Author: Emil Lazarian

CORRECTING and REPLACING Joint Press Announcement by the Government of
the Republic of Armenia, Hellenic Telecommunications Organization and
Armenia Telephone Company – ARMENTEL
ATHENS, Greece–(BUSINESS WIRE)–06/28/2004–Please replace the
release with the following corrected version due to multiple
revisions.
The corrected release reads:
JOINT PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA,
HELLENIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS ORGANIZATION AND ARMENIA TELEPHONE COMPANY
– ARMENTEL
The Government of the Republic of Armenia, Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization SA (NYSE:_OTE_ (aol://4785:OTE/) ) (ASE:_HTO_
(aol://4785:HTO/) ) and Armenia Telephone Company (ARMENTEL), jointly
announce the commencement of negotiations with a view to settling all
outstanding disputes between the parties. The Government of the
Republic of Armenia has made a decision to suspend the amendment of
License No. 60 issued to Armentel, until 28 September 2004 to
facilitate the conduct of the negotiations. The amendment of License
No. 60 relates to the granting of a second mobile telephony license
in Armenia
About OTE
OTE is a provider of public, fixed switch domestic and international
telephony services in Greece. With local, long distance and
international communications services in addition to mobile telephony,
Internet services, and high-speed data communications, OTE provides
consumers and businesses the ability to communicate globally through
its extensive network infrastructure. In addition, OTE has a number of
International investments in the South East European region and
addresses a potential customer base of 60 million people.
Listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, the company trades under the
ticker HTO as well as on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker
OTE. In the U.S., OTE’s American Depository Receipts (ADR’s)
represents 1/2 ordinary share.
Additional Information is also available on
Forward-looking statement
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical
facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking
statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The
factors that could affect the Company’s future financial results are
discussed more fully in the Company’s filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the
Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2002 filed with the SEC on
June 30, 2003. OTE assumes no obligation to update information in this
release.
CONTACT:OTE Dimitris Tzelepis Head of Investor Relations, OTE Group
Tel: +30 210 611 1574 email: [email protected] or Kostas Bratsikas
Investor Relations Tel: +30 210 611 1428 email: [email protected] or
Taylor Rafferty London: +44 20 7936 0400 New York: +1 212-889-4350
email: [email protected]
SOURCE: OTE
06/28/2004 09:06 EASTERN

US president in Turkey, meets leaders of religious faiths
NTV television, Istanbul
28 Jun 04

[Announcer] US President George Bush received six religious leaders at
the Istanbul Hilton Hotel yesterday [27 June]. In a statement after
the meeting, the president said: Turkey is a secular country in its
politics and a strong country in its faiths.
After he arrived in Istanbul from Ankara, President Bush went to the
Hilton Hotel. He held a meeting of about 45 minutes with six religious
leaders, including Religious Affairs Director Ali Bardakoglu, Syriac
Orthodox Bishop Yusuf Cetin, and Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva.
The media members were allowed in after the meeting. The president
said that he was honoured to be meeting with important personalities
from different religions. He said: Welcome. These people are the very
important leaders of the interreligious dialogue among different
faiths. Turkey is a secular country in its politics and a strong
country in its faiths, so they represent Turkey in the best way. We
had a very good meeting. I am grateful to them for giving me some of
their time and for remaining loyal to Almighty God. I thank
them. Thank you for coming.
In a statement after he left the meeting, Chief Rabbi Haleva said that
President Bush said: It is my greatest wish to see interreligious
peace and tranquillity.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew said, in turn, that they all
spoke one by one. He said that the opening of the Greek Orthodox
seminary in Heybeliada was also mentioned.
[Bartholomew] When we got up to leave, the honourable president told
me that he discussed this matter in Ankara, and that he was satisfied
with what was said. That is all.
[Announcer] Armenian Patriarch Mutafyan pointed out that they
discussed their unrest in connection with the violence in the Middle
East.
At his meeting with the religious leaders, President Bush was
accompanied by Condoleeza Rice, his national security adviser, and by
Secretary of State Colin Powell.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NATO Partners Agree to Train Iraqi Troops
washingtonpost.com
Jun 28, 2004
Mike Allen

