Author: Kalantarian Kevo

LA RUSSIE APPROUVE LE PRET A L’ARMENIE

Energie

Le gouvernement russe a declare vendredi qu’il a officiellement
approuve le pret de 270,000,000 $ a l’Armenie, qui sera utilise pour
etendre la duree de vie de la centrale nucleaire de Metsamor.

Le cabinet du Premier ministre Dmitri Medvedev a approuve un projet
d’accord russo-armenien a la suite d’une reunion hebdomadaire tenue
a Moscou jeudi.

Le gouvernement armenien a approuve l’accord il y a plus d’un mois. Le
pret de la Russie, remboursable en 15 ans, lui permettra de retarder
la fermeture de l’usine de Metsamor de 10 ans, restant donc utilisable
jusqu’en 2026.

Erevan a opte pour ce choix après avoir echoue a attirer des milliards
de dollars de financement necessaires a ses plans ambitieux pour
remplacer le groupe electrogène de l’usine de l’ère sovietique par
de nouvelles et plus puissantes industries correspondant aux normes
de securite modernes.

La duree de vie de 30 ans du reacteur de fonctionnement de Metsamor se
termine en 2016. Des experts de l’Agence internationale de l’energie
atomique (AIEA) ont declare en 2011 que, en principe, la duree peut
etre etendue grâce a des ameliorations de securite.

Le financement de Russie est officiellement appele un “pret a
l’exportation”. Le ministre de l’Energie et des ressources naturelles,
Yervand Zakharian, avait dit en août que Moscou allouera egalement
une subvention de 30 millions de dollars pour le meme but.

lundi 29 decembre 2014, Claire (c)armenews.com

LA PRODUCTION DE BIJOUX A ATTEINT 6,7 MILLIARDS DE DRAMS EN ARMENIE

ARMENIE

La production de bijoux s’est elèvee a 6,66 milliards de drams entre
janvier et août 2014 montrant une baisse de 43,5% sur un an a rapporte
le Service national des statistiques d’Armenie.

717,5 kg de bijoux ont ete produit entre janvier et août 2014 contre
758,7 kg entre janvier et Juillet 2013 soit une baisse de 5,4%.

Quelques 39 607 carats ont ete produits en Armenie entre janvier et
août 2014 en baisse de 32,8% sur un an.

Les exportations de pierres precieuses et semi-precieuses et de bijoux
ont totalise environ 150,1 millions de $ entre janvier et août 2014
montrant une croissance de 24,7% sur un an et les importations ont
totalise 204,8 millions de $ soit une croissance sur un an 12,3%.

lundi 29 decembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Dec 28 2014

Rena De: I would like to represent Syria and Armenia at the Jazz Festival

Rena De is a celebrated Syrian-Armenian Jazz singer based in Yerevan.
She agreed to an interview with me in which she shares her wish to
participate in the Ä°stanbul Jazz Festival and explains how music is
instrumental in creating dialogue between people in conflict.

The night before, I speak on the phone with Rena De, a 42-year-old
Syrian-Armenian singer who performs jazz music in a venue called
Melrose in the heart of Yerevan. She calls out a `Hello,’ that varies
between a stylish Australian accent and a powerful and self-contained
woman’s tone, like Velma in the movie `Chicago.’

`Come to Melrose at 8 p.m., dear,’ she says. Rena seems kind and
intimidating, graceful and distant. She radiates an energy that
emanates when someone is aware of her own strength while being
touchingly vulnerable at the same time.

At Melrose, Rena does event planning and public relations, apart from
performing jazz, blues, R&B and soul songs with her band Shiver. After
I swing open the door, I find Rena sitting on a red chair that extends
from wall to wall under Melrose’s blue lights. She is holding a
cigarette with one hand and making calculations on her iPad with the
other. Nervous that Rena won’t have time for our interview before her
9 p.m. performance, I sit and stare at her long black curly hair. But
thankfully, within minutes, she comes and sits with me. Seeing that I
am concerned about the loud noise that surrounds us, Rena suggests
that we go to the kitchen to conduct the interview.

`I read that some of your ancestors are from MaraÃ…? in modern day
Turkey. I wonder how you feel about that. Is your music influenced by
their legacy?’ I ask while breathing in the smell of fried oil and
ignoring the big white ventilating unit next to us that sounds like an
airplane taking off.

