Author: Hovhannisian John

PRESS RELEASE:
PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance
22 Concord Lane Cambridge MA 02138
Tel: 617-871-6764
Fax: 617-491-1011
Contact: Jane Minasian: 781-643-5638
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
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Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance

ADAA’S SECOND ANNUAL ARMENIAN FILM FESTIVAL AT THE MFA ATTRACTS OVER
1200 ATTENDEES

BOSTON, MA: The Second Annual Boston Armenian Film Festival was held
at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts during the weekend of May 1st – 3rd,
2009. Film enthusiasts from the greater Boston area filled Remis
Auditorium each night to view critically acclaimed programs and award
winning Armenian films.

As was the case during the previous year, the Armenian Film Festival
was the result of a collaboration between the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston and the Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance (ADAA). Bianca
Bagatourian, President of ADAA, noted that, "with this new initiative,
Armenian films will now have their own series amidst those of other
ethnic films showcased at the Boston MFA, including the Jewish,
African, Palestinian, Iranian and Turkish film festivals. We are glad
that our establishment of this annual program so perfectly advances
our mission of projecting the Armenian voice on the world stage
through the performing arts of film and theatre."

This year’s festival was sponsored by Techfusion.com. Techfusion
owner, Alfred Demirjian, remarked, "we are happy that in our second
film festival at the MFA, the Armenian community was able to build
upon last year’s success by increases in attendance, combined with
additional financial support by individual members of the community.
This will provide us with a firm base on which to schedule next year’s
third annual Armenian Film Festival in May of 2010."

Carter Long, Director of the MFA’s film program, expressed his support
of Armenian film and given the level of attendance and quality of
films at this year’s festival, added that he is looking forward to
welcoming the festival back next year for the third annual event.

The opening night reception at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts
was attended by over 150 people, including two Armenian filmmakers
from France, Levon Minasian and Varante Soudjian and Hrach Titizian
from California. Bagatourian said, "ADAA is proud to present this
Armenian Film Festival because we understand the opportunity that film
provides for Armenians to project their culture and to tell their
unique stories." Most films were followed by question and answer
periods which helped further understand the goals and themes of each
individual film.

"The Blue Hour" opened the festival on Friday night. The ensemble
drama by Eric Nazarian is set on the Los Angeles River and weaves the
stories of loss and hope of several strangers in Los Angeles. The film
is ultimately about families who do not communicate, the only thing
bringing them together being the Los Angeles River.

The early evening audience on Saturday enjoyed a screening of "We
Drank the Same Water" by Serge Avedikian, depicting a visit he made to
the town his grandfather lived in and the haunting memories of the
visit. This was preceded by a screening of two ten minute film poems
by Serge Avedikian and Levon Minasian about the 1988 earthquake that
destroyed the town of Leninakan.

On Saturday night, audiences enthusiastically received the screening
of a charming film by Anna Melikian, "The Mermaid" (in Russian with
English subtitles), about a young girl who takes a vow of silence to
protest her mother’s refusal to enroll her in ballet class but ends up
in a special needs school when her silence is mistaken for an
intellectual disability. "The Mermaid" was a first prize winner at
the Sundance Film Festival and was also Russia’s entry to the Academy
Awards this year. It was preceded by "Ligne de Vie", an animated
short about the Holocaust by Serge Avedikian.

On Sunday afternoon, audiences enjoyed the quirky dramatic comedy
"Float" by Hrach Titizian, which centers on the owner of an ice cream
parlor who separated from his wife and moved in with his bachelor
employees. It stars Hrach Titizian, Anais Thomassian and Ken Davitian.
Music videos by "System of a Down Music Videos" produced by various
Armenian filmmakers preceded this film.

Sunday night closed out the festival with "Autumn" (Sonbahar) by Oscar
Alper, which tells the story of the struggles of a man released from
prison after 10 years – a powerfully realized inner journey which
includes several languages including that of the Hemshin dialect. "The
Second Wind" (The Pickpocket), a short film about the meeting of a
young girl and a pickpocket, by a new filmmaker from France, Varante
Soudjian screened before "Autumn".