ISTANBUL, June 27 — NATO countries will set aside their objections
and agree Monday to provide emergency military training for the
interim government of Iraq, White House officials said Sunday.
Two weeks ago, President Jacques Chirac of France warned against “any
meddling by NATO in this region.” But responding to a request from
Ayad Allawi, the prime minister of the interim Iraqi government that
will assume political authority Wednesday, negotiators for the 26 NATO
countries have agreed to give the alliance a direct role in providing
military training and said they would call on members to increase
their support for the new government.
Details of the agreement, including who will be trained, where and
when, still must be worked out by the governments, officials said. But
the White House described the move as giving President Bush the
international imprimatur he had long sought for post-invasion
operations.
Bush and the other leaders of NATO countries are scheduled to finalize
the tentative training agreement Monday at the start of a two-day
summit in the largest city in Turkey, which borders Iraq. Faced with a
wave of bombings and more than 40,000 anti-Bush demonstrators, Turkish
officials deployed warships outside waterfront hotels and 23,000
police and soldiers to protect the 3,000 government officials and more
than 20,000 journalists attending the summit.
The White House views the agreement on training for Iraq, which
follows NATO’s decision to take over an international security force
in Afghanistan, as a crucial step in its effort to guide the alliance
away from its historic emphasis on the defense of its own territory
and instead toward taking the offensive against terrorism around the
world.
Bush, appearing with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer,
said the United States was “hoping to change the mission of NATO so it
meets the threats of the 21st century, and we’re going to work
together to help make sure NATO is configured militarily to meet the
threats of the 21st century, as well.”
Bush plans to use the centerpiece address of his five-day overseas
trip to hold up the secular democracy in Turkey, NATO’s only
majority-Muslim member, as a model for Iraq and the greater Middle
East. Bush tried to make the same point by holding a meeting today
with Turkish religious leaders that included a rabbi, an Islamic
cleric and an Armenian Orthodox patriarch.
Before Allawi sent the letter, the White House received private
assurances from NATO members that his request would be granted,
according to aides traveling with Bush. The administration has had to
dramatically lower its sights, however. Earlier this month, Bush
sought foreign troops, NATO involvement and debt relief for Iraq at a
meeting of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations in Sea
Island, Ga., but was rebuffed at various times by France, Germany and
Turkey.
Diplomats said that to win the endorsement of Germany and France, the
agreement allows for the possibility that some of the training will
take place outside Iraq. At the insistence of the Bush administration,
the operation will be a formal NATO mission rather than a project of
individual countries.
James Appathurai, the NATO spokesman, said in a telephone interview
that alliance ambassadors reached the initial agreement “without any
sort of dramatic debate” because they “share a common view that we
should assist Iraq as much and as quickly as possible so that it can
provide for its own security and so that coalition forces will not be
required.”
Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said from the
Turkish capital Ankara on “Fox News Sunday” that “NATO will urge that
this all happen on a very urgent basis, that this isn’t a long
planning exercise, that really they’re in a phase of looking to quick
implementation of these plans.”
Bush said Saturday during a news conference in Ireland that a
functioning Iraqi police force and military was his most important
criterion for determining that the U.S. mission in Iraq was complete,
and he suggested that robust NATO support would mean U.S. troops could
come home sooner.
Bush, who had to change his deployment plans before the war when the
Turkish parliament voted against allowing the use of its bases for a
northern front, appeared Sunday with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and said he appreciated “so very much the example your country
has set on how to be a Muslim country and, at the same time, a country
which embraces democracy and rule of law and freedom.”
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, also in Istanbul, met Sunday
with the foreign and defense ministers of Iraq’s interim government.
Bush shook his head and replied “no” when asked whether the capture of
three Turkish hostages by militants in Iraq had cast a pall over the
summit. Bush did not speak at length about the hostage-taking, because
of what aides called a desire to avoid encouraging the kidnappers. But
a senior administration official who briefed reporters said Bush
expressed sympathy to Turkish officials and “made clear that this
episode demonstrates the kind of an enemy we are fighting, a
totalitarian enemy which terrorizes and seeks to export chaos to the
world, as well as chaos in Iraq.”
Rumsfeld compared the recent attacks in Iraq to the Tet offensive of
1968, a turning point in American public opinion about the Vietnam
War, when the Vietnamese communists seized cities throughout South
Vietnam. He told ABC that the insurgents had clearly studied “the idea
that if you go out and kill a lot of innocent people, even though
militarily you achieve nothing, the psychological effect through the
television, through newspapers is that they’re there, that they’re
noisy, that they’re achieving something big — which is what the
effect of Tet was.”
Washington Post Staff Writer

