Category: 2017

Sports: Mkhitaryan: Manchester United have the Champions League in our DNA

Emma Jilavian
MARCA.com

Cinema: Winners of 14th Golden Apricot Yerevan Film festival announced

Kajoyan Gevork
Panorama, Armenia


The 14th Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival summed up the films in competitions. As the official website of the festival reports, the Boards of Juries of International Feature, International Documentary and Armenian Panorama film competitions as well as the FIPRESCI accordingly have announced this year’s competition results at the official closing ceremony of the festival on July 16 held at the Cinema Moscow. The closing ceremony was celebrated also with special Master prize granted by the festival to Joe Berlinger. The ceremony was concluded with the screening of Intent to Destroy by Joe Berlinger.

Below are the winners of 14th Golden Apricot Yerevan.

International Feature Competition

Golden Apricot: SEXY DURGA, dir. Sanal Kumar Sasidharan (India)
Silver Apricot: ARABIA, dir. Affonso Uchoa, João Dumans (Brazil)
Jury Special Mention: WESTERN, dir. Valeska Grisebach (Germany/Bulgaria/Austria)

International Documentary Competition

Golden Apricot: GHOST HUNTING, dir. Raed Andoni (Palestine/France/Switzerland/ Qatar)
Silver Apricot: MOTHER DERDO AND THE WALNUT TREE, dir. Serdar Onal (Turkey/Armenia)
Special Mention: VILLAGE PEOPLE, dir. Tztevan Dragnev (Bulgaria)

Armenian Panorama National Competition:
Feature
Golden Apricot: DONALD CRIED, dir. Kris Avedisian (USA)
Special Mention for Acting: Samvel Dadevosyan, The Line, dir. Mher Mkrtchian (Armenia)

Documentary
Golden Apricot: THOSE FROM THE SHORE, dir. Tamara Stepanyan (France/Armenia/Lebanon)
Special mention:  ORIGINES, dir Ashot Mkrtchyan (Armenia)

Short
Golden Apricot: HEAD ABOVE WATER, dir. Eric Shahinian (USA)
Hrant Matevosyan Award for the Best Script in the Armenian Panorama: DONALD CRIED, dir. Kris Avedisian (USA)

FIPRESCI Jury Prize
A MAN OF INTEGRITY, dir. Mohammad Rasoulof (IRAN)

Cinema: “Golden Apricot” has grown into an ambassador uniting nations with variety of cultures to share universal human values – VivaCell-MTS General Manager

Emil Karabekian
Panorama, Armenia

The 14th “Golden Apricot” will be remembered for the variety of included events, renowned cinema personalities and guests, as well as diversity of genres of the screened films, VivaCell-MTS reports, adding, the festival, which enlivened the cultural Armenia, included both screenings, as well as rich program of master classes, hosting renowned cinema personalities Boris Khlebnikov (director, Russia), Ildiko Enyedi (director, Hungary), Rui Nogueira (film historian, France), Ciro Guerra (director, Columbia), Tom McSorley (film critic, Canada) and others.

“A program, before it gets the right to live, goes through a certain path. The ‘Golden Apricot’, which has a complicated and important mission, has passed through ‘adolescence’ and has entered its ‘adulthood’. The festival with fourteen years of history has grown into a window open before the world and an ambassador uniting nations with variety of cultures to share universal human values. This festival is also a platform bridging creative minds, emotions, and perceptions; it is a forum of artistic thinking, and an authentic passport for Armenia. I wish the organizers of the “Golden Apricot”, who have been working for it since its inception, strength and stamina for their future endeavors,” said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

The special award “Let There Be Light”, founded by the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II within the film festival, was handed over to composer Tigran Mansuryan for major contribution in the Armenian cinema at the Gevorgyan Seminary in Etchmiadzin.

The festival was marked also by a workshop on the further development of Armenian-Turkish platform projects.

The “Golden Apricot” paid tribute to Armenian film director, Merited Worker of Arts of Armenia, People’s Artist of Armenia, late Ruben Gevorgyants. One of his films, the “Kind Trace”, was screened in “Moscow” cinema.

The 14th “Golden Apricot” also included “French Cinema Day”, “German Cinema Day”, “Polish Cinema Day” programs, which were organized in cooperation with the foreign embassies represented in Armenia. The “Yerevan Premieres” included films winners of the Cannes, Berlin, and Venice film festivals, the source said.

California Courier Online, July 20, 2017

Khondkarian Raffi

The California Courier Online, July 20, 2017
 
1 –    Commentary
 
        Aliyev
Family’s Financial Role
        In Shipping Weapons to
Terrorists
        By Harut Sassounian
        Publisher, The California Courier
        www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
 2 –   Western
Diocese’s Zorayan
Museum
        To
Hold ‘Paint Night’, on August 4
3 –    Glendale Appoints Elena
Bolbolian as Director
        Of
Innovation, Performance, and Audit Department
4 –   Armenian-Developed Code-Teaching App
        Wins
Grand Prize in Facebook’s Competition
5 –    Armenian Scholar Elected President of
the
        International
Association of Genocide Scholars
6 –    State Panel Approves Freeway Signs For
        Pasadena Armenian Genocide
Memorial
7 –    Swedish
MPs File
        Genocide
Complaint
        Against
Erdogan
8 –    4
Armenians Listed Among 150
        Most
Influential People in Russia
9 –    House
Blocks Arms Sale to Turkey
        Because
of May Attack on Protesters
10-   Montebello
Community to Host ‘Women of 1915’ Screening
11-   Falsely
Incriminated
        Scholar
Sevan Nishanyan
        Escapes
Prison in Turkey 
*******************************************
1 –    Commentary
        Aliyev
Family’s Financial Role
        In Shipping Weapons to
Terrorists
        By Harut Sassounian
        Publisher, The California Courier
        www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
 
