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Boston Globe, MA
Feb 4 2006
Documentarian bands with rockers to target genocide
Armenian ties drew Garapedian to System of a Down
By Sarah Rodman, Globe Staff | February 4, 2007
Carla Garapedian recognizes the irony of her initial reaction to the
music of System of a Down.
"To me it just sounded like they were screaming," she says of the
multiplatinum band's heavy-duty rock.
But the former BBC anchor and documentary filmmaker is a fan of
raised voices. Her new film "Screamers," which opens Friday, is about
just that, people speaking up.
Having tackled tough issues in award-winning films such as "Beneath
the Veil," which profiled women in Afghanistan, and "Iran
Undercover," about that country's student movement, Garapedian found
common ground with the politically outspoken members of System of a
Down. In fact, the quartet and the filmmaker, all Armenian-Americans
from Los Angeles, had been screaming about the same issue for several
years: getting the United States and world governments to officially
recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915. Beyond that first listen,
Garapedian realized that the band would be the perfect vehicle to
drive this long-gestating project.
For "Screamers," Garapedian followed System of a Down on its 2005
European and US concert tours as the band played music and spread its
message. The musicians also visited with survivors, including lead
singer Serj Tankian's grandfather, and lobbied then-House Speaker
Dennis Hastert to allow a vote on a resolution that calls for the US
government to recognize the atrocities committed in 1915. (The
Turkish government attributes the deaths to famine, disease, and
internecine fighting during World War I.)
Beyond that, the band members' and Garapedian's common goal with the
film is to shine a light on the more recent and current genocides
occurring around the globe in places such as Rwanda and Darfur.
Garapedian interviewed authors, politicians , and historians,
including Henry Morgenthau III, whose grandfather was US ambassador
to Turkey at the time and bore witness to the massacres, and Pulitzer
Prize-winning Harvard professor Samantha Power , who authored the
2002 book "A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide."
Garapedian stopped by the Globe offices recently to discuss the film.
Power will also host a screening at Harvard's Kennedy School of
Government tomorrow night at 6:30. The director, Power , and others
will participate in a panel discussion afterward.
Q So you discovered that you grew up in the same area of Los Angeles
as the band members but didn't know them?
A Yes, in fact my mother taught in the public school a block away
from where [three of the band members] went to school. In a way ,
that's why it was easy to work with them even though the rock world
is so alien to me with the groupies, the entourage, and the politics
of how things are. But because they were Armenians they treated me
like a relative : "Carla's a nice Armenian girl and we're nice
Armenian boys. We want to look after her." That made it a pleasant
experience.
Q How did you become familiar enough with the band to know you wanted
to use them for the film? And are you a fan of the music now?
A Yes. [System of a Down has ] held three concerts on Armenian
Commemoration Day in Los Angeles. The first one was in 2003, I went
to one in 2004 , and then I filmed the one in 2005. They encourage
human-rights organizations to set up tables outside the concert area.
I was sitting at a table called the Armenian Film Foundation with my
little pamphlets not really knowing the music at all , and what
impressed me was the fans coming up to the table, kids who were like
15, 16, 17 years old and a lot of them already knew about the
Armenian genocide and other genocides because the band's message is
to recognize all genocide and that they are all linked.
These fans had been politicized and I didn't know if they were fans
who were naturally political who were attracted to the band or
whether it was the other way around, but I was really shocked. And
they represented every social group, ethnic group in Los Angeles. I
thought, "My God, they're reaching out to a generation of young
people. Maybe that's something I can work with." Because how do you
tell the story of genocide in the last century that will reach out to
people and not turn them off?
And meeting the band and Serj Tankian made me realize that he was
very much about educating people. And he said, "If you make a film
about the denial of all genocides, then count me in. If you make it
just about the history of the Armenian genocide , that's not enough
for me because it's about the denial of all genocide." So we were
very much on the same page and that's what began it.
Q There are some very disturbing images in the film of everything
from the corpses of children in the Holocaust to video of attacks in
Rwanda.
A It's upsetting when you're seeing it but I was looking for that.
It's to access our outrage. We say "never again" but we have allowed
genocides to happen consistently since the Holocaust. And the
Armenian genocide happened before the Holocaust. I thought it was
very important to show children in each of the genocides because
that's really what genocide's about, it's about killing everybody or
going after everybody.
Q What do you hope people do when they see the film?
A What I would like to have happen is that people who see the film,
at the very least, access their emotions and their outrage. And at
the other side of it feel that they can actually do something to stop
genocide.
On Jan. 19, two weeks after our initial interview, Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, who is featured in "Screamers," was shot to
death outside the offices of the Agos newspaper in Istanbul. Dink was
editor of the bilingual newspaper and after writing about the
genocide of the Ottoman Armenians had been charged under Turkish
penal code 301 for "insulting Turkish identity." We called to follow
up with Garapedian, who last saw Dink at the "Screamers" premiere in
LA this past November.
Q How disturbing is this, not just on a personal level, but on a
symbolic level?
A I think because the film is called "Screamers," the obvious
parallel is to say Hrant Dink was a screamer and look what happened
to him. Unfortunately we have to do what we have to do. We make
choices in our lives. He said to me, "If I go to prison I'll struggle
in prison. If I'm out of prison, I'll continue the struggle. This is
who I am and this is what I'm going to do." And I think that goes for
all of us.
The band is going to do its music and I'm going to continue the
national release of this film. People of good conscience just have to
keep doing what they're doing and keep screaming, because we do have
a genocide going on now [in Darfur]. It's not just this little crisis
going on in a little place somewhere in Africa that nobody cares
about. It is actually a genocide going on now, so we have to scream,
it's our responsibility to scream.
Feb 4 2006
Documentarian bands with rockers to target genocide
Armenian ties drew Garapedian to System of a Down
By Sarah Rodman, Globe Staff | February 4, 2007
Carla Garapedian recognizes the irony of her initial reaction to the
music of System of a Down.
"To me it just sounded like they were screaming," she says of the
multiplatinum band's heavy-duty rock.
But the former BBC anchor and documentary filmmaker is a fan of
raised voices. Her new film "Screamers," which opens Friday, is about
just that, people speaking up.
Having tackled tough issues in award-winning films such as "Beneath
the Veil," which profiled women in Afghanistan, and "Iran
Undercover," about that country's student movement, Garapedian found
common ground with the politically outspoken members of System of a
Down. In fact, the quartet and the filmmaker, all Armenian-Americans
from Los Angeles, had been screaming about the same issue for several
years: getting the United States and world governments to officially
recognize the Armenian genocide of 1915. Beyond that first listen,
Garapedian realized that the band would be the perfect vehicle to