Poll shows Armenians want unification with Karabakh
Yerkir web site, Yerevan
26 Jun 04
A poll conducted by the Armenian Centre for National and International
Studies (ACNIS) has revealed that Armenians are ready to participate
in the defence of Karabakh if the war resumes.
Stepan Safaryan of the centre told a discussion on Friday [25 June]
that the poll, conducted among 1,950 individuals, indicates that 73
per cent of the respondents are in favour of the settlement of the
confrontation by Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan. Most of the
respondents consider the Karabakh issue to be part of the Armenian
Question.
Answering “why Karabakh does not belong to Azerbaijan”, 38 per cent
said that Karabakh was annexed to Azerbaijan under the Soviets, 27.6
per cent said Armenians have been living in that region for centuries,
and 12 per cent pointed out that Armenia has won the war over
Karabakh.
As for the status of Karabakh, 59.7 per cent see Karabakh as part of
Armenia, whereas 38.6 per cent sees it as an independent state.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Tehran Times, Iran
June 28 2004
Labor Minister Calls For Bolstering Iran-Armenia Ties
TEHRAN (IRNA) — Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Safdar Hosseini
here on Sunday met with the head of the Presidential Staff of
Armenia, Artashes Toumanian, and called for bolstering of
Iran-Armenia ties.
Alluding to an upcoming visit of President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami to
Armenia, he expressed hope the fifth Iran-Armenia Joint Commission
session will be held without delay.
Hosseini referred to the several signed agreements on electricity,
energy, gas and oil between the two countries and praised the
countries’ “outstanding” bilateral cooperation. The minister of
labor, while praising the increasing volume of trade exchanges
between Tehran and Yerevan, said: “Both sides can bolster their
relations due to the existence of many potential.”
Toumanian lauded the efforts of the Iranians to bolster relations and
expressed hope these relations would serve the interests of both
countries even more.
Toumanian also said the project to construct the “Kajaran” tunnel is
one of the most viable joint projects under way and would have no
problems going into operation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

armenianow.com
25 June 2004
>From the World Stage to Armenia: Internationally renowned quartet to perform
in Yerevan
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow arts reporter After three years of effort to get them to Armenia,
the world-renowned Kronos Quartet is scheduled play in Yerevan June 29 at
Aram Khachatryan Philharmonic Hall.
As far back as 2001, the Armenian Informational Music Center has been trying
to get the quartet to Armenia. For a number of reasons, including
scheduling, and the musicians’ concern that Armenia was in an “unstable”
region, invitations have been turned down.
“We simply cannot count how many and what kind of numerous letters we have
sent to the quartet’s manager telling about Armenia and about the rich
Armenian cultural background,” says chief manager of the center Sona
Hovhannisyan.
“Only in the end of 2003 we got an answer to our letters and it seemed to be
unbelievable that their managing director Janet Cowperthwaite wrote that
‘thanks to your latest letter the musicians gave in and agreed to visit
Armenia’.”
The quartet, comprised of David Harrington on first violin, John Sherba on
second violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan Jeanrenaud on cello, is known
for its experimentation and its ability to cross genres of rock, jazz and
classical music. The group, formed in San Francisco in 1973, has won
numerous international awards, including three Edison Prizes ( Netherlands),
Rolf Schock Prize in Music ( Sweden), a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music
Performance, amongst others.
Tuesday night’s performance is part of Perspectives XXI International Music
Festival, the fifth in Yerevan.
Over the years, more than 450 pieces have been written or arranged for
Kronos. The quartet’s extensive repertoire includes Alban Berg, Alfred
Schnittke, George Crumb, Astor Piazzolla. As early as 15 years ago, the
quartet ordered a composition from Armenian composer Avet Terteryan and
within the past few years, composers Ashot Zohrabyan and Tigran Tamezyan
have written compositions performed by Kronos.
While it is not unusual for Armenia to host the occasional regionally-famous
classical musician or conductor, getting an internationally-known group is a
rarity.
“This is our cultural policy to invite music stars to Armenia,” says
director of Armenian Information Music Center composer Stepan Rostomyan. “Of
course, it is very hard. Every time it takes two-three years for
successfully finishing negotiations but Armenia with its cultural potential
and history is as good as other countries where visits of stars are a usual
and habitual thing.”
The sanctioning of Perspectives XXI identifies Armenia as a “serious country
and organization”, Rostomyan says, making it easier to negotiate with
world-class artists. During last year’s festival London Symphonietta and
Jury Bashmet performed in Yerevan.
“It would be more impressive if the festival was carried out under high
patronage of the country’s president,” Rostomyan says. “In general when such
musicians are invited to a festival then these kind of events are carried
out precisely. We haven’t gotten consent yet but we still have hope,” says
Rostomyan.
The Khachatryan hall holds 1600 seats. Ticket prices for the concert range
from $5 to $35- higher than average for Yerevan concerts, but according to
one vendor, ticket sales are high.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Catholic world news
June 24 2004
Turkish bishops in historic meeting with premier
Ankara, Jun. 24 (FIDES/CWNews.com) – In a historic first, Turkey’s
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has met with the country’s
Catholic bishops, raising hopes for an eventual legal recognition of
the Catholic Church in that country, the Fides news service reports.
Erdogan met on June 21 with the bishops of the several Catholic
groups in Turkey, representing the Latin, Armenian, Chaldean, and
Syrian rites. The prelates asked the prime minister to consider
juridical recognition of the Catholic Church in Turkey.
The unprecedented meeting is a “milestone” for the life of the
Catholic Church in Turkey, Father George Marovich told Fides. Father
Marovich, a spokesman for the bishops’ conference, reported that
Prime Minister Erdogan sought the bishops’ help in securing Turkish
entry into the European Union, and expressed satisfaction when he was
reminded that the Turkish bishops have already joined with the
Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, a group bringing together
the Catholic bishops of the European Union nations.
Turkey has a population of 66 million, of whom 98 percent are Muslim.
Many Christians hide their faith, since Christians are not allowed to
sit in parliament or enter the military.
Among the country’s Christians, most are Orthodox, led by the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople– who is acknowledged as the
leading prelate of the Orthodox world, although his own flock is
relatively small.

