope that has inspired the Peabody artist to create a body of
work that’s both testament and tribute to the victims of the Armenian
genocide. During the ’90s, Torosyan created a series of paintings
around the central image of bread, the simple and basic element of
life that that Armenians, including his grandparents, were denied
during the genocide. More recently, Torosyan has focused on film as
a medium to tell his story.

"The Morgenthau Story," Torosyan’s fourth film, weaves together
words and images to offer a safe window to the horror of the Armenian
genocide and the inexplicable indifference of the rest of the world.

Torosyan will visit Salem on Monday for a screening and a human rights
symposium. (See details on a screening and a human-rights symposium
at the end of the article.)

Torosyan’s previous films have centered on the painful first-person
accounts of survivors and their families, but this time around, he
focuses on Henry Morgenthau, an American of German-Jewish ancestry,
who tried to rally the world and stop the killing. The film is
built around interviews with three of Morgenthau’s grandchildren,
who provide both personal and public portraits of the diplomat and
the times in which he lived.

Torosyan splices together those recollections with historical photos
and film footage that document the genocide and offer evidence to
skeptics and deniers who continue to insist it never happened.

"Henry Morgenthau collected all a lot of evidence — 30,000 pages
— all proof of what happened," says Torosyan. "Anyone who wants to
argue about the Armenian genocide can go to the library of Congress
and look through these pages."

The film is particularly poignant in light of the recent controversy
involving the Anti-Defamation League and its refusal to support a
congressional resolution that would formally recognize the Armenian
Genocide. ADL leaders say that what happened to the Armenians is
"tantamount to genocide" but the organization also believes formal
recognition would be counterproductive, since it would offend Turkey,
a moderate Muslim nation and one of Israel’s few allies in the
Muslim world.

Not long after the ADL released a public statement outlining
that position, a dozen Massachusetts cities and towns, including
Newburyport, withdrew from the ADL’s "No Place for Hate" program
which was created to challenge anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia and
all forms of bigotry on a local level.

Last February, Newburyport Mayor John Moak sent a letter to ADL
officials informing them of his city’s decision to sever its ties
with the organization.

"In the wake of last fall’s national spotlight on the ADL and its
failure to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide between 1915 and 1923
as anything other than ‘tantamount to genocide,’ and in support of
the approximate 5,000 Armenian residents in Merrimack Valley, the
prudent course of action is to withdraw our membership," wrote Moak.

Failure to recognize Like other Armenians, Torosyan is disappointed
by the U.S. government’s failure to recognize the Armenian genocide
because of Turkey’s strategic political and economic position in world
politics, and "The Morgenthau Story" is a fact-heavy film that seems
to speak directly to that lack of moral conviction.

But Torosyan does not blame the Turkish people for trying to twist
history and deny the Armenians an accurate account of the past. He
hopes that there will be Turks in the audience during the film’s
upcoming screenings at various organizations and schools, and he
hopes he will have the chance to debate the facts.

"I believe the Turkish people today are not responsible for what
happened in the past," says Torosyan, who adds that the younger
generations of Turks know little about what happened other than what
they learn in state-issued history books which are heavily censored.

"They can’t believe that their ancestors are murderers," he says.

While "The Morgenthau Story" attempts to set straight the historical
record, it also suggests what needs to happen in order for this
episode on history to end with some sense of justice.

One of Morgenthau’s three grandchildren who agreed to be interviewed
for the film, Dr. Pamela Steiner, admits early on she did not know
her grandfather well. She does tell a story of how he once gave her
a Japanese doll that she admired in his study. She took it home and,
like a lot of children might have done, and gradually undressed and
unraveled it until there was nothing left. And while there is some
hesitation and regret in her voice while she tells that story, there
is nothing but conviction and resolve when Steiner, who has degrees
from Harvard in both government and counseling, suggests the next
necessary step for Armenians and Turks.

According to Steiner, in order for there to be any type of genuine
reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia, the truth about the past has
to be clearly stated and acknowledged. Steiner also believes that there
needs to be reparations, restitution and memorials to the victims.

Finally, Steiner says Turkey must pledge that nothing like the Armenian
genocide will ever happen again and the government must correct its
history books and tell the truth.

Torosyan says "The Morgenthau Story" is a documentary and that one of
the nice things about doing such a film is that he isn’t obligated
to offer opinions. Still, the film goes further than his previous
work in suggesting a concrete resolution to an episode in history
that many would prefer to simply sweep under a rug.

But Torosyan insists that’s not going to happen, and he will continue
to tell the story of the Armenian genocide through films and through
paintings.

"When you have a little stone in your shoe it becomes more and more
uncomfortable to walk," he says. "For the deniers, we’re that little
stone."

And Torosayn says nothing, not even a formal recognition of the past,
will stop him from trying to preserve the history of Armenia.

"For the rest of my life, I will talk about how my grandparents were
murdered and how so many people died," he says. "My job isn’t talking
about anybody; it’s talking for humanity."

Screening and human rights symposium There will be a screening of
Apo Torosyan’s new film, "The Morgenthau Story," a documentary on
the life and times of Henry Morgenthau Sr., at Salem State College on
Oct. 20. The screening is sponsored by the Holocaust Center, Boston
North Inc. For more information, contact Professor Robert McAndrews
at 978-542-6815.

Salem State College Graduate School and the Holocaust Center, Boston
North, will also hold a symposium, "Human Rights and the Danger
of Genocide," that evening. Torosyan will be present to engage in
conversation with those attending the event.

Events will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Martin Luther King
Room of the Ellison Campus Center, located on Salem State’s North
Campus on Lafayette Street. Admission is free.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CROSS STONE ERECTED IN UKRAINE

AZG Armenian Daily
17/10/2008

Armenian Genocide

Opening ceremony of a cross stone dedicated to the Armenian Genocide
was held October 11 in the central park of Nikopol (province of
Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine).

The cross stone is erected on the initiative of the Armenian
community of Nikopol. The anointment rite was administered by the
priest Ter Hamazasp of the Armenian Church of Nikopol and priest
Roman Katsnovetski of the Russian Church.

The Mayor of Nikopol Sergey Starunin that was present at the ceremony
mentioned in his speech that the Genocide committed against Armenians
is a crime against humanity, and raising of the cross stone also
plays an important role in preventing from such tragedies.

KRIKORIAN LAUNCHES TV ADS, AND OTHER NEWS

Independent Political Report
October 16th, 2008
MI

Independent congressional candidate David Krikorian, running in Ohio’s
second district, has released a new ad for television and Youtube. It
portrays Krikorian as the "most qualified" candidate and is comprised
of him talking to the camera. You can watch it below.

In other Krikorian-related news, his district’s congressional race
was covered in the Weekly Standard’s most recent issue. The Weekly
Standard is a magazine created by William Kristol and Fred Barnes. Of
Krikorian, they said:

The wild card in this race will be independent David Krikorian,
a Cincinnati entrepreneur of Armenian background with expertise in
economics. He will have raised about $200,000 before the race is
done, has five paid campaign staffers, and was the first candidate
to go on television. He’s received the endorsement of the Cincinnati
Fraternal Order of Police. His own campaign’s poll of Democratic
and Republican primary voters showed Krikorian at 19 percent. His
"Had Enough?" strategy includes refusing PAC money.

Krikorian will also be participating in another debate with the
Democratic and Republican candidates. It will air on TV in conjunction
with special programs about three key state or local issues: "Ohio’s
Resort Casino," "Payday Lending Referendum," and "Proportional
Representation Ballot." The debate will take place on October 22 from
8 PM to 9 PM. It will be available online at CETconnect.org.

CLASSICAL MUSIC/OPERA LISTINGS

New York Times
October 16, 2008
United States

Classical Music

ISABEL BAYRAKDARIAN (Monday) This fine Armenian-Canadian soprano
performs the music of Gomidas, Armenia’s national composer and
ethnomusicologist. Inspired by her first trip to her ancestral home,
Ms. Bayrakdarian will sing rarely performed Gomidas songs in Armenian
with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, led by Anne Manson, the pianist
Serouj Kradjian and the duduk player Hampic Djabourian. The program
also includes instrumental works by Bartok, Ravel, Nikos Skalkottas and
Gideon Klein, all inspired by various folk music traditions. At 7:30
p.m., Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org;
$35 and $45. (Vivien Schweitzer)