Last week I wrote about the
sensational revelations by Bulgarian investigative journalist Dilyana
Gaytandzhieva in Trud newspaper, who reported on leaked documents that Azerbaijan’s
state-run Silk Way Airlines has shipped under diplomatic cover 350 planeloads of
heavy weapons and ammunition to terrorist groups around the world during the
last three years.
A report by Radio Free
Europe’s (RFE) Azeri investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova, who has been
jailed for her disclosures of Azerbaijan
government’s human rights abuses, has revealed in a 2010 report on Pres.
Aliyev’s daughter, Arzu Aliyeva’s part ownership of a company that is linked to
Silk Way Airlines. This fact explains how the airline managed to get all the
diplomatic clearances to ship such large quantities of weapons to terrorists.
It turns out that Silk Way
Airlines belongs to SW Holding, a group of companies that “enjoys a
near-complete monopoly of airline service,” including mid-flight meals served
by Sky Catering, and taxi service run by Airport Gate, both of which are owned
by SW Holding. In addition, technical maintenance of the national carrier’s
planes and helicopters are carried out by Silkway Technics, and “multiple other
companies controlling everything from Traveler assistance to ticket sales to
duty-free stores are all owned by SW Holding,” according to Ismayilova.
SW Holding also owns Silk
Way Bank which is owned by Pres. Aliyev’s then 21-year old Arzu Aliyeva and
Zarifa Hamzayeva, wife of president of Azerbaijan’s AZAL state airline
company, according to RFE’s Azerbaijani Service. Silk Way Airlines is also a
part owner of the Silk Way Bank.
Interestingly, Ismayilova
reports that “the rise of SW Holding, which has seamlessly absorbed many of
AZAL’s former businesses, has raised questions about dubious privatization
practices in Aliyev’s Azerbaijan.
It also serves to underscore how the political elite continues to use close
friends and family members to preserve its hold on the country’s most valuable
assets — despite Azerbaijani laws that list nepotism by state officials as an
offense punishable by up to 12 years in jail.”
Pres. Ilham Aliyev is simply
continuing the practice started by his father Heydar Aliyev, who after ruling Azerbaijan
for two decades passed the Presidential baton to his son. In a constitutional
referendum in 2009, term limits on the President were abolished making Ilham
Aliyev President for Life! Not to take any chances, he recently appointed his
wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, as Vice President, to become his possible successor.
As I had reported earlier,
based on an article in The Washington Post,” Pres. Aliyev’s preteen son,
Heydar, was the legal owner of nine luxury mansions in Dubai purchased for $44 million. President’s
two daughters, Arzu and Leyla, also own property in Dubai. The three children together own
property in Dubai
worth $75 million. Obviously this is not money they earned nor did their
parents! Pres. Aliyev’s annual salary is $230,000. Ismayilova estimates Pres.
Alyev’s wealth to be “in tens of millions of dollars.” This is surely an
underestimate, given the lack of concrete figures. However, just the fact that
Aliyev’s three children own property in Dubai
worth $75 million, Pres. Aliyev’s wealth could be safely estimated to be in the
hundreds of millions of dollars if not in the billions of dollars! Contrary to
Azerbaijani law, neither Pres. Aliyev nor his wife has declared their net
worth.
Under Azerbaijani law,
public officials are prohibited from owning businesses, while family members
are exempt from this restriction, a loophole exploited by the Aliyevs to hide
their earnings in their children’s holdings. Just Arzu Aliyeva’s part ownership
of the Silk Way Bank is worth over $12 million. According to RFE, “presidential
secretary Azer Gasimov confirmed that Arzu Aliyeva was one of the owners of the
Silk Way Bank.”
Gulu Khalilov, the spokesman
for the State Committee on Privatization of State Property, told RFE that he
had no information on the privatization of AZAL, the state airline company, including
its holdings, like AZAL Bank. RFE was told that none of the legal procedures
for privatization were followed.
“In the meantime, SW
Holding has slowly but steadily acquired nearly all of AZAL’s former companies,
including the insurance firm AZAL Sigorta, which is now co-owned by SW Holding
and the two daughters of Jahangir Asgarov, the president of  AZAL and the
husband of Zarifa Hamzayeva, the current co-owner of Silk Way Bank,” according
to Ismayilova. “SW Holding has also been the sole contractor on a number of
high-profile AZAL projects, including airport-construction deals in Lankaran,
Ganja, and Zagatala worth a total of $150 million.”
Pres. Aliyev and his family
must be held responsible as part owners of a state-run airline that ships sophisticated
weapons to terrorists around the world!
*******************************************************************************************************
2 –    Western
Diocese’s Zorayan
Museum
        To
Hold ‘Paint Night’, on August 4
BURBANK,
CA – Here is the opportunity  to discover your talent as an artist.  The Zorayan Museum Committee of the Western
Diocese of the Armenian Church will hold a Paint Night on August 4, from 7:00
to 10:00 p.m.   Guests of all ages are
invited to attend and paint their own masterpiece. 
Guiding them through a step by step process is
the noted Director of Creative Lounge, Armineh Havan, an organization she
established and which was designed to revitalize and cultivate the art within
each of us.  Guests will also enjoy wine
and appetizers, as well as the canvas and all supplies for their painting.
The Zorayan Museum Committee, under the auspices
of Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, has organized exhibitions of famous paintings
by Armenian artists, as well as lectures and theatrical plays in order to
promote and preserve Armenian art, history and culture.  “My congratulations to the  Committee,” stated the Primate, “ for
conducting this event and  affording
guests the opportunity to  express  their own individual artistry.”
Vania Vartzbedian, a member of the Zorayan
Museum Committee, stated “We are excited to hold our first Paint Night and, particularly,
to be guided by Armineh Havan an artist who has received acclaim not only for
her own paintings, but for teaching art in schools.   We anticipate this will be a fun evening for
all who participate.”
Armineh Havan is a certified Person-Centered
Expressive Arts Therapy (PCEAT) facilitator. 
She has a Master of Art degree in Fine Arts, which she completed with
high honors.  Her expressive arts
workshops encourage personal growth and healing for individuals and groups of
both adults and children.  Her expressive
arts workshops have impacted many locally as well as internationally.  Armineh has also conducted workshops for
organizations that support women around the world, including the
Women’s Resource
Center in Yerevan.
Tickets for Paint Night are $40.00, which
includes the canvas and all supplies and wine and appetizers.  For reservations and/or information, call
Vartzbedian (818) 731-5456 or the Western Diocese (818) 558-7474. Checks are
payable to the Western Diocese, (memo-Zorayan
Museum). 
****************************************************************************************************
3 –    Glendale Appoints Elena
Bolbolian as Director
        Of
Innovation, Performance, and Audit Department
GLENDALE, CA – On July 11, the City of Glendale formally announced the appointment
of Elena Bolbolian as Director of the newly created Innovation, Performance and
Audit Department. Ms. Bolbolian has devoted her government service career to Glendale, having first
joined the City as a youth worker in 1993 through the Glendale Youth Alliance’s
youth employment program.
From youth employment, she moved to community
outreach as the Public Education Assistant. She then moved over to serve as an
Analyst to head up a Rental Housing Inspection Program. After successfully
launching the pilot program, she moved to the City’s Redevelopment Agency.
There, she managed the construction of the Trader Joe’s store in Montrose and
several capital projects at the historic Alex Theatre.
She also oversaw the administrative and customer service staff in the Community
Development Department where she consolidated administrative procedures to
build efficiencies in the wake of staff and funding reductions.
In 2015, she was promoted to Deputy Director of
Community Development and currently heads two divisions, Administration and
Neighborhood Services, where she oversees 45 employees with eight direct
reports. Most recently, she helped the code compliance team in eliminating an