New York Times
June 25 2004
Separatist Revives Movement in Quebec
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
MONTREAL, June 24 – Until a few months ago, Gilles Duceppe was a shaky
leader of the fading separatist movement in Quebec, seemingly
destined to be an odd footnote in Canadian history.
But in an turn of fortunes that has more to do with the collapse of
the governing Liberal Party than his own skills, Mr. Duceppe is
emerging as the big winner of the parliamentary election campaign
that will choose a new prime minister on Monday.

Mr. Duceppe has no chance of replacing Prime Minister Paul Martin,
because his party is competing just in Quebec. Because of widespread
disgust in the second most populous Canadian province over Liberals’
scandals, Mr. Duceppe’s Bloc Québécois is poised to sweep Quebec and
carry a large delegation to the next House of Commons. If recent
polls hold, the bloc will emerge for the first time as a vital power
broker in Ottawa whose support may well be necessary for the next
federal Liberal or Conservative government to survive in power.
The son of a famous actor, Mr. Duceppe was a Maoist union organizer
in his youth and appears an unlikely politician to become a leading
national force. His generally stiff speaking style makes him anything
but an inspiring political leader. He was the laughingstock of a
campaign seven years ago, when he was photographed wearing a hygienic
hairnet at a cheese factory that made him look like he was coming out
of the bath wearing a shower cap.
For a rebel leader, Mr. Duceppe appears to be a portrait of caution
and paradox. At age 56, he campaigns without a tie in a charcoal-gray
suit held up over his slight frame by a belt and suspenders. On his
campaign bus, he relaxes with high-volume Janis Joplin and Maria
Callas.
A year ago, Mr. Duceppe’s Bloc Québécois and the entire separatist
movement were waning into the fringes of politics. The bloc’s
provincial cousins, the Parti Québécois, lost control of the
provincial legislature and government in a landslide defeat in April
2003 to the Liberal Party led by Jean Charest, a passionate advocate
for a united Canada.
Since that vote, Mr. Charest has fallen quickly in the polls after
unfulfilled promises to cut taxes and improve health care and day
care.
A government audit found that the federal government had furtively
passed out tens of millions of dollars to friendly advertising
companies involved in antiseparatist publicity efforts deeply
offended Quebecers.
“The Liberals tried to buy Quebecers, and there is a lot of
indignation about that,” Mr. Duceppe said in an interview. He
modestly noted that a recent poll by Leger Marketing showed that
roughly half the people who planned to vote for the bloc’s
parliamentary candidates were not trying to win sovereignty but
merely trying to punish Mr. Martin and the governing party.
“Duceppe is riding the biggest surfing wave of his life,” Michel C.
Auger, political columnist of the Journal de Montréal, said. “He
didn’t create the wave, but he saw it and knew what to do with it.”
Mr. Duceppe’s campaign is tightly controlled to avoid any more
hairnet incidents. A day of campaigning in and around Montreal this
week was carefully choreographed to make him appear as liberal and
unthreatening as possible to fence-sitting voters, especially ethnic
minorities who usually vote Liberal and oppose separation from
Canada.
While appearing on a youth music television station to discuss his
support for environmental protection and the need to clean up
politics, he spoke of the importance of Black History Month and
Jackie Robinson’s playing for a minor league team here as a sign that
he is receptive to minorities. At a news conference, he courted
minority votes by speaking of the Jewish Holocaust and Armenian
genocide.
He attended a barbecue here for an underdog bloc candidate, Maria
Mourani, who is of Lebanese descent, where he was filmed and
photographed surrounded by Muslim, Chinese and Russian voters.
“There’s no difference between Quebecers who are immigrants and
Québécois de souche,” he said sitting beside Ms. Mourani, referring
to Quebecers whose ancestors were French settlers before the
18th-century British conquest.
It was a pitch before the cameras with future elections in mind.
Although Liberal candidates in some Quebec districts have thrown in
the towel and halted campaigning, separatist leaders around the
province plan to build on the expected victory to retake the
provincial government in 2007. Mr. Duceppe may well use his campaign
this year to set up a campaign as leader of the Parti Québécois
against Mr. Charest, followed by a push for a referendum a year or
two after that.
The separatist forces lost two referendums, in 1980 and 1995, the
second defeat by an extremely narrow margin. Polls show support for
sovereignty at 40 to 45 percent.
Mr. Duceppe is careful to repeat at almost every campaign stop that
the election on Monday is not about sovereignty and that he is ready