`I have been to Turkey five times, and I felt the energy of the land
where my ancestors once lived,’ Rena says. She listens to every kind
of music. But traditional Armenian music is special for her because it
touches her in a way that’s inexpressible through words. `It says
something to me because that’s who I am.’

Rena was born in Syria and moved to Australia when she was two years
old. After spending 20 years there, she left for Syria. But after the
war broke out, she first moved to Lebanon in 2012 and then finally
settled in Armenia in August 2013.

The young cook in red takes out a box of sandwich loaves from a bakery
and starts applying mustard on them. I ask Rena what she thinks of
music’s role in facilitating dialogue and understanding. I explain
that I have Armenian-Turkish dialogue in mind in particular, with all
its complications and promises.

`Definitely it has a role,’ she says instinctively. For example, the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
organized a concert in Yerevan at the end of October, Rena says, and
its aim was to unite diaspora, local and refugee Armenian musicians.

`That was really beautiful! I was asked to say a few words on stage.
The only thing that I said was how I felt. Although we speak different
Armenian dialects [eastern and western], on stage we speak the same
language — music. We might have different backgrounds and political
opinions. But on stage, we speak a language that everyone understands.
This brings us closer,’ Rena says.

Rena thinks that the same applies to making music between Armenia and
Turkey. She communicates with me that she has heard about the Ä°stanbul
Jazz Festival. `I would like to represent Syria and Armenia at the
Ä°stanbul Jazz Festival,’ she says. I immediately imagine her singing
Arabic and Armenian jazz songs with a concentrated face and her
monumental black curly hair at the Cemil Topuzlu Open-Air Theater in
Ä°stanbul.

After the interview, I see Rena where I first saw her, close to the
entrance of Melrose, sitting on that red chair. I want to thank her
for her time and hospitality, so I squeeze her hand in the dark. I
only realized after I screamed in pain that she was holding a
cigarette.

Business Insider
Dec 26 2014

Turkey PM adviser tells AFP ‘we aim to be in Europe 1st division’

Fulya Ozerkan, AFP

Istanbul (AFP) – Turkey’s leaders are committed to EU membership and
still aim to play in the “first division” of Europe despite a bitter
row over a crackdown on the opposition, a top adviser to Prime
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

Turkey’s aspirations to join the EU received a serious setback when
the latest police swoop on opposition media linked to President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s number one foe, Fethullah Gulen, led to an angry
slanging match between Ankara and Brussels.

Etyen Mahcupyan, a Turkish-Armenian who was named chief adviser to
Davutoglu in November, blamed the dispute on a lack of understanding
about Turkey in the West.

But he told AFP in an interview that despite the sometimes tough
rhetoric, Ankara had no intention of giving up on its decades-old bid
to join the 28-member bloc.

“AK Party (the ruling Justice and Development Party, AKP) absolutely,
100 percent, wants to join the EU and demonstrate its own power in
Europe,” he said.

“An enthusiastic and self-confident Recep Tayyip Erdogan cannot dream
of a Turkey which plays in the second division. He wants to play in
the first league, but as equal partners.”

Mahcupyan, however, criticised the West’s “negative” approach and what
he said was its failure to understand the government’s war against the
Gulen movement, which Erdogan has accused of orchestrating a plot to
bring him down when he was prime minister.

“The Western world is unaware of what’s going on in Turkey. They do
not understand and they are not very much willing to understand,” said
Mahcupyan.

Erdogan has blamed the Gulen movement — known as Hizmet (Service) or
Cemaat (Community) — of concocting a corruption scandal last year
that rocked his government and has purged thousands of his followers
from the police and the judiciary.

– ‘Attempt to topple Erdogan’-

A Turkish court has issued an arrest warrant for the US-based Gulen,
but the EU was particularly concerned by raids earlier this month that
targeted pro-Gulen media.

“It is very clear that the Gulen Cemaat attempted to topple the
government and particularly to create a period without Tayyip
Erdogan,” said Mahcupyan, adding that it was an “abortive” initiative
without military involvement.

Mahcupyan said the Gulenists established a “hierarchy” in key state
institutions in charge of policy-making and the “coup” was staged by
that “core group,” estimated to number between 5,000 and 10,000 out of
up to three million sympathisers.