inspection backlog and restructured the program to produce more efficient
inspection turnaround times.
Bolbolian attended Glendale schools then went to UCLA, where she
received her BA degree in 2002 followed by her Masters in Public Administration
from CSUN in 2005. She resides in Glendale
with her husband, Arthur and son, Anthony, 7.
“Elena’s immense experience and
contributions will greatly enhance our efforts, and we are honored that she has
agreed to take on the task of continuing to create even more efficiencies that
will benefit Glendale
residents, businesses, and visitors,” said Mayor Gharpetian.
The Department of Innovation, Performance and
Audit will systematically take existing available information and data, and
find ways to innovate City processes and policies. The team will act as
in-house consultants and leverage the work of internal audit to identify areas
in the City that are worth examining.
*******************************************************************************************************
4 –    Armenian-Developed
Code-Teaching App
        Wins
Grand Prize in Facebook’s Competition
MENLO PARK, Calif.—Facebook announced that SoloLearn, a
code-teaching application developed by Armenians, has won this year’s Grand
Prize in its competition recognizing the most successful apps from its global FbStart
 program, reported Tech
Crunch.
SoloLearn is an app for iOS and
Android operating systems and is designed to teach coding to people.
SoloLearn’s CEO and co-founder Davit Kocharyan came up with the idea in Armenia,
where the company’s team is based, to teach coding to the local population.
“The app’s idea is to educate
members through game mechanics, peer-to-peer sharing, and user-generated
content. SoloLearn community members compete in head-to-head challenges and
unlock hidden lessons. It offers 12 free courses, including _javascript_, Swift,
Python, C++, and HTML/CSS,” reported Tech Crunch.
SoloLearn’s CEO and Co-founder,
Yeva Hyusyan, told Tech Crunch that the app had hit two major
milestones—turning into the“friendliest” community of peer learners and
generating lot of user content.
“You get an answer from your
peers in our Q&A forum within minutes; we have over half a million public
codes on SoloLearn today that are used as a great peer-to-peer learning tool;
tens of thousands interactive peer-to-peer challenges are completed daily,” she
told Tech Crunch.
According to numbers listed on
the app SoloLearn has more than 17 million learners, with 1.5 million quizzes
completed daily. Tech Crunch reported that three codes are compiled every
second and more than 1,000 answers are generated every day by users.
Forty precent of SoloLearn’s
users are based in India, 25
percent in the United States
and the remainder are spread across Europe.
The FbStart program provides
developers the chance to win to $100,000 in prizes to help in the business.
Some 900 submissions were made this year from 87 countries.
**********************************************************************************************
5 –    Armenian
Scholar Elected President of the
        International
Association of Genocide Scholars
BRISBANE,
Australia –
Professor Henry C. Theriault was elected President of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) during the organization’s annual
conference becoming the first Armenian to assume the position.
The conference also elected the Dr. Suren
Manukyan, Deputy Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum & Institute in Yerevan as a member of
IAGS’s Advisory Board.
In his nomination statement, Theriault warned of
the threats facing human rights advances due to the dire political climate in
the United States and Europe.
“Genocide studies has been at the forefront of
recent human rights advances. Dire political climates in the US, Europe, and
other areas threaten this progress. Racism, xenophobia, misogyny, etc. pervade
public discourse and drive repressive legal and political regressions the world
over. Genocide’s prevalence even threatens increase,” said Theriault.
“Against this, a vibrant IAGS is essential.
Demagogues attack the sensibilities genocide studies engenders. Our work is a
crucial challenge to their propaganda. IAGS must strive against this
marginalization while innovatively expanding the field, especially creating
space for emerging scholars particularly vulnerable to this backlash,” he
added.
Theriault is a board member of the Armenian Legal Center for Justice and Human Rights and serves
as the Armenian Genocide Reparations Study Group (AGRSG), which was assembled
in 2007 by four experts in different areas of reparations theory and practice.
In September 2014, the group completed its final report, “Resolution with Justice—Reparations for the Armenian Genocide,” a
wide-ranging analysis of the legal, historical, political, and ethical
dimensions of the question of reparations for the genocide. It also includes
specific recommendations for the components of a complete reparations package.
Theriault was most recently Professor in and
Chair of the Philosophy Department at Worcester State
University, where he has
taught since 1998 focusing on courses on genocide, mass violence against women,
and related topics. He has published and lectured widely on his research which
focuses on the relationship of genocide and sexual violence, victim-
perpetrator relations in the long-term aftermath of genocide, genocide
prevention, genocide denial, and reparations. From 1999 to 2007, he coordinated
the University’s Center for the Study of Human Rights.
He earned his B.A. in English from Princeton University
and his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University
of Massachusetts, with
specializations in social and political as well as continental philosophy.
He is co-editor of Genocide Studies
International, a peer-reviewed journal from the University of Toronto Press
and the Zoryan Institute’s International Institute for Genocide and Human
Rights Studies and of Transaction Publishers’ Genocide: A Critical
Bibliographic Review book series.
In 2013, Theriault served as a panelist at the
Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region’s Grassroots Conference, speaking on challenges facing
the Western Armenians, especially with regards to Kurdish and Armenian
relations.
****************************************************************************************************
6 –    State
Panel Approves Freeway Signs For
        Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial
SACRAMENTO – On
July 10, Senator Anthony Portantino’s legislation, SCR 25, which would install
a sign at the Fair Oaks Avenue
exit off Interstate 210 in Pasadena
to direct the public to the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial, passed the
Assembly Transportation Committee with unanimous support.
“I am so excited to see this piece of
legislation moving through the legislature with such overwhelming and
bipartisan support. Installing a freeway sign will help direct visitors to the
memorial, raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide and serve as a reminder
that educating the public about crimes against humanity is an ongoing process and
requires our continuous attention. I look forward to seeing SCR 25 progress and
these signs installed,” commented Portantino.
The Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial was
unveiled in April 2015 in the northeast corner of Memorial Park in Pasadena to honor the
martyrs of the Armenian Genocide.  It was constructed by the nonprofit
Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee with unanimous support from the
Pasadena City Council.  Senator Portantino served on the board of the
nonprofit prior to joining the State Senate.  He was the only non-Armenian
to have served on the Board.
SCR 25 is now headed to Assembly Appropriations
Committee, after which it will move to the Assembly floor for a final vote.
***************************************************************************************************
7 –    Swedish
MPs File
        Genocide
Complaint
        Against
Erdogan
STOCKHOLM,
Sweden (AFP) –
A small group of Swedish lawmakers filed a legal complaint accusing Turkish
president Recep Tayyip Erdogan of genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes.
The complaint signed by five lawmakers from the
Left and Green parties is the first of its kind in Sweden against a head of state.
The suit relates to the conflict in Turkey’s
Kurdish majority south-east, which has been battered by renewed fighting
between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces since a fragile truce
collapsed in 2015.
“We are five lawmakers handing in a complaint…