to work in Ottawa to influence policies like opposing any missile
defense agreement with the United States and pressing for more
federal money for health care and unemployment insurance.
In two television debates, Mr. Duceppe projected the most poise of
the four major party leaders, surpassing expectations.
At the same time, he makes no effort to hide his long-term
intentions.
“Quebec is a nation that will someday be a country,” he said at a
press conference on Tuesday. “I want to create a new society with
social justice, without racism or sexism.”
Prime Minister Martin, who represents a Montreal district in the
House of Commons, had hoped to appeal to Quebec nationalists by
appointing Jean Lapierre, a former founder of the Bloc Québécois, to
be his chief Quebec spokesman. But Mr. Lapierre proved to be a clumsy
advocate, leading Mr. Martin in the last week to turn to Liberal
hard-line antiseparatists to shore up the traditional Liberal base.
“Let’s not play with fire,” Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew warned
this week. “By voting for the bloc, you give them momentum. You give
them the taste of victory that they had lost recently.”

Armenia set to expand cooperation with NATO – deputy minister
Hayots Ashkharh, Yerevan
25 Jun 04

Text of Vaan Vardanyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkharh
on 25 June headlined “What took place in Baku should be regarded as an
incident”
An interview with [Armenian] Deputy Defence Minister Artur
Agabekyan. He comments on the events that have taken place in Baku.
[Hayots Ashkharh correspondent] How do you assess the events in Baku
when an attempt was made to lynch two Armenian officers who attended a
NATO conference within the framework of the Partnership for Peace
programme?
[Artur Agabekyan] I think it may be regarded as an incident. Our main
purpose has always been to use any invitation to cooperate with
NATO. Only by means of cooperation, can numerous regional problems be
settled.
[Correspondent] Even if Azerbaijan seems unable to ensure the security
of Armenian officers on its territory?
[Agabekyan] I would not like to give such assessments, as if there is
any bias here. I think that on the first day of the conference, they
simply could not predict such an incident. In the next few days,
security was already seriously ensured and our officers took an active
part in the subsequent work of the conference. We managed to reach
such a level that we shall participate in upcoming summits as a
fully-fledged party with five Armenian officers in attendance. We
shall have posts in a multi-national unit which is being formed.
[Correspondent] Does it mean that the participation of the rank and
file is ruled out?
[Agabekyan] We wanted the Armenian rank and file to participate in the
exercises together with officers. But the incident let it be known
that only the participation of officers is expedient. Because ensuring
the security of officers is much easier for Azerbaijan than of the
rank and file. The point is that the rank and file will live in
barracks together with representatives of other countries’ rank and
file. As for the officers, they live separately as is the case in our
country. So in September, we shall take part in those exercises and
expect support from the NATO member countries and the USA. We hope
that the Azerbaijani party will learn a lesson from the incident and
will seriously ensure the security not only of Armenian officers, but
also of the whole event. After the last incident, not only Gen Murad
Isakhanyan, but also all the other participants in the conference
think that what took place was an attempt not only on the life of
Armenian officers, but also of all the participants in the
conference. The Azerbaijani party seems to have drawn conclusions from
this.
[Correspondent] How will you explain the latest worsening of the
situation on the defence positions in the village of Berkaber? An
Armenian contract serviceman was killed. Against the background of the
conference, is the Azerbaijani party deliberately worsening the
situation?
[Agabekyan] I would not like to connect these two questions. Such
worsening sometimes takes place along the entire Armenian border
during the period of time between shifts and engineering work. What
took place near the village of Berkaber was due to engineering
works. The Azerbaijani party tried to take a more favourable position
and the heights that were controlled by our observation posts. Our
units took relevant steps. I think that this activity will be
temporary. In any case, we should understand that we do not guard an
ordinary border, we guard the border with Azerbaijan. Unfortunately,
in such a situation, we may have losses and wounded, this is the
difficulty of service. But we have to find the strength and resist
it. Our general staff is cooperating with international structures. We
always visit sectors of the border and try to reduce the intensity of
firefights there.