ADAA Board member Bethel Charkoudian commented that "by establishing
our film festival as an annual event it is something both Armenian and
our non-Armenian film lovers alike can look forward to attending on an
annual basis. While many of the films depict matters of a serious
nature, the presence of the filmmakers themselves, the informal Q&A
sessions, and the unique setting that the MFA provides make for a fun,
upbeat atmosphere throughout the festival weekend".

ADAA Board member and President of HarborSide Films, Paul Boghosian,
said, "I myself have experienced directly the benefits of showcasing
films at the MFA, such as gaining the necessary exposure and
credibility for those films to secure distribution, and am enormously
pleased that the young filmmakers whose films were presented will
receive over time, the same benefits."

ADAA Board Member Alfred Demirjian, Arpi Cenkar, Elaine Mosesian, ADAA
Board Member Hapet Berberian

Visiting Filmmakers Hrach Titizian, Levon Minasian, Varant Soudjian

Michelle Kolligian, ADAA President Bianca Bagatourian, Filmmaker
Damien Arakelyan,ADAA Board Member Joan Quinn

GOLDEN APRICOT 6TH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL COOPERATES WITH NEW YORK MARGARET MEAD FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL

Noyan Tapan
July 14, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 14, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Margaret Mead
Film and Video Festival is presented this year in the list of the
programs of the Golden Apricot 6th International Film Festival. The
Margaret Mead Festival’s prize winners of different years as well
as Middle Asian and Armenian films are involved in the program. The
program is aimed to develop this film festival of documentary films
among the local film producers in Armenia, to present Armenian and
regional documentary films with the films chosen by Margaret Mead
and to encourage the exchange.

The Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival of New York is the most
voluminous and first-rate annual show of foreign documentary films in
the United States. The festival was founded by the American Museum of
Natural History, in honour of leading anthropologist Margaret Mead’s
75th birthday anniversary and 50th anniversary of her activity at the
museum. The festival represents every year a wide choice of works
in the sense of both form and content. The festival is striking by
excellent choice of films where various and urgent themes are touched
upon, and a wide series of problems and perspectives is presented. The
festival organizers make a serious choice, taking into consideration
both quality and regional and thematic variety of the claims.

According to the Press Service of the Golden Apricot Yerevan
International Film Festival, Ariella Ben-Dov, the Artistic and
Festival Director of the Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival at
the American Museum of Natural History will represent the films at
the Armenian festival.

Besides Yerevan, the program will be also represented in the regions,
Gyumri and Kapan.

The program is implemented with the assistance of the OSI Arts and
Culture internet program of Budapest.

BAKU REALIZES THAT IT MAY SUFFER DEFEAT IN CASE OF RESUMING WAR OPERATIONS

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
14.07.2009 20:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijan itself initiated the informational
and real warfare against Armenia, Director of Noravank
scientific-educational foundation Gagik Harutyunyan told jouirnalists
today. "We must always be prepared for war. The more we are prepared,
the less the prospects for resuming war operations," Armenian expert
stressed.

According to him, Armenia today has the strongest and most efficient
army in the region, despite the fact that Azerbaijan increases its
military budget. "I am sure that Baku perfectly realizes that it may
suffer defeat in case of resuming war operations. That’s the main
impediment to its bellicose plans," Harutyunyan stated.

TO IMPLEMENT MONEY TRANSFER TO GASPROMBANK CARDS VIA THE BANKING CARDS ‘AREXIMBANK- GASPROMBANK GROUP

ArmInfo
2009-07-14 15:05:00

ArmInfo. It will be possible soon to implement money transfer to
Gasprombank cards via the banking cards "Areximbank- Gasprombank
Group", deputy director general of Areximbank Ruben Khachatryan told
Arminfo correspondent.