“I cannot say all are involved,” he said, adding that most Gulenists
only heard about what happened from the media.”As far as I can see,
Tayyip Erdogan and the AK Party are trying to explain this as much as
they can and convince them to part ways with Cemaat of their free
will, so that the government can deal with the remaining core group.”

Critics at home and abroad have accused Erdogan of consolidating power
against his domestic and international detractors, with a recent New
York Times editorial labelling him an “authoritarian leader living in
a parallel universe”.

Mahcupyan likened the ruling AKP, co-founded by Erdogan, to a
“pendulum swinging between authoritarianism and democracy” and said
the party showed a reflex for tougher measures whenever it saw a
threat to its survival.

“I can say it is a party closer to democracy… It is a very doubtful
party which thinks the rug under its feet could be pulled at any
moment.”

Mahcupyan said Erdogan and Davutoglu had similar ideas and their
differences in style were complementary.

“Tayyip Erdogan is the man who clears bushes in a wood with a sword in
his hand. He does not stop. If he stops, there’s a threat. He always
moves forward just in case,” he said.

“Davutoglu is the man who will install tiles on the road. If Tayyip
Erdogan does not open that path, Davutoglu cannot furnish that path.
They complement each other.”

Rising stars of 2015: chef Olia Hercules

With a book of old family recipes the Ukrainian-born cookery writer is
spreading the word about the culinary treasures of her homeland

See the Observer’s rising stars of 2015 in full

Rising stars of 2015: musician Kwabs

Olia Hercules in her north London kitchen: ‘There’s so much more to
learn. These recipes were just circulating around my family.’
Photograph: Karen Robinson

Killian Fox

Sunday 28 December 2014 09.00 GMT

When Olia Hercules went to work on her first cookbook, a joyful
celebration of eastern European cooking called Mamushka, she didn’t
have to travel far researching it. “I went home and spent a month
running after my mum and my aunt with measuring spoons and a scales,”
she says, laughing. “I was like, all the recipes you’ve been cooking
your entire life, hand them over.”

Hercules was born in southern Ukraine in 1984. Growing up during the
decline of the Soviet Union, she ate remarkably well. Her mother
cultivated vegetables at home in Kakhovka, a port city on the Dneiper,
and she recalls an abundance of produce in the surrounding
countryside: peas and wild sorrel, and walnuts waiting to be gobbled
fresh from the tree. It helped that her family was crazy about food
and its female members – the mamushkas of the book – were passionate,
resourceful cooks.

They came from diverse backgrounds – one aunt hailed from Armenia, a
grandmother was born in Siberia – and each brought a distinct
influence to the kitchen table. Hercules has added influences of her
own: since moving to England 12 years ago, she has been incorporating
British and international flavours into her repertoire.

When I get to sample her astonishingly good garlicky poussin at her
flat in north London, where she lives with her young son Sasha, she
serves it with Korean pickled carrots and a Georgian plum chutney
sweetened with treacle. As you might expect, the book features
dumplings, borscht and dill by the hundredweight, but there are also
many less obvious dishes, such as mutton in coriander, and rhubarb
pickle and meringue with sweet noodles.

Hercules is hoping that Mamushka, which comes out in June, will make
people consider her birthplace in a different light. “Everybody thinks
Ukraine is cold and stark. And maybe it is in the winter but come
April it all goes pttsch!” She mimics a landscape exploding into life.
“Sunflower fields, poppy fields, mulberries and sour cherries. I want
to show that the reality is not just the sad stories you hear in the
news.”

She also wants to get us excited about an underappreciated cooking
tradition. One book, she feels, doesn’t even begin to do it justice.
“There’s so much more to learn. These are recipes that were just
circulating around my family. I’d love to go to Armenia, Georgia and
Azerbaijan and collect loads more.” She shakes her head. “It’s been
nearly 25 years [since the end of the Soviet Union] and these
traditions haven’t really been explored. Why? It’s crazy. In a way,
I’m so lucky that it hasn’t been done.”

ARMENIE-AZERBAÏDJAN
Ardzroun Hovhannissian >

> a affirmé le
porte-parole du ministère arménien de la Défense, Ardzroun
Hovhannissian. Faisant ainsi référence au soldat arménien qui s’est
enfuit pour se constituer prisonnier aux forces azéries. Alors que
Bakou évoquait des attaques et actes de sabotages de l’armée
arménienne. Une pure désinformation des médias azéris, selon le
porte-parole.

STLtoday.com
Dec 27 2014

America has it right in standing with Armenia

I read the letter from Lala Aliyeva (“U.S. sending too much money to
Armenia,” Dec. 20) with some interest as she complained that America
is wrong to stand with the democratic country of Armenia, an ancient
Christian nation with powerful moral and cultural ties to the U.S. and
the Western world.

Armenia is a democracy. While its elections have not been perfect,
there is, by any standard, a night-and-day difference with the
single-family petro-monarchy that’s taken over Azerbaijan. The
disenfranchisement of Azerbaijan’s own citizens is reflected annually
in the State Department’s human rights reports.

Armenia is operating its economy on a model driven by Western reform.
Its market-based policies face pressure from the blockade of its
borders by Azerbaijan and Turkey. Without these illegal blockades,
Armenia would more quickly complete its transition to a prosperous
democratic republic with a fully Western-style economy.

Armenians worldwide will, in 2015, commemorate the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turkey. This small
Christian country has faced genocide and persecution throughout its
existence. The Karabagh war with Azerbaijan over the freedom and
future of this historically Armenian province resulted in the
persecution of Armenians in Azerbaijan. Bloody pogroms in Sumgait
(1988), Ganja (1988), and Baku (1990) resulted in the deaths of
countless Armenians.

Despite all these challenges, Armenia spends on arms only a tiny
fraction of what Turkey and Azerbaijan allocate to their massive
militaries. In fact, Baku’s military budget this year was larger than
the combined total of all of Armenia’s government spending.

America is right to stand on the side of peace, of democracy, and
shared Western values. America is right to stand with Armenia.

Steve Hagopian * Glen Carbon

ARMENIE
Armenal a investi 120 millions de dollars d’aluminium

Armenal entreprise russo-arménienne de laminage de feuille d’aluminium
à Erevan a investi un total de 120 millions de $ dans la modernisation
de l’usine depuis 2000 a déclaré le ministre de l’Economie Karen
Chshmarityan après qu’il a accordé à l’usine un report du paiement de
la TVA de trois ans.

Le ministre a dit que l’usine prévoit d’importer un four, d’une valeur
202 millions de drams, pour le traitement des feuilles d’aluminium et
d’un système de revêtement électrostatique d’une valeur de 310,7
millions de drams.

Il a dit dans le cadre de son programme d’investissement l’usine
cherche à augmenter la production de papier d’aluminium à 5600 tonnes
par an. Le nouvel équipement permettra de créer 35 nouveaux emplois a
dit Chshmarityan.

En vertu d’une décision du gouvernement, le report est attribué aux
entreprises qui importent plus de 200 millions de drams d’équipement
ou de technologie moderne afin d’accroître leur production et
moderniser les installations de production.

dimanche 28 décembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Azerbaijani political scientist: 2014 was a disaster for Azerbaijan:
in 2015 will be ”Year of depression”

16:11 27/12/2014 » SOCIETY

The political year in Azerbaijan turned out to be unsuccessful because
of the mass arrests among the civil society, journalists; the vast
majority of cases were followed by fabricated charges, which in turn
had a negative impact on the socio-political situation in the country,
Arastun Orujlu, a political scientist, director of the research center
“East-West” told in an interview with “Minval.az”.

According to the political specialist, in 2014 the socio-political
system in the country has collapsed. Official Baku has spoiled its
relations with all its important partners, except Turkey and Russia,
and the West stopped being an important strategic partner for the
country, the expert said. Moreover, during this year the official
authorities of the country voiced a lot of accusations in address to
the Europeans and Americans. And not only ordinary statements were
made, but also concrete steps were undertaken: the expulsion of
international institutions of the country, limitation of their
activity in the legal form.

“The respected democratic institutions were deported from Azerbaijan,
the verbal sparring between Brussels and Baku reaches its climax. This
does not promise anything good for the country’s future,” said the
political scientist.

Speaking of the Karabakh conflict, the political scientist noted that
nothing important had happened in the negotiation process as well,
there was no progress, there was just another attempt by Russia to use
the conflict as a lever of pressure on official Baku, which actually
succeeded.

2014 as a whole turned to be not successful for Azerbaijan from the
economic view as well, Orujlu believes. According to him, a sharp drop
in oil prices in a country the economy of which is totally dependent
on oil, has led to the fact that the economy slowed down. “And we can
see the first signs of this: there is the actual preparation of the
population in the coming year to imitate, the introduction of
additional taxes, higher prices. gasoline prices are falling around
the whole world, but this did not happen in Azerbaijan, and as we
learned recently, it will not happen at all, because it would be an
additional burden on the state budget,” said the political scientist.

As Orujlu notes, the conflict between Russia and the West has very
serious consequences for Azerbaijan. Many Azerbaijanis, who, had
settled in Russia, lost their former high incomes, some are left
without any work. And actually started a flow of unemployed
Azerbaijani migrants back to the country; the economy is not ready for
this.

At the same time, according to Orujlu in 2014 in Azerbaijan hundreds
of people who for various reasons were ready to fight in Syria, in
Iraq, but not in Karabakh were revealed.

“Of course, this has affected the atmosphere in society; the number of
suicides, brutal murders has increased. And they have a massive
character,” said the expert, adding that all of this was made possible
by domestic policy, pursued by the authorities.
“And if you consider that there is a socio-political vacuum in the
country then the surprises are totally expected in the next year. The
system is completely destroyed. Either the media, or civil society, or
the opposition, which no longer exists, does not play any role, to the
people, no one listens. It took its own way in recent months, we have
seen the use of force against the authorities at various levels. These
are the first signs of a spontaneous protest, and it portends us about
chaotic processes, and if such process begins, – and it will probably
begin – then you can imagine how the vacuum will look: either all
spontaneously chaotic processes will be taken under control by the
authorities, or the extremists and radicals will take care of it,”
said the expert.

Azerbaijani authorities have made a historical mistake by wrong
treatment with the civil society, the media, the opposition and those
important elements of social and political systems that are like a
balancing factor, stressed Orujlu. According to the political
scientist, the detonator is already set up by the authorities, and the
explosion will be heard which will sweep everything away, the date of
the explosion is not known though: “In this sense, 2015 is a year of
“economic depression.”

The coming year be a difficult one, given the money to be spent on the
European games and the anticipated parliamentary elections. “Next year
will be quite risky for the authorities. And we will see it in the
first months of the year,”he concluded.

HOLLYWOOD GOES APE FOR BRIT STAR ANDY SERKIS AS OSCAR CAMPAIGN GATHERS STEAM

Mirror, UK
December 25, 2014 Thursday 5:40 PM GMT

The Lord of the Rings star has won accolades across tinsel town for
his portrayal of Caeser in Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

By James Desborough

When you’re rolling around on the carpet with your kids and suddenly
pull yourself to your feet with your knuckles, it gives a whole new
meaning to aping around.

That’s exactly what British actor Andy Serkis found himself doing
during filming for blockbuster Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes earlier
this year.

He admits it was a tad unnerving – but it was also the lightbulb
moment when he realised he had truly captured his character, Caesar,
the super-intelligent ape leader and star of the Hollywood franchise.

It may also have been the moment his wife Lorraine locked up the
household’s bananas.

“Sometimes I wasn’t even aware I was still in ‘ape zone’ and I’d be
playing with my kids and rolling around and find myself using my
knuckles to climb to my feet and I’d think, ‘Why am I still doing
that?’,” he laughs.

“That’s when I’d realise I was still very much in the character of
an ape.”

The star is recalling his highly-acclaimed part in the film as a
campaign for 50-year-old Andy to win an Oscar nomination for the role
gathers momentum.

Dawn of The Planet of The Apes

20th Century Fox is pushing for his inclusion on the Best Supporting
Actor list. It’s easy to see why.

Best-known for portrayals of Caesar and, before that, Gollum in Lord
of the Rings and the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, there’s no
denying his success.

His work has generated billions of pounds in just over a decade.

In that sense he’s up there with fellow Brits Daniel Radcliffe,
Michael Caine and Sean Connery.

Yet the great irony is many would struggle to recognise his face –
because he so often works his acting magic behind a CGI mask.

Andy is Hollywood’s go to man when it comes to using ‘motion-capture’
technology – which sees him don a lycra suit with reflective marks
that allow up to 40 cameras to track his movements and feed the
data to visual effects specialists who then slide them onto animated
characters.

However it’s because of that technology not everyone’s convinced of
his Oscar worthiness.

There’s a debate in Tinseltown. Is his work and that of other
motion-capture actors deserving?

But Andy is adamant it’s just as hard for him to capture and portray
his characters as any actor.