(requesting) punishment for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes,”
Annika Lillemets, an MP for the Green party, told a news conference in Stockholm.
The complaint, filed to the Swedish
International Public Prosecution Offices, names Erdogan and several ministers
including Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
A Swedish law adopted in 2014 allows the
country’s courts to judge cases of alleged crimes against humanity regardless
of where they have been committed or by whom.
The law stipulates that “anyone, who in order to
completely or partially destroy a national or ethnic group of people” kills, causes
serious pain or injury is “guilty of genocide”.
The Public Prosecution Offices said it would now
decide whether to initiate a preliminary investigation, adding that “it may
take a while”.
If prosecutors decide to launch an
investigation, Erdogan could risk an arrest warrant in Sweden, the
lawmakers said.
*****************************************************************************************************
8 –    4
Armenians Listed Among 150
        Most
Influential People in Russia
YEREVAN (News.am)
– Four Armenians are included in the list of 150 most influential people in Russia
issued by GQ Russia magazine.
The list includes TV host Sati Spivakova – the
wife of famous Russian conductor and violinist Vladimir Spivakov, restaurant
owner Alexander Oganezov as well as Aram Mnatsakanov, the owner of Probka
restaurant group.
The fourth Armenian in the list is businessman
Ruben Vardanyan – CEO of Troika Dialog,
philanthropist and founder of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.
*****************************************************************************************************
9 –    House  Blocks Arms Sale
to Turkey
        Because
of May Attack on Protesters
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part
of H.R. 2810, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018,
Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Representative Dave Trott’s (R-MI) amendment on a
proposed gun sale to Turkey
was adopted as part of the overall bill.
The amendment stated: “It is the sense of
Congress that the proposed sale of semiautomatic handguns for export to Turkey
should remain under scrutiny until a satisfactory and appropriate resolution is
reached,” in light of the Turkish security guards attack against peaceful
protesters in our nation’s capital.
“Over the past few months, we’ve seen our
NATO allies take extraordinary steps against Turkey, and it’s time for the State
Department to do the same. We need to block this arms sale and once and for all
point a finger in Erdogan’s chest and tell him that a strategic location does
not place Turkey
above the law,” Rep. Trott said. “Just two months ago, Erdogan’s
henchmen, with him complacently observing just feet away, launched a brutal
attack on peaceful protestors exercising their first amendment rights. A
notorious oppressor of basic human rights and freedom, Erdogan imported his
nefarious attitudes to our nation’s capital. While Erdogan’s thugs may run
unchecked in Ankara, this is the United States of America
and this is totally unacceptable,” he added.
The amendment builds on the unanimous passage
last month of H. Res. 354, which condemned the violence that took place outside
the Turkish Ambassador’s residence on May 16 and called on the perpetrators to
be brought to justice under U.S.
law.
Both the Armenian National Committee of America
and the Armenian Assembly hailed the passage of the amendment and commended the
US
legislators.
**************************************************************************************************
10-   Montebello Community to
Host ‘Women of 1915’ Screening
MONTEBELLO, Calif.—Armenoid
Productions announced the Montebello Premiere of the multi-award-winning
documentary film, Women of 1915. The red-carpet event is sponsored by the
Armenian Nation Committee of America- San Gabriel Valley Chapter in
collaboration with Armenian Relief Society – Western USA,
Ani & Nairy Chapters. The event is scheduled at the Montebello Armenian
Center, on July 27 at 7
p.m.
A limited number of seats to the Montebello premiere of
Women of 1915 are available and may be purchased online or by calling
818-939-9282.
With much anticipation, four-time regional Emmy
award winning filmmaker Bared Maronian’s documentary film, Women of 1915, is
the first documentary ever to unveil the role of the Armenian women of the era who
lived through the horrors of the first Genocide of the 20th century. The
documentary also highlights the integral role of heroic American and European
humanitarian women advocates who flocked into the killing fields of the
Armenian Genocide and saved tens of thousands of lives, empowering the Armenian
women as pillars of war-torn, post-Genocide societies.
“We’ve shown the film literally around the
world: All the way from Australia
to France, the U.K.,
many Canadian and American cities, where we have received rave reviews in local
main stream publications. Soon we will be screening the film in Argentina, Brazil
and Uruguay.
I’m thrilled that on July 27, we are bringing this important film to the Montebello community and
very grateful to the local ARS and ANCA for sponsoring this event.” said
Maronian.
Women of 1915 is the winner of the 2016 Golden
Pom Award and 2016 Best Documentary Award at the Pomegranate Film Festival of
Toronto, Canada and the 2016 Armin T. Wegener Humanitarian Award Winner at the
ARPA Film Festival of Hollywood, California.
“I’m very thankful to the Montebello community for this opportunity. It
will be a beautiful event: elegant red-carpet reception, screening of the film
on a giant, state of the art projection system, followed by a Q & A with
the filmmaker” said event organizing committee chair, Nayiri Attarian.
“it’s true that Women of 1915 deals with an
Armenian story, but in reality, it is an American story, a European story, a
human story and that’s why a good portion of our audience has been
non-Armenian. So please, invite your friends and neighbors to see Women of 1915
with you. After all, it was their grandmothers who saved Armenian lives”,
concluded Maronian.
The event will take place at the Montebello Armenian Center:
410 Washington Blvd.,
Montebello, CA
90640. Doors open at
6:30pm, red carpet reception starts at 7 p.m., movie starts at 8 p.m. followed
by a Q&A session. For more information on the Women of 1915 Montebello
Premiere, contact 818-939-9282 or [email protected]
To get your tickets today, click – itsmyseat.com/womenof1915.
********************************************************************************************************
11 – Falsely Incriminated
        Scholar
Sevan Nishanyan
        Escapes
Prison in Turkey 
YEREVAN (Armenpress)
– Istanbul-based ethnic Armenian scholar and linguist Sevan Nishanyan, who has
been serving a 17-year prison term since 2014 in Turkey, has escaped from the
correctional facility, Turkish media reported. 
Nishanyan exited the minimum security (open
regime) prison in the morning of July 14 and hasn’t returned. 
A tweet later appeared on his Facebook and
Twitter accounts, saying: “The bird flew away: Same wishes to the remaining 80
million”. 
Turkish historian and scholar Taner Akcam, a
strong supporter of the Armenian Genocide recognition, reacted to Nishanyan’s
tweet by saying: “Sevan Nishanyan has escaped by saying “the bird flew away”.
With expectations of a free world for all birds….,” he said. 
Nishanyan was arrested and imprisoned in Turkey
for carrying out “illegal” construction in his own garden. 
Even Turkish media said the arrest was an
obvious framing by Turkish authorities, because Nishanyan has publicly
criticized Turkey’s
government’s mistakes. 
Numerous activities and individuals have called
for his release, saying that the true reason of his arrest is the fact that he
dared to criticize the official history of Turkey
by writing the “False
Republic” book. 
********************************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************************
California Courier Online provides viewers of
the Armenian News News Service with a few of the articles in this week’s issue of The
California Courier.  Letters to the
editor are encouraged through our e-mail address, [email protected]. However,
authors are requested to provide their names, addresses, and/or telephone
numbers to verify identity, if any question arises. California Courier
subscribers are requested not to use this service to change, or modify mailing
addresses. Those changes can be made through our e-mail, , or by
phone, (818) 409-0949.
******************************************************************************************************
 