Los Angeles Times
June 25, 2004 Friday
Home Edition
MOVIE REVIEW;
Dreams, detours get ‘Bought & Sold’;
In the affecting drama, an aspiring DJ begins working for a loan
shark and meets people who cause him to reconsider the direction of
his life.
by Kevin Crust, Times Staff Writer
Writer-director Michael Tolajian mines the diversity of a multiethnic
enclave of storefront shops in Jersey City, N.J., to craft the
well-acted drama “Bought & Sold.” Leavened with humor, the film
traces a young man’s hard-won entry into adulthood as he discovers
his priorities.
A year out of high school, Ray Ray Morales is anxious to make it as a
DJ and is growing frustrated by the low pay, not to mention the
smelly feet, associated with his job as a shoe salesman. Played by
Rafael Sardina, who resembles a young Oscar De La Hoya, Ray Ray feels
pressure from his pushy fiancee, Hilda (Cristina Ablaza), and his own
creative ambitions.
To help Ray Ray save for a turntable he’s been eyeing in the window
of a pawnshop, his friend Papo (Frank Harts) hooks him up with a
second job working for a loan shark who also deals in “gaming
interests,” “pharmaceutical sales” and “vehicle export.”
“It’s important to diversify,” says Alphonso “Chunks” Colon (Joe
Grifasi), who fancies himself as the neighborhood padrone. After
determining Ray Ray is too smart to waste on petty crime, Chunks
gives him an assignment working at the pawnshop monitoring its cash
flow. The proprietor, an elderly Armenian named Kutty Nazarian (David
Margulies), owes Chunks a great deal of money and it becomes Ray
Ray’s responsibility to ensure the weekly payments are met.
Kutty runs the shop with help from his attractive niece, Ruby (Marjan
Neshat), who catches Ray Ray’s eye and encourages him to pursue his
dreams. Hilda, on the other hand, doesn’t care what Ray Ray does for
a living as long as he provides for her in the manner she envisions.
Chunks is at first paternal toward Ray Ray, but when business becomes
business, things get ugly fast and the younger man is forced to
choose which path his life will take. Tolajian creates a viable,
self-contained world and does a nice job of integrating veterans
Grifasi and Margulies with an ensemble of newcomers. The story wraps
a little too neatly and backs away from some of its darker impulses
but is finally a sweet-natured tale of male rituals and cultural
adaptation in urban America.
*
‘Bought & Sold’
MPAA rating: R for language and sexual references
Times guidelines: Threats of violence
Rafael Sardina…Ray Ray Morales
David Margulies…Kutty Nazarian
Joe Grifasi…”Chunks” Colon
Marjan Neshat…Ruby
Frank Harts…Papo Rivera
A Pawnshop Pictures production, released by Pathfinder Pictures.
Writer-director Michael Tolajian. Producers Bergen Swanson, Michael
Tolajian. Cinematographer Kip Bogdahn. Editors Seth Anderson, Michael
Tolajian. Costume designer Michelle Phillips. Music Joe Delia.
Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes.
Exclusively at Laemmle’s Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood,
(323) 848-3500.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: ROAD TO DISCOVERY: Rafael Sardina stars as Ray Ray
Morales in the New Jersey-based drama “Bought & Sold.” PHOTOGRAPHER:
Pathfinder Pictures
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress