Author: Badalian Vardan

indieWIRE
November 21, 2012 Wednesday 9:18 PM EST

‘Last Night’ Director Massy Tadjedin To Helm ‘The Adults,’ Shekhar
Kapur To Helm ‘Three Apples Fell From Heaven’ More

Nov 21, 2012 indieWIRE:

After a string of films that seemed to challenge Michael Haneke in
terms of unrelenting bleakness, it’s then perhaps a slight shock to
hear director Lukas Moodyson (“Lilya-4-Ever,” “A Hole In My Heart”)
contemplating brighter pastures for his next film.

However, earlier this year[1] he claimed just that with a feel good
adaptation of his wife Coco’s graphic novel, “Never Goodnight,” and
now the project, along with two other similarly promising efforts,
have found their next step toward production. Moodyson has received
$1.65 million from the Swedish Film Institute for his next film, We
Are the Best, which centers on three teenage girls living in 1982
Stockholm who decide to form a punk band. Owing itself to a marketable
premise and music-centric storyline, it’s clear why the SFI designated
their highest amount of funding to the film, for which Moodyson should
have no problem sticking to his planned[2] fall start date. After
that, plans are to open the film next year in Sweden, with a festival
circuit run just prior.

Elsewhere, while buzz around Derek Cianfrance’s latest effort, The
Place Beyond the Pines, has only increased, the producers behind the
project are already swiftly moving on to their next endeavor. Electric
City cohorts Jamie Patricof and Lynette Howell have optioned the
rights to Alison Esbach’s novel, The Adults, with Massy Tadjedin (
Last Night ) attached to write and direct.

Revolving around a suburban teenager whose relationship with an older
man slowly comes unraveled, the coming-of-age adaptation is bolstered
by a great creative team, so expect this one to be fast-tracked to
production soon.

Finally, an upcoming drama set during the 1912-1917 Armenian Genocide
has found another team, with this one perfectly capable of tackling
period and political subjects. Director Shekhar Kapur ( Elizabeth )
and writer Jose Rivera (“The Motorcycle Diaries”) will lend their
talents to Three Apples Fell From Heaven, a historical drama set to be
filmed in Armenia itself. Based on Micheline Aharonian Marcom’s
acclaimed novel, the film is currently is pre-production as Kapur is
scouting locations, but expect a cast announcement shortly.
[Variety[3]/Deadline[4]/Asbarez[5]]

Sources:
[1]:
[2]:
[3]:
[4]:
[5]:

Mediamax, Armenia
Nov 21 2012

Georgia: Worrying About the Wrong Neighbor

Thomas de Waal, Senior associate for the Caucasus with the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace

Much of the focus on Georgia’s recent election result has focused on
the Russia question. Understandably so, because one of the few things
everyone knows about Georgia’s new prime minister, Bidzina
Ivanishvili, is that he made his vast fortune in Russia.

The pundits are worrying about the wrong neighbor. Nothing much is
likely to change in Georgia’s relations with Russia. Its relations
with Turkey are a much bigger cause for concern.

As soon as Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream scored its decisive victory
over President Mikheil Saakashvili’s governing party in the October
parliamentary election, a host of commentators raised the Russia
issue, with headlines such as `A Russian Victory in Georgia’s
Parliamentary Election.’

Some of the most alarmist pieces came from a section of the
pro-Western Moscow commentariat which had rather naively adopted
Mikheil Saakashvili as its idol. Some of these comments betrayed a
rather neocolonial attitude towards Georgia, a desire, to quote the
famous lines of Bertold Brecht `to dissolve the people and elect
another one.’ Yulia Latynina printed an opinion piece entitled `The
Georgian opposition has done what the Russian army could not.’

In fact, most Georgians can see a difference between the Russian army
and Russian money (a lot of which is already invested in Georgia).

Ivanishvili’s Russian business background is an intriguing story. A
boy from a poor family in a village in central Georgia, he lived in
Russia for twenty years and made a colossal fortune there in the
1990s, now estimated to be worth more than six billion dollars,
chiefly through the bank Rossiisky Kredit. He worked with some of the
more controversial figures of the time, such as the Uzbek-born tycoon
Alisher Usmanov. He also dabbled in politics, in 1996 supporting the
presidential bid of Alexander Lebed, who went on to become Boris
Yeltsin’s national-security adviser.

Ivanishvili then left Russia in 2002, first for France and then for
Georgia. He has not returned to Russia since. When he entered
opposition politics last year, he declared he would sell his assets in
Russia, which he said comprised one third of his wealth.

But that is about as much of a story as there is. Ivanishvili was a
quiet tycoon, not really deserving of the term “oligarch” because of
his low public profile. Almost all of the suspicion around him is
circumstantial and there are no obvious links to Putin or the Kremlin.
We have much more juicy material from the biographies other
Russia-based billionaires of that period, such as Roman Abramovich,
Boris Berezovsky, Vladimir Gusinsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky- or indeed
the Georgian Kakha Bendukidze who served as economics minister under
Saakashvili.

This is not to say there are no skeletons in Ivanishvili’s Russian
closet. But if there were obvious ones, I would have expected they
would have come to light and been broadcast with lurid commentary by
the two pro-Saakashvili television channels, Imedi and Rustavi-2,
which made a habit of smearing members of the Georgian opposition as
pro-Russian. They had a whole year to come up with something.

As it is, Ivanishvili came to Georgian politics with pretty much a
blank slate. The first political allies he chose were two opposition
pro-Western parties and in government, he has committed himself to a
pro-Western policy similar to his predecessors. And his new foreign
minister said there could be no restoration of diplomatic relations
with Russia as long as it had embassies in Abkhazia or South Ossetia.

The evidence of the election suggests that most Georgian voters wanted
Russia to be a non-issue. In other words, they mainly worried about
the economy, while not wanting to see any compromise on Georgia’s
claims to its territorial integrity, including Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. But a lot of Georgians also look forward to restored trade
with Russia, including the return of mineral water and wine to the
Russian market-something that was likely to happen anyway, following
Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization earlier this year.

The bitter political conflicts with Russia over the past 20 years have
obscured a deeper historical reality: ordinary Georgians feel a closer
affinity with Russians than they do with many other nationalities,
including Americans. Probe below the surface and you find an older
“other” in Georgian cultural attitudes: the Turks, not the Russians.
Over history, the Ottomans threatened Georgian nationhood far more
than the Russians did, while the Russians periodically protected
Christian Georgia from Muslim Persians and Turks.

Polling by the Caucasus Barometer of the Caucasus Research and
Resources Center shows that Georgians approve of Georgian women
marrying Russians (41 percent in favor, 53 percent against) more than
they approve of them marrying Americans or, in particular, Turks (21
per cent in favor, 74 per cent against). There were similar answers to
the question of which nationality Georgians approved of doing business
with.

To its credit, the Saakashvili government worked hard to combat this
anti-Turkish stereotype and cultivate better relations with its most
Western-looking neighbor. Earlier this year, the two countries signed
a visa-free agreement by which you can cross the border with only
domestic identity documents. Turkey has turned into Georgia’s biggest
trading partner. In the first three quarters of 2012, trade between
the two countries was worth more than one billion dollars.

Turkish money and Georgian politics fused in the Black Sea resort city
of Batumi, close to their common border. Batumi was a pet project of
Saakashvili, who orchestrated an extravagant building boom that cast
up a Hilton, Sheraton, Radisson and a string of casinos.

Yet all this caused a backlash. Batumi was part of the Ottoman Empire
until 1878 and the surrounding region still has a large Muslim
population. Local nationalist politicians, aided by the Orthodox
Church, began to stir up fears of a neo-Ottoman expansion into their
city, of Turkish workers taking Georgian jobs and Muslims pushing out
Christians. Plans to rebuild an Ottoman-era mosque, destroyed in the
Stalin era, were a lightning rod for this nationalist sentiment. One
local politician, Murman Dumbadze, said that if the mosque was
reconstructed he would like to see it bulldozed.

If in Tbilisi Ivanishvili’s supporters had a democratic tinge, in
Batumi these nationalists were at the forefront of Georgian Dream.
Georgian Dream took over the parliament. Dumbadze won the
parliamentary seat for Batumi.

There will now be calls to restrict Turkish immigration and Turkish
trade. Turkish exports to Georgia are indeed ten times higher than the
trade going the other way-a symptom of an unbalanced economy
established by the previous government. But it will be a mistake if
Georgia’s new government allows its nationalist wing to alienate what
is currently its friendliest neighbor. This issue, not Russia, may be
Ivanishvili’s first foreign-policy challenge.

Thomas de Waal is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace. This commentary was written for National
Interest.

Mediamax, Armenia
Nov 22 2012

PM to head the Armenian delegation of “ArmTech Congress 2012”

Thursday 22 November 2012 16:48

Yerevan/Mediamax/ . Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan will head
the Armenian delegation of “ArmTech Congress 2012” due to be held in
the Silicon Valley (USA) on December 10-11.

Armenian Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan said this today noting
that the fifth annual ArmTech Congress will be held in the Stanford
University, Mediamax reports.

“The congress will be devoted to Armenia’s economy and issues of high
technologies development”, said Tigran Davtyan.

The congress is expected to host about 150 participants and 40 of them
– from Armenia. According to Tigran Davtyan, “ArmTech Congress 2012”
will host top representatives of major transnational organizations –
IBM, Intel, Microsoft and others.

“I think we’ll manage to sign at least 3-4 agreements during the
congress and they will present the investments in Armenia and activity
initiatives. As a result of the agreements, considerable activities
and production will unfold throughout Armenia. We also expect
bilateral meetings and discussions”, said the Minister of Economy.

“Development of high technologies in Armenia is very important for us.
We have already made huge success but we should create a high tech
economy to continue the successes. Bringing “ArmTech” to Stanford, we
expect to have serious discussions aimed at developing the high-tech
sphere. The organization of this congress is a very big achievement
for us”, added Synopsis Armenia CEO Reach Goldman.

Audiophile Audition
Nov 23 2012

`Armenian Spirit’ – Georgi Minassyan, Haeg Sarikouyoumdjian, Gaguik
Mouradian, Armen Badalyan, Hesperion XXI/ Jordi Savall – AliaVox

A unique musical discovery, of the magical sounds of Armenian
instrumental music.

`Armenian Spirit’ – Georgi Minassyan, Haeg Sarikouyoumdjian, Gaguik
Mouradian, Armen Badalyan, Hesperion XXI/ Jordi Savall – AliaVox
AVSA9892 multichannel SACD, 78 mins. [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] *****:

Aside from the woodwind instrument called the duduk, Armenian music in
the West has been more about spirit than repertoire. The deep tragedy
of their history which must be profoundly moving to the great Catalan
musician from a culture which has faced similar struggles. But, as
always, Savall and his musicians find in their magical musical
discoveries the unbroken soul of a people, the rhythms of their music
and the vivid, seductive sounds of their instruments.

The duduk is in itself a fascinating story, one of the most poignant
of Armenia’s unique instrumental voices? already discovered by
Hollywood for a few decades or more? a flute in sheep’s clothing whose
timbre and subtlety of breath suggests the perfumed nuances that
Debussy would later bring to it. The music includes much that is
contemplative and restful, and the sound throughout is of audiophile
quality, even more sumptuous and yet also more spatially clear on
SACD.

In the extraordinary book that accompanies the CD, Savall contributes
a moving tribute to his late wife Montserrat Figueras, explaining that
she felt `a deep affinity and enormous fascination for these Armenian
instruments, especially the duduk and the kamancha, as well as a great
admiration for the extraordinary musical qualities of our musician
friends from Armenia. After her death, I found great consolation in
listening to these wonderful Laments for two duduks and kamancha, and
that is why I asked our Armenian friends to take part in the farewell
ceremonies that we held for our beloved Montserrat.’

The recording, which was made in the 11th century Romanesque Church of
St. Vincent in Cardona, 90 miles northwest of Barcelona, is so softly
intense that at times you can hear yourself breathing. Of course, the
instrumental timbres cause never-ending delight, as do the unforced
silky ease with which the lovely duduks, often in pairs, intertwine in
silver and gold.