He also added at present the programme is being implemented at the
pilot regime and the process of introduction of the utility bills
payment service via the ATM of "Areximbank- Gasprombank Group" is
being finished.

Khachatryan also said that over the first half-year 2009 795 mln drams
were cashed out via the cards of "Areximbank-Gasprombank Group" and the
cards of other banks from the ATM of "Areximbank-Gasprombank Group",
including 372 mln drams via the cards of this bank. Within the frames
of the arrangement with Armenian Card since April 200 mln drams were
cashed out via the ArCa from the ATMs of "Areximbank-Gasprombank
Group". He also said that over the first half-year 2009 the
bank emitted 4379 plastic cards including 4181 Visa cards and 198
MasterCard cards. As of 1 July 2009 the number of the active plastic
cards of "Areximbank-Gasprombank Group" was 16075 pieces the lion’s
share of which were Visa cards – 90% (14480 pieces), the rest were
MasterCard cards – 10% (1595 pieces). At present the bank owns 37 ATM
(12 in the regions and 25 in Yerevan). Areximbank i s a member of
VISA International since 2002 Ð~H®¤ , and a member of MasterCard
since 2005.

Trend, Azerbaijan
July 10 2009

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution to become positive factor for
entire region: Azerbaijani MP

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 10 /Trend News, U.Sadikhova/

Russia’s desire to take a more active part in changing the conflict
situation in the South Caucasus has opened up good opportunities to
continue a peace process, the Member of the Azerbaijani Parliament,
Asim Mollazadeh said.

If we can solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by peaceful means, then
it is a very positive factor for the entire region, Mollazadeh said.

The Azerbaijani intelligentsia’s recent visit to the Nagorno-Karabakh
and their meeting in Yerevan will not be able to replace the
negotiating process and even are not called "people’s diplomacy", and
the mission is aimed at rapprochement in the process, Mollazadeh said
at a news conference on July 10.

Azerbaijani and Armenian Ambassadors to Russia Polad Bul-Bul oglu and
Armen Smbatian, as well as Head of Federal Agency for Culture and
Cinematography Mikhail Shvydko are on visit in the unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Smbatian, Polad Bul-Bul oglu and Shvydko
met with the President of the unrecognized NKR Bako Saakyan in
Khankandi last week, the Armenian media reported.

A six-member Azerbaijani delegation, as well as two members of the
Azerbaijani parliament Asim Mollazade and Rovshan Rzayev and composer
Siyavush Karimi arrived in Khankandi.

The Azerbaijani delegation left for Armenia and met with President
Serzh Sargsyan.

"Our mission aims to support the peace process, and we are confident
that the peoples of the South Caucasus can live in peace, and we
should seize the opportunity to advance peace in the region," said the
parliamentarian.

We must act rationally and not emotionally to use our capacity for
peace, Mollazadeh said.

The position of the Armenian lobby and the Armenians in Armenia
differ. "In Armenia, I saw a willingness to sign a peace agreement
which President Sargsyan said at the meeting with us," he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding
districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in
1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the
U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

ARMENTEL IS GENERAL SPONSOR OF SKILLS AT WORK

ArmInfo
2009-07-10 23:50:00

ArmInfo. ArmenTel (Beeline brand) is the general sponsor of Skills at
Work, a business project competition among high vocational schools of
Armenia. The organizers of the competition are British Council, Junior
Achievements of Armenia and the Ministry of Science and Education.

By Sept 20 students of high vocational schools may submit essays
on the subject "What I would do if I were Director General of
ArmenTel." The authors of the 50 best essays will take part in the
national competition of business projects to be held in Tsaghkadzor
this autumn. The winners will receive prizes from ArmenTel and
will undergo onsite training at the company. The best contestant
will represent Armenia at the international finals in Serbia in the
spring 2010.

Over 1,500 students from different countries took part in Skills at
Work last year.

