Music/Film: Armenia’s Naregatsi Art Institute to host film screening about Komitas

Panorama, Armenia
Oct 25 2017
Culture 18:22 25/10/2017Armenia

Armenia’s Naregatsi Art Institute will host the screening of a new film about Armenian monk and genius composer Komitas on 26 October. 

The film titled “Post Factum… The past defines the future" tells about the musicological activities of Komitas and about how he became a victim of political and social controversies.

The event will be attended by the film director Movses Gasparyan, producer and cameraman Gagik Harutyunyan and senior researcher of the musical fund at the Charents Museum of Literature and Arts, musicologist Marine Musheghyan, who will talk about the film, presenting interesting facts about Komitas's life and creative activity.

The entrance is free.

The film screening will be proceeded by the screening of “Plough Song” (Goutanerg) – a documentary presenting Komitas's most important work which the entire film is based on, Gagik Harutyunyan told Panorama.am.

“The second film is about uncovering a fraud, based on clear facts. The discovery has made us review some matters regarding Komitas Vardapet: how much we know him and how much we develop his art line,” he said.

Gagik Harutyunyan spoke about the false information about the renowned musician, noting there went talks that he allegedly defended his diploma work in Germany on the topic of Kurdish folk songs. “He did not defend any diploma work there, that system was not even applied. It was used as a measure of defense, since Komitas was accused of nationalism until 1915. The false news was disseminated by Armenians to protect Komitas. The film proves it through documents, which we have discovered in our archives, rather than in Germany or Jerusalem,” he detailed.

Gagik Harutyunyan also added musicologist Marine Musheghyan will present an unpublished document following the film screening.