“What we’re doing is creating a performance in the same way as if
you were playing a live action role,” he says.

“It is acting, there is no difference and it’s ludicrous to think of
it in any other way.

“We are still living out our roles, we’re on set with the director
and other actors and it is then manifested through visual effects.

“In five years we won’t be having this discussion as it’s obvious
what we do is acting and needs to be seen as that.”

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Before the first film in the Planet Of The Apes series, 2011’s Rise
of the Planet of the Apes, Andy threw himself into observing the
creatures.

He said: “I spent time at London zoo with the gorillas and keepers.

Then I went to Rwanda to work with Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
International.

“It’s fascinating to watch a troop of 23 gorillas. It was a bit like
watching a group of hippies at Glastonbury.”

But for the sequel, he says his inspiration for Caesar changed as
the ape’s character became more human.

In fact, he cites a slightly surprising role model – Nelson Mandela.

“There’s this sense that he’s this statesman-like figure and, as
a leader, he’s created this 2,000-strong community and he wanted to
lead, but not necessarily from the front.

“More like an egalitarian leader so that all the apes would feel
valued. There’s real social responsibility by all of them for the
community to survive,” he explains.

“I thought very long and hard about the pressure of being a world
leader and I read a lot about Nelson Mandela because leadership,
as we all know, is incredibly complex.

“To look at someone when they first become a leader and then to look
at them again four years later and see the way they’ve been ravaged
by the day-to-day decision making, was a very interesting idea.

“I wanted Caesar to have some of that in his countenance and in his
physicality.”

Andy and the other ape actors went through a kind of ‘ape therapy’
before filming.

“We had a number of weeks prior to filming called ‘ape camp’,” he said.

“It involved us improvising and setting up the hierarchy of the apes
and a way of us communicating.”

He added: “I do most of my jumping around and hollering just before a
take. The other ape actors will gather around and we’ll go into call
and response mode.

“You’ll normally find me standing on a chair, leading them on,
raising hell. The noise we make is terrifying.”

There’s no arguing Andy doesn’t give his all. And he says he learns
from his characters too.

“Caesar was an immense and humbling figure to learn from.

“His ability to be empathetic and a great leader and have a strong
presence while still being firm fair – it is quite a reach for
me!” he says.

The actor’s originality may stem from an unconventional childhood.

He grew up in Ruislip, Middlesex with his Armenian doctor father,
and his mother, who taught disabled children. Although his parents
were married, they lived separately.

He describes how he would regularly visit his dad when he was working
in Baghdad until it became too dangerous.

“I’d visit him during the school holidays,” he’s said.

“Things weren’t easy for him in Iraq. Back in the 70s he spent months
in an Iraqi jail. He saw relatives vanish. I was an angry kid.

“I’d throw tantrums and my three older sisters would have to hold
me down. I always felt an outsider and that probably had a lot to do
with my home situation.”

Ultimately, it was acting which let him channel his emotions – he’s
called it his ‘saviour’.

Although at school he loved art and went to Lancaster University to
study it, there he became interested in theatre.

He honed his skills at the Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster, and began
touring.

Success on London stages in the early 90s coincided with his
breakthrough in TV and film.

His work has ranged from Oliver Twist to 24 Hour Party People;
Brighton Rock to the Adventures Of Tin Tin.

In 2010 he was Bafta-nominated for his role as polio-afflicted Ian
Dury in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll – for which he spent months walking
with a heavy 70s-style calliper on his leg.

But it was as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy
that he found global success, before working with the director again,
taking his first simian role in 2005’s King Kong.

Now, set to appear in Star Wars Episode VII, and currently directing
and acting Jungle Book: Origins, in which he will star as Baloo the
bear, his star is rising.

The Jungle Book stars Oscar winners Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett
and Andy, married to actress Lorraine Ashbourne, hopes the big names
will help Hollywood realise the talent that goes into motion-capture
technology.

“If you asked any one of them whether it is any different to acting
in a costume they’d all say, ‘Of course not, it’s acting!’,” he says.

“I honestly think soon people will look back and say, ‘How did we
think it was anything else?'”

Perhaps that day will come when Andy wins an Oscar…

Is acting in CGI the same as acting in costume? Dawn of the Planet
of the Apes is available on Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray. The Collection is
part of the Fox Home Entertainment Holiday Collection.