 

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 07/17/2017

Emil Lazarian 
                                        Monday, 
Sarkisian Still Vague On Political Future
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisan has lunch with soldiers at a
military base in Tavush province, 13Jul2017.
President Serzh Sarkisian has again declined to shed light on his
political future, claiming that "it doesn't matter" who will be
Armenia's prime minister after he completes his final term next April.
In an interview with the Armenia TV channel aired late on Sunday,
Sarkisian did not rule out the possibility of becoming prime minister
after the country's transformation into a parliamentary republic,
which will also happen in April 2018. He at the same time praised
Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's economic policies.
Asked whether he plans to take up Karapetian's post, Sarkisian said:
"I have repeatedly said and I have said it frankly # that I have never
thought about what my next area of activity will be. I continue to
think in the same way. There is still a lot of time [left before April
2018.]"
"But does it really matter? It doesn't, right? Our county now has a
parliamentary system of government. Who has the parliamentary majority
will nominate the prime minister," he went on, referring to the ruling
Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) headed by him.
"Of course a lot depends on individuals. But Armenia no longer has a
person-centered government, and I think our people deserve credit for
that," added the president, who turned 63 on June 30.
Most Armenian observers do not expect Sarkisian to leave the political
arena after the end of his decade-long presidency. Some of them say he
will likely become prime minister. Others believe that he will hold
the reins of power in another capacity, including as chairman of the
HHK, which won parliamentary elections held in April 2016.
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian and Prime Minister Karen
Karapetian arrive for a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, 29Jun2017.
A former business executive appointed as prime minister last
September, Karapetian has repeatedly indicated his desire to retain
his post next year. In recent weeks some Armenian media outlets have
been rife with speculation about a rift between Karapetian and
Sarkisian.
Sarkisian dismissed those claims as "untrue" on June 6. He stated on
June 29 that Karapetian's government continues to enjoy his "full
trust."
In his latest televised remarks, the president praised the
government's efforts to speed up economic growth in Armenia by
improving the business environment and attracting large-scale
investments promised by Karapetian.
"I do see positive changes in our economy," he said. "I see
possibilities for an increase in investments, a substantial
increase. This is very important to me. Processes matter to me and
processes are on a positive track."
Sarkisian said vaguely in March that he would like to "play a role, in
some capacity, in ensuring the security of our people" after April
2018. He wore a military uniform when he spoke to Armenia TV in the
northern Tavush province bordering Azerbaijan. He inspected Armenian
troops deployed there hours before the interview.
Armenia Seeks More Russian Arms Supplies
 . Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - The Armenian military demonstrates a Russian-made Tochka
missile during a parade in Yerevan, 21Sep2016.
Armenia is discussing with Russia the possibility of obtaining another
loan which it would spend on buying Russian weapons, Finance Minister
Vartan Aramian revealed on Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference, Aramian declined to specify the amount
of the Russian loan sought by the Armenian government. He said only
that Russian-Armenian talks on the issue began earlier this year.
Two years ago Russia already lent Armenia $200 million for arms
acquisitions from Russian manufacturers. The Russian government
subsequently publicized a long list of items which the Armenian side
is allowed to buy with that money. It includes, among other things,
Smerch multiple-launch rocket system, TOS-1A heavy flamethrowers,
anti-tank weapons and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.
The Armenian military demonstrated Smerch systems as well as several
other new weapons at a September 2016 parade in Yerevan.
According to Aramian, the Armenian government has already spent $170
million of the low-interest loan. He confirmed that the arms supplies
financed from the loan are carried out at internal Russian prices that
are set well below international market-based levels. Armenia is
entitled to such discounts because of its military alliance with
Russia.
Armenia - The Armenian army demonstrates Buk air-defense systems
recently acquired from Russia as well as S-300 surface-to-air missiles
during a parade in Yerevan, 21Sep2016.
The close alliance has not prevented Moscow from selling billions of
dollars worth of heavy weapons to Azerbaijan in the past several
years. Russian arms sales to Baku continued even after unusually
strong criticism voiced by Armenian leaders following the April 2016
fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In televised comments aired over the weekend, President Serzh
Sarkisian reiterated Yerevan's discontent with the Russian-Azerbaijani
arms dealings while seemingly downplaying their impact on the military
balance in the Karabakh conflict.
"Nothing serious has happened yet," he told the Armenia TV
channel. "If there are serious consequences at some point we could be
able to accuse [the Russians.] If there are no serious consequences,
we will regard that as the Russian side's long-term political effort
to stabilize the situation in the region."
Sarkisian also dismissed as "extremely dangerous" some Armenian
politicians' and pundits' calls for his administration to revise
Armenia's close ties with Russia because of the Russian-Azerbaijani
defense cooperation. "When you say `revise,' with whom do you want a
rapprochement?" he said. "With [NATO member] Turkey? And is everyone
in NATO waiting with open arms for Armenia to come to them?"
School Chiefs Drop Post-Election Lawsuit Against Civic Group
 . Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Children wave the ruling Republican Party's flags at an
election campaign rally in Aragatsotn province, 20Mar2017.
The directors of 30 public schools and kindergartens have dropped
their controversial lawsuit against an Armenian civic group that
tricked them into confessing that they are campaigning for the ruling
Republican Party (HHK) in parliamentary elections.
The Union of Informed Citizens (UIC) revealed in the run-up to the
April 2 elections that its activists posing as HHK representatives
telephoned 136 schools and kindergarten chiefs across Armenia. It said
114 of them admitted drawing up lists of children's parents as well as
schoolteachers and kindergarten staff who pledged to vote for the HHK.
The UIC said the lists were submitted to local government bodies or
HHK campaign offices. It also publicized audio of those phone
conversations.
Armenian opposition forces portrayed the revelations as further proof
of their allegations of HHK foul play in the parliamentary race.
The HHK admitted that many school principals participated in its
election campaign. But it claimed that they did so "beyond their work
hours and work duties." The party headed by President Serzh Sarkisian
also denied that they illegally pressurized their staffs and
children's parents.
Shortly after the elections, 30 principals filed a libel suit against
the UIT and one of its leaders, Daniel Ioannisian. They demanded a
formal apology and a total of 60 million drams ($124,000) in damages
for the information which they said compromised their "honor and
dignity."
The legal action was strongly criticized by the Armenian opposition
and civil society. The HHK defended it, however.
A lawyer for plaintiffs, Harutiun Harutiunian, said on Monday that
they decided to withdraw the lawsuit after one of them, Susan
Galstian, publicly urged her colleagues to be "forgiving" towards
Ioannisian's group. The announcement coincided with the first court