"We must overcome our stereotype against high vocational education. It
is better to be a good welder or cook than a bad economist or
doctor. People will gradually understand this and more and more youths
will seek to get vocation education. This initiative is one step to
this end," says Head of High Vocational Education Department of the
Ministry of Science and Education of Armenia Artak Agbalyan.

"I very much like working with young people. They show quite original
attitudes to ordinary things. I would very much like to know how they
see their future," says Director General of ArmenTel I.Klimko.

VIVACELL-MTS SERVICE CENTERS BECOME ONE-STOP SHOP FOR MANAGING ALL UTILITY BILLS

ArmInfo
2009-07-10 23:47:00

ArmInfo. VivaCell-MTS, a subsidiary of Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS"
– NYSE: MBT), announced the launch of a new, innovative and convenient
way of paying monthly utility bills.

VivaCell-MTS press-service told ArmInfo that from now on VivaCell-MTS
Service Centers become one-stop shop for managing all utility payment
bills.

The population of Armenia will be able to make payments for natural
gas, water, electricity and communication services at any VivaCell-MTS
Service Center. At the initial phase of the project, the service
will be introduced in 13 Service Centers of the Company. Further
on, the innovative service will be rolled out across whole Armenia,
and by the end of July, it will be available in 40 Service Centers
of VivaCell-MTS (19 in Yerevan 21 in all regions).

The new project of the Company, which is implemented in partnership
with Quadracom, one of the Company’s electronic dealers, is aimed at
increasing customer satisfaction: both VivaCell-MTS subscribers and
non-subscribers will get a unique opportunity to receive multiple
services at one spot in more convenient and attractive environment,
with no need to access different locations for making utility
bill payments. The new system was introduced following pilot
implementation. Customer’s feedback was very positive toward the
solution: they reported that the new system gives them control over
their time, as it helps tackle one of customers’ biggest problems –
queues and waiting times.

"More than operator, that’s what we promised and that’s what we
aim every day at delivering. VivaCell-MTS is pleased to offer the
population of Armenia a new way to pay their monthly utility bills
that saves both their time and energy, and in a convenient advanced
setting. This newly-introduced system is a revolutionary approach
in customer experience as it enables us to offer the best possible
customer service to everyone who visits our service centers. Our
staff is committed to work to best serve our subscribers and others
seeking our services. The Company is always seeking improvements to
help increasing the customer satisfaction," commented VivaCell-MTS
General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

VivaCell-MTS will be monitoring customer satisfaction following the
introduction of the system. Processing of international remittances
is one of the many future perspectives to be opened in front of our
Customers through further expansion of the project.

RA, NKR AND AZERBAIJAN REPRESENTATIVES TO MEET IN SEPTEMBER

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
09.07.2009 15:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "A scheduled Brussels meeting between RA, NKR and
Azerbaijan representatives is postponed," Head of NKR Social Council
for External Policy and Security, Masis Mailyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. "European Union Ministerial Troika Delegation will arrive
in Moscow in July, so the meeting in Brussels will be postponed till
September," Mailyan noted.

RISING STAR
Anush Babajanyan

Transitions Online (TOL)
8 July 2009

Ancient history and timeless beauty meet on the road to Armenia’s
highest mountain.

This is the second article in a series on travel and tourism in TOL’s
coverage area. Click here to view TOL’s audio slideshow on the road
to Mount Aragats.

In maps and guides on the Web, Armenia sometimes seems like a lost
country. Some sites place it in Europe, others in southwestern
Asia, still others – to be both more specific and more vague – the
Caucasus. Few outsiders (beyond the widespread Armenian diaspora)
know them, but this lost country has its secrets and treasures,
waiting to be discovered.

There are many directions a traveler can take after landing at
the airport in Yerevan. One of the most fascinating leads to Mount
Aragats. This dormant volcano 40 kilometers northwest of the capital
is Armenia’s highest peak, rising 4,090 meters (13,419 feet) above the
canyons and rivers its millennia of activity have created. A trip up
its slopes is really a trip through Armenian history, from the first
millennium to the Soviet era.