As always with AliaVox’s limited editions, the recording is packaged
sumptuously with absorbing reading material including history and lots
of gorgeous color pictures.

– Laurence Vittes

Armenian wineries bought 157,000 tons of grape this year

YEREVAN, November 23. / ARKA /. Armenian wineries bought a total of
157,000 metric tons of grapes this year, deputy agriculture minister
Robert Makaryan said today. He said the figure represented a
substantial rise from 129,000 metric tons bought last year.

According to him, the wineries paid the average price of 142 drams per
one kilogram of grapes, up from 132 drams in 2011.
The deputy minister also said overall local wineries and canneries
bought 215,000 tons of grape, vegetables and fruits, up from 194,000
tons last year.

Earlier Makaryan said that wineries were ready to buy 165,000 tons of
grapes against 129,000 tons last year. ($ 1 – 406.82 drams). -0-

CYPRUS AGREES BAILOUT DEAL WITH INTERNATIONAL CREDITORS

November 23, 2012 – 16:14 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Cyprus has agreed a bailout deal with international
creditors, becoming the fifth eurozone member to do so, BBC News
reported.

The country made the request to its European partners and the
International Monetary Fund in June, for help to revive its banks.

Lenders have suffered huge losses due to their heavy exposure to the
Greek economy and financial system. The deal, expected to include 16bn
euros ($20bn) of loans, will be officially confirmed later on Friday,
Nov 23.

But any deal would have to be ratified by parliaments in the eurozone
countries.

Banks have lost large amounts on Greek government bonds. They are
also facing big losses on loans made to businesses in Cyprus, which
have been hard hit by the deep recession in neighboring Greece,
its biggest trading partner.

Banks derive about 40% of their revenue from Greece. Initial estimates
had put the cost of their refinancing at about 10bn euros, or 55%
of gross domestic product.

In June the country’s two largest lenders the Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus
Popular Bank had asked for more than 2bn euros in government aid.

The Cypriot government has been holding negotiations for a possible
loan from a country outside the EU, such as Russia or China.

The country has already borrowed 2.5bn euros from Russia, whose
business people are important customers of Cyprus’s relatively large
offshore financial sector which offers low tax rates. Cyprus’s stock
exchange was up 8.5% after the announcement.

Cyprus is the fifth country in the 17-member euro area to seek a
bailout. The others are: Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain.

IGOR POPOV: OPENING OF THE STEPANAKERT AIRPORT IN THE GIVEN SITUATION MAY RAISE TENSIONS BETWEEN CONFLICTING PARTIES

arminfo
Friday, November 23, 17:20

“We think that opening of the Stepanakert Airport in the given
situation may raise tensions between the conflict parties. At the
same time, we believe that these issues should be regulated by
diplomatic efforts building on the existing experience,” Russian
Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov said Thursday, Armenia
Liberty Radio reports.

Asked if they would like to become the first passengers, the Russian
mediator joked: “Not yet, the plane has not arrived yet.’

To recall, in their previous statement the OSCE MG Co-Chairs confirmed
that opening of the airport cannot have any impact on the status of
Nagorno Karabakh and urged the parties to act within the International
Law.

On Friday in Yerevan and on Monday in Baku the mediators will discuss
new ideas made after the Paris meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani
foreign ministers. The mediators did not unveil the ideas. “Let’s not
hurry and wait for the statement we will make after our meetings with
the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Popov said.

By data of the NKR President’s Spokesman David Babayan, a new
suggestion was discussed with the MG co-chairs on Thursday. That
is, it is suggested to make the list of holidays, for instance,
Novruz Bairami, Children’s Protection Day, New Year etc, and urge
the parties no to breach the ceasefire at least on those days. US
Co-Chair Robert Bradtke told media that he had informed NKR President
Bako Sahakyan that the United States will exert genuine efforts to
achieve significant results in the peace process during Barack Obama’s
second term.

AZERBAIJANI STRATEGIC STUDIES CENTRE: ARMENIA EXISTS USING FOREIGN GRANTS

Trend
Nov 21 2012
Azerbaijan

Armenia exists by using foreign grants, director of the Centre for
Strategic Studies under the Azerbaijani President Farhad Mammadov
said in an interview with the media today.

He said that some $8 billion was allocated to Armenia in 2011 and $2
billion this year.

“Armenia did not come to its senses after the global economic crisis
of 2008, but increased its defence expenditure,” he said.

The country’s military expenditure is 15-16 per cent of the state
budget expenditures. This is too much for such a small, poor country,
he said.

Provocations were observed on the contact line on the eve of the
presidential elections in Armenia in February, he said.

“They seek to divert attention of the country’s population from the
economic and social problems, as well as to elevate Karabakh generals
as patriots,” he said.

FOUR COMPETING ARAB FILMS SCREENED FOR MEDIAPERSONS

Qatar Tribune
November 20, 2012 Tuesday
Qatar

AILYN AGONIA DOHA FOUR Arab films competing at the Doha Tribeca Film
Festival (DTFF 2012) were presented to the media at a press conference
on Monday.

The competition features seven narratives, seven documentaries,
and 13 short films.

The documentary Embers, is a touching tribute of its director Tamara
Stepanyan to her grandmother, also named Tamara, whom she considers
her inspiration. It also serves as the director’s journey to rediscover
her home country Armenia.

“I am missing my grandmother and I am missing Armenia. Through this
documentary I was rediscovering my own country. It started about my
grandmother and ended as a dialogue of two generations,” Tamara said.

According to her, working on the film made her more involved with
the life and journey of her grandmother.

Michele Tyan, co-producer of the film, stressed the challenge of
editing such a personal documentary. She said the challenge lay in
being sensitive to the feelings of the director and making sure it
was captured by the movie’s tempo.

Another documentary, The Lebanese Rocket Society, takes viewers on
a historic journey to Lebanon during the 60s when it launched Middle
East’s first rocket.

“We found a postal stamp in a library and conducted research based on
that. The 12-year research took us to the era when Lebanon launched
the region’s first rocket,” according to director Khalil Joreige.

Joanna Hadjithomas, codirector of the film, said the movie is not
just a product of research but a pride of Lebanon and a meaningful
contribution to history.

Meanwhile, the narrative, Asham: A Man Called Hope, offers viewers
an unconventional romantic theme. It tells the stories of six couples
during the January 25 Revolution in Cairo.

Director Maggie M Morgan shared the difficulty in choosing the lead
actors for the project. She said the film required actors who were
open-spirited to complement the theme. The director stressed that the
movie should not be classified as political. “The movie is not at all
political, as it is human. In the film’ no one is condemning Mubarak”,
she said.

The last film presented during the press conference was Professor,
directed by Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud.

The story revolves around the life of a professor and his extra-marital
affair with a student jailed for her political views.

Through the characters, Mahmoud examines the state of human rights
in Tunisia during the 70s.

“The movie was funded by Tunisia’s Ministry of Culture during
the former regime. We started working on it six months before the
revolution.

The delay in the release of the film has nothing to do with the
political transition in Tunisia but has to do with economic and
administrative reasons,” the director said.

He said there were no modifications to the movie. He also mentioned
the generous support of the Doha Film Institute in seeing the project
through.

The Arab Film Competition Award ceremony will be held at the Al Rayyan
Theatre on Thursday.

TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DOHA DOHA Film Institute (DFI) Head of Film
Financing Paul Miller and Media Finance Advisor Hal Sadoff chaired a
panel discussion on Investment Strategies in the Global Film Industry
on Sunday, hosted by Miramax, to discuss how films are financed and
the changing nature of studio verses independent film production.

The session at the St Regis Doha was held to engage Qatar’s business
leaders, to inform and inspire them regarding new ways of becoming
involved in the growth of Qatar’s national film industry.

In opening remarks, Chairman and Managing Director of al khaliji
HE Sheikh Hamad bin Faisal bin Thani al Thani, one of Qatar’s most
influential business figures, said: “There is a deep interest in cinema
and the development of the film industry in Qatar. DFI is fulfilling
the vision of developing a local film culture.” Going on to discuss how
Qatar is looking to diversify the economy in the region, Sheikh Hamad
also stated that a unique opportunity for media stakeholders exists
in the region due to the acceleration in growth of the global film
market. “I’m positive the panel will inspire businesses to invest in
local, regional and global films but its not just about business. Film
can also inspire and drive social change and address important issues
and subjects that can influence culture.” DFI CEO Abdulaziz al Khater
said: “DFI is focused on working with partners from across the spectrum
of creative industries to help build a sustainable film industry in
Qatar. This is about revitalising the cultural story of the Middle
East and the Arab world. Cinema is a powerful platform for telling
stories, and through our financing initiatives we are extending our
support to the regional talent.”

Speaking at the event, Miller said: “This is about understanding and
realising the film industry as potentially lucrative and a business
to invest in. DFI cannot fulfil its mission alone without the support
of financiers, banks and lawyers. Together we can help to shape the
Doha film industry.” Sadoff gave an overview of the Hollywood studio
sector and the independent film sector and said it was a very exciting
time for the independent film business.

“Actors and directors are not working as much as Hollywood is focussing
on big tentpole movies with fewer releases each year. So more actors
and directors are available to the independent film sector and want
to work.

This means we can make more commercial movies at a lower cost with
a higher value of talent.” Key findings from the session included:
n The global movies and entertainment market had total revenues of
$90.1 billion in 2011.

n Box office sales were the most lucrative for the global movies &
entertainment market in 2011, with total revenues of $33.6 billion,
equivalent to 37.3 percent of the market’s overall value.

n The performance of the market is forecast to accelerate, with
an anticipated compound annual growth rate of 0.6 percent for the
five-year period 2011 – 2016, which is expected to drive the market
to a value of $93 billion by the end of 2016.

n A five percent growth rate is anticipated in the Middle East region.

n There is significant growth in the film sector in such emerging
markets as China, India, South America and the Middle East.

n New technology is creating new forms of film distribution outside
of traditional cinema exhibition.

n The development of cable and satellite services and the VOD market
makes it easier for consumers to access content in new and engaging
ways.

Three Japanese films to be screened today

BOSTON AREA STUDENTS HOST DINNER, LECTURE ON SYRIA
by Lilly Torosyan

November 21, 2012

BOSTON, Mass.-On Fri., Nov. 2, the Armenian Student Organization
(ASO) of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
(MCPHS) hosted a reception for the Armenian student organizations of
the Greater Boston area.

On Fri., Nov. 2, the Armenian Student Organization (ASO) of the
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) hosted
a reception for the Armenian student organizations of the Greater
Boston area.

The evening began with a buffet-style dinner featuring Middle Eastern
food, which was catered by the Garlic ‘n Lemons restaurant in Allston,
Mass. After an hour of eating and socializing, the students listened
to a presentation on the current conflict in Syria, given by former
Hairenik Weekly editor Khajag Megerdichian. The lecture was delivered
in Armenian and translated by Vazrik Chiloyan, a member of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Armenian Society (MITAS).

Megerdichian focused on the dire situation of the Armenian community
in war-torn Syria.

The presentation detailed the 900-year history of the Armenian
community in Syria, the various regions in which Armenians established
themselves, and their dwindling population today as a result of the
violence targeted towards the country’s Christian minorities. “We
are on our way to World War III, and the Armenians are caught in this
bloodshed,” he stated.

Megerdichian showed graphic pictures of the destruction of churches
and the decimation of neighborhoods. The presentation ended with a
plea to students to donate. “Whether it be in time, money, or other
resources, please assist our brothers and sisters in Syria.”

More than 70 students were present at the function, representing
schools such as MIT, Boston University, and Northeastern University.

The event follows the social gathering that was held by the Armenian
Students’ Association (ASA) of Boston University on Sept. 30,
where Prof. Simon Payaslian presented the keynote address. Members
of various colleges in the Boston area agreed to join a collective
Boston executive board meeting once a month, to be held at a different
university each time.

The third installment of these monthly gatherings will continue at
Northeastern University (NU) on Wed., Nov. 28. The ASANU will host
its own lecture featuring a lecture by Professor Greg Aftandilian
on how World War II impacted the Armenian-American community and the
identity of the second generation.