hearing in the high-profile civil case. Neither the plaintiffs nor
their lawyers were present in the courtroom.
Ioannisian suggested that the principals' latest decision was ordered
by the HHK leadership. "Our revelations amounted to an accusation of
abuse of administrative resources addressed to the HHK, and it was the
HHK, not the school directors, who had a problem with those
revelations," he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
But one of the plaintiffs, who runs a kindergarten in Yerevan, denied
that. "It was my personal decision," claimed Naira Gevorgian. "I was
angry with [Ioannisian's] actions at that moment but have now forgiven
him," she said.
In their final election report released last week, observers from the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mentioned the UIC
recordings in the context of "credible information about vote-buying,
and pressure on civil servants and employees of private companies."
First Anniversary Of Yerevan Police Attack Marked
 . Sargis Harutyunyan
 . Artak Hambardzumian
Armenia - Flowers are laid at a memorial in Yerevan to police officers
killed during a July 2016 standoff with opposition gunmen, 17Jul2017.
The Armenian police marked on Monday the first anniversary of an armed
attack on one of their bases in Yerevan, unveiling a memorial to three
police officers killed during a two-week standoff with members of a
radical opposition group.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people rallied in the Armenian capital in a
show of solidarity with the arrested gunmen, some of whom went on
trial last month.
The 30 or so gunmen seized the police base in Yerevan's southern
Erebuni district and took several police officers hostage on July 17,
2016. They demanded President Serzh Sarkisian's resignation and the
release of Zhirayr Sefilian, the jailed leader of their Founding
Parliament movement.
Sefilian was arrested on June 20, 2016 for allegedly plotting an armed
revolt against the government. He is currently standing a separate
trial on charges which he rejects as politically motivated.
Security forces avoided storming the Erebuni facility during the
standoff, which also sparked anti-government demonstrations by
thousands of people. Instead, they shot and wounded some of the armed
oppositionists. The 20 remaining gunmen holed up in the compound
surrendered to the authorities on July 31, hours after freeing medics
who were also held hostage in the besieged compound.
The trial of the 18 key members and supporters of the armed group,
which called itself "Sasna Tsrer" (Daredevils of Sasun), began on June
8. The defendants are facing a wide range of charges, including
illegal seizure of government buildings and weapons and hostage
taking.
Two of them also stand accused of murdering the three police
officers. They deny the accusations.
The memorial to the slain policemen -- Colonel Artur Vanoyan and
Warrant Officers Gagik Mkrtchian and Yuri Tepanosian -- was unveiled
inside the Erebuni base at a ceremony attended by their colleagues and
relatives. The chief of the national police service, Vladimir
Gasparian, was also in attendance. Gasparian refused to talk to
reporters after laying flowers there.
Valeri Osipian, a deputy chief of Yerevan's police department who was
held hostage in the sprawling compound for several days, also declined
a comment. "Excuse me but I would like to stay silent today," Osipian
told journalists.
Armenia - People demonstrate in support of opposition gunmen who
seized a police station in Yerevan in July 2016, 17Jul2017.
The attack anniversary was also marked by hundreds of radical
opposition supporters who gathered in Yerevan's Liberty Square later
in the day. They marched through the city center, holding pictures of
some of the arrested oppositionists and chanting "Sasna Tsrer!" and
"Death to the regime!"
Among the protesters was Zaruhi Postanjian, the outspoken leader of
the opposition Yerkir Tsirani party. She said the Erebuni gunmen are
"heroes" who took the first step towards the creation of a "free and
independent Armenia."
"The current regime is as dangerous as our external enemy," Postanjian
told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) during the march.
Eduard Sharmazanov, the spokesman for the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK), denounced the Erebuni attack as a "terrorist act,"
however. "For me, attacks on our state borders and the police regiment
[in Erebuni] have the same gravity," he said. "Not to mention the
killing of Armenian officers. That is unacceptable and condemnable."
Davit Sanasarian, an opposition activist who actively participated in
July 2016 rallies in Yerevan, rejected Sharmazanov's
characterization. "This cannot be regarded as terrorism in any way
because terrorism is a process of mass murders and mass intimidation,"
Sanasarian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "Quite the
opposite happened [after the seizure of the Erebuni police facility.]
People turned out and applauded the rebels."
Zhanna Aleksanian, a human rights activist, agreed. "The Sasna Tsrer
probably wanted to wake up the people, to make them rise up. What they
tried to do was an uprising," she said, accusing the authorities of
unleashing "mass repressions" against the gunmen's supporters during
the July 2016 standoff.
Armenia - A general view of Erebuni police station seized by gunmen
and supporters of fringe jailed opposition leader Zhirair Sefilian, in
Yerevan, July 30, 2016
Aleksanian also said that the radical oppositionists opted for armed
struggle because regime change through elections is impossible in
Armenia due to chronic electoral fraud.
Sharmazanov dismissed that argument, saying that parliamentary
elections held in Armenia in April were not followed by customary
opposition demonstrations against alleged vote rigging. "We don't need
upheavals," he added. "We need a strong Armenia. A strong Armenia
cannot be created by fratricide."
The United States condemned the Erebuni attack, while urging the
authorities in Yerevan to exercise "appropriate restraint." The
European Union likewise said during the standoff that "the use of
force to achieve political change is unacceptable."
Press Review
(Saturday, July 15)
Lragir.am says that the April 2016 war in Nagorno-Karabakh only
intensified the Armenian-Azerbaijani arms race. The online publication
says that the four-day hostilities also reduced chances of a peaceful
resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
"Hraparak" reports that Russia has stopped recognizing driver licenses
issued by Armenia and other foreign countries. A law passed by the
State Duma stipulates that only citizens of those countries where the
Russian language has an official status can use their driver licenses
in Russia. "It is not clear what the Russian language has to do with
driving," writes the paper. "What is clear is that they are forcing us
to recognize Russian as a state language and allow greater use of
Russian," comments the paper. "How to stop this Russian attack to
which there is no end in sight? After all, disadvantages of being
within the Russian orbit are big while advantages insignificant."
"Haykakan Zhamanak" quotes an Armenian driver working in Russia as
complaining that the Armenian authorities are doing nothing to support
people like him gravely affected by the latest Russian ban. "Don't
they understand that we send money earned here to Armenia?" he says.
"Aravot" carries front-page photographs highlighting the poor state of
public transportation in Armenia. "During campaigning for the [May 14]
mayoral elections, the municipal authorities were promising to put in
place a new transport system meeting European standards," writes the
paper. "For this purpose city officials have already taken concrete
measures: they have attracted new loans. As much as 800,000 euros
($900,000) has been paid to international experts to look into the
transport network and give advice. Two months after the municipal
elections, no practical steps in that direction have been taken
yet. It remains unclear when we will get rid of overcrowded and
unhealthy minivans."
(Tatevik Lazarian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