On the south side of Aragats, above the canyon through which the
Kasagh River flows, flows two monasteries have been standing since
ancient times.

The main parts of Hovhannavank, named for John the Baptist (Hovhan
is the Armenian version of John, vank the word for monastery), were
built in the 1200s.

But the oldest section, the basilica of St. Karapet, dates to the
early fourth century. It was founded by St. Gregory the Enlightener,
who is credited with bringing Christianity to Armenia in 301.

Five kilometers away, the Saghmosavank (Monastery of Palms) was built
in the 13th century with a library where copies of manuscripts might
have been produced.

Farther up Aragats stands a monument of more recent vintage, honoring
Armenian letters. Not its literature – this 2007 construction is a
monument to the letters of the Armenian alphabet, symbolizing their
importance to the nation and its people. Created by St. Mesrop Mashtots
in 405, the alphabet was part of an effort to unify the nation of
Armenia, which had long been a battleground between neighboring
empires and which, at that time, had been partitioned between the
Byzantine and Persian empires. The 1.5-meter letters are spread
across a field, intermingled with several other shrines, the main
one honoring St. Mesrop.

The unique letters of Armenian are also revered in Oshakan village,
near the alphabet monument. Here letters carved out of stone and
grown out of grass surround the 19th-century church that houses
St. Mesrop’s tomb. This church is a favorite destination for school
field trips and an essential part of Armenian children’s historical
and patriotic education.

Set among the natural beauty still higher up is one of the mountain’s
most arresting sights, the ruins of Amberd fortress.

Looking down into Amberd canyon from a rocky outcrop, this feudal
castle was founded in the seventh century and later belonged to the
Pahlavouni princes, a powerful noble line. Water flowed here from
the brooks and streams of Aragats. The difficult terrain provided
protection from Persian, Roman, and Turkish assaults, but the fortress
was destroyed by fire in a 1236 Mongol attack.

Still largely intact (thanks to some reconstruction) is a church
built in 1026 by the military commander Vahram Pahlavouni, next to
the fortress. There was also a bath here, using a technique common to
ancient Armenian bathhouses. Below the floors are meter-high empty
spaces, outside of which fires were built. The high mountain winds
would blow hot air into these subterranean spaces and up tubes that
snaked through the walls, heating the floors and rooms.

In the bath archaeologists have also discovered the grave of a jester,
presumably on hand to enrich the princes’ leisure time.

The final destination on this trip through history returns you to
modern times at the Byurakan Observatory. Now largely quiet, this
was a scientific hub during the Soviet era under its founder Victor
Hambardzumyan (1908-1996), a major figure in 20th-century astrophysics
who died here in 1996. Thousands of stars, star clusters, and galaxies
were discovered at Byurakan, but the fall of the Soviet Union greatly
curtailed its activity.

The sky here is clear more than 200 days a year, the reason Byurakan
village was chosen to host the observatory. Hambardzumyan’s house,
now a museum, is on the grounds, surrounded by nature. One can imagine
the scientist walking the paths and alleys, always with an eye on
the heavens.

Anush Babajanyan is a photojournalist in Armenia and editor of TOL’s
Patchwork blog. Click here to see a slide show featuring more of her
pictures from the slopes of Mount Aragats.

ARMENIAN ECONOMY PERSPECTIVES DEPEND ON WORLD ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
07.07.2009 13:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia is not the country responsible for the
global economic crisis, World Bank Country Director for the South
Caucasus Asad Alam said.

"The crisis affected economies of all states. At that, Armenian
economy perspectives depend on the world economy development," he
told an international conference which kicked off in Yerevan today.

Mr. Alam described the government’s anti-crisis program as
efficient, since it envisages maintenance and even creation of job
opportunities. Besides, measures are taken to alleviate the impact
of the crisis on poor population strata.

He said Armenia is experiencing the hardest period of the economic
crisis at the moment. "Nevertheless, we expect some growth by the
end of the year," he concluded.