Angela Sahakyan was hosted by the RA Ministry of Diaspora

Emil Lazarian 
Please find the attached press release of the Ministry of Diaspora.
Sincerely,
Media and PR Department:
( 374 10) 585601, internal 805
----------------------
Sincerely
Department of Press and Public Relations
( 374 10) 585601, extension 805



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Cinema: Give Andy Serkis an Oscar Nomination Already

Hovik Karapetian
Daily Beast

July 13 2017
MARLOW STERN

Forty-five minutes late, and surrounded by minders—who are frantically negotiating their vehicle through Manhattan rush-hour traffic to its next destination—Andy Serkis is in the throes of a press tour that’s just taken him to the couch of Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show, where he tantalized the Tolkien fanboy with his readings of President Donald Trump’s early-morning rage-tweets in the voice of Gollum, and the following day will see him teach correspondent Sara Haines some dance moves on the set of Good Morning America.

He is, at 53, more in demand than ever before, having just wrapped Black Panther and Star Wars: The Last Jedi whilst putting the finishing touches on his ambitious directorial debut, The Jungle Book. And he is such an unrelenting force of nature that, when he recently told The Guardian he has sex “four, five times a day,” the internet actually believed him (for the record, he was just taking the piss).

Serkis is busy promoting War for the Planet of the Apes, the dramatic conclusion to this century’s most underrated blockbuster film franchise—one that’s seen him embody the character of Caesar, an ape imbued with human-like intelligence, from infancy to old age. It is a stunning achievement, even eclipsing his iconic motion capture turn as the aforementioned fiend in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and one that deserves serious awards consideration.

In director Matt Reeves’ War, Caesar and his clan of apes have been locked in a seemingly never-ending battle with the humans in the two years since the events of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. When Caesar learns that a battalion of reinforcements is coming to help the humans eliminate the apes once and for all, he plans to lead his fellow simians on a journey across the desert to start a new civilization. But his plans are dashed when a war-hungry Colonel (Woody Harrelson, excellent) murders Caesar’s wife and eldest son, sending him off on a mission of revenge. 

The Daily Beast spoke to Serkis about his triumphant turn as Caesar and the evolution of motion capture.

In War for the Planet of the Apes we are treated to a more hardened, battle-tested Caesar.

He is a leader during a time of war that’s trying to ensure the survival of his species, but he’s still holding on to the hope that he can find a peaceful solution to the conflict—until the events that happen in the beginning of the movie that spiral him off on a journey of revenge and hatred. And were it not for the people around him, his soul would be lost forever. For me, it was a very personal journey, actually, because Caesar has become more human-like, so his emotional responses are much more aligned to me. I wanted to put myself in the position of Caesar and draw from that. Going from this empathetic leader to this character who is literally torn apart was a huge challenge.

Caesar has ascended to Biblical status in War. There are scenes of him leading his apes across the land like Moses, as well as ones of him tortured and tied to a cross.

We fully intended him to be, for this sake of the journey, the making of the legend of Caesar. If an ape civilization were to be created, you could point to this figure as the seminal figure who brought about their coming into being. Matt Reeves always intended to have the scope and scale of a 1950s Biblical epic—combined with a war movie. And he modeled it after films like Ben-Hurand The Ten Commandments.

You’ve shepherded this character from infancy to adulthood. What was the biggest obstacle in War when it comes to embodying this ever-evolving character?

It was about bringing him as close to evolving to humanity as possible without overstepping the mark. That was the big challenge. From his speech to connecting to his emotions, it was always walking on a tightrope. And for me, as an actor, it was holding the audience’s hand and saying, “See the world through Caesar’s eyes, and I’ll be your guide.” But we couldn’t cross over the line to where he was too human and therefore unbelievable. Matt Reeves and I worked tirelessly on the way Caesar communicates and expresses, and I think the scenes with the Colonel were some of the biggest challenges. It’s such a fascinating meeting, coming face to face with the man responsible for the death of his loved ones, and yet finding a fascination in him—and therefore an understanding. Once he begins to unfold the story of his personal loss, and his personal sacrifice, it meant that Caesar could not let go entirely of his hatred for him, but begin to understand him.

The humans are of course the villains here, and fear of the other seems to be a running theme in these Apes films, which are awash with social commentary.

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It’s in their DNA and always was, from the original onwards. Obviously they were dealing more contextually with the Civil Rights Movement in the earlier movies, but they’ve always connected to the zeitgeist. When this film was written, which was two and a half years ago, it was way before current political events were beginning to unfold. But like all good sci-fi, it plugs into the ether and is prophetic in that way. The atmosphere was ripe for talking about a world that was careening towards the demise of empathy, where we’re disabled from feeling or sensing equality with other cultures, people, species, the planet. It’s very much a push to the far-right, fundamentalist, Darwinian survival of the fittest mentality that we find ourselves in. That’s what Matt wanted to get at.

In War for the Planet of the Apes, Woody Harrelson’s villainous Colonel attempts to erect a giant wall to protect his soldiers from an oncoming attack, and forces enslaved apes to build it.

The film is not topical in the Saturday Night Live sense. The wall that’s talked about in the movie, we were not aware that Trump was going to come up with that. But it’s just in the ether—that sense of putting up a barrier between ‘us’ and ‘them.’ If you watched this film in ten years, you wouldn’t think it was about Trump or Syria. Hopefully, it would be about what’s going on at the time.

Has motion capture acting made you more in tune with your body? And has it made you a better actor?

I think I was always a physical actor. As you probably know, actors have different ways of finding a root into a character, and for me, physicality—and linking physicality to psychology—has always been important. When a character carries their pain, do they have tension in their shoulders? If there’s anger, where does that come from? Is it from the heart? Is it from the head? When performance capture came along, it fit like a glove for me. That said, what performance capture does is it allows you to play the character very internally, too. It’s not just physical activity, but how you place your energy. When you’re working with this technology, you are both puppeteer and marionette at the same time, so you become very attuned to the subtleties. In the rehearsal periods, you can see on a monitor—that’s almost like a magic mirror—that the suit with the dots on it drives a real-time image of the character, so you can very subtly understand what your shifts in posture and movements can do to a character. And that’s how you learn to drive the puppet, if you like. You become acutely aware of the physicality in that sense.

How would you compare the experience of playing Caesar to, say, Gollum? And how has motion capture evolved in those 17 years?

This is a combination of things. The cameras are now placed 360-degrees around the set and have all become more robust, allowing us to shoot in real locations—out in the wild, in snow, etc. But the essence of performance capture acting hasn’t changed that much over the last 17 years. Rise was a very domestic film that mostly took place in the home or a laboratory, and with Dawn and now War we’ve gone much further afield—into the woods, into the wild. Since Gollum, we’ve worked with Weta closely for 17 years, so they now how my face works—every muscle twitch, every _expression_, every flicker of my eyelids. Those have been scanned and analyzed time and again, and there’s a team of artists who have grown to know how to interpret the performance that we shoot on the day. The rendering is so extraordinary.

Have you spoken with members of The Academy and noticed a sea change when it comes to the perception of motion capture? Because it’s about time these performances start getting some awards recognition.

I’ve always maintained that acting is acting, and there is no difference between putting on a costume and makeup and playing the role or just playing the role and having a digital mask placed on something you do afterwards. If you go back to the original films, they wore prosthetic makeup and that was the way of doing it then. This is the 21st century version of that. But the acting is the same. I’ve always maintained that there shouldn’t be any special category or a different way of approaching it. The visual effects awarding bodies will award the great work that the visual effects companies do, and I think the acting branches need to really get behind understanding what performance capture is, which is acting. It is changing. As more A-list actors play performance capture roles, the perception is changing, but I think it’s important to be fully understood for what it is. That has changed a lot, but it has a ways to go still.

Your character Ulysses Klaue featured quite prominently in the first Black Panther trailer. How would you define Klaue’s role in the film, and what would you say sets Black Panther apart from the rest of the films in the MCU?

It’s a great character. I think it’s gonna be an extraordinary film. I don’t want to discuss it much, since it’s such a long ways out. As you can tell from the trailer, it has huge vision. Ryan Coogler is one of the coolest directors, and the performances I was witnessing around me were absolutely extraordinary.

Are we likely to see more of Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: The Last Jedi than we did in The Force Awakens?

You are likely to see more of Snoke, yes.

And in addition to all these projects, you also are putting the finishing touches on your directorial debut, Jungle Book. 

Jungle Book is coming along really well. That’s going to be coming out next year, and it is, as we always intended, a darker version of the story—a PG-13 that is much closer to the tone of Rudyard Kipling’s book. It’s been a crazy year.

Serkis’ father is an Iraqi-born gynecologist of Armenian descent. He was primarily raised in the U.K. by his mother while his father worked abroad in various parts of the Middle East.

In an old profile, you said that you were “much drawn to the karmic possibilities of energy transference.” How does that apply to acting—embodying these different characters?

I seem to gravitate towards roles and projects that center on the notion of being an outsider. That really comes from my roots: my father being born and brought up in the Middle East and my mother from England, and me having a childhood that was partially in the Middle East and partially in England. I suppose I’m drawn to projects and characters that have something about the outsider in them. But I do believe in putting out good energy, and then hopefully receiving good energy. I hold that as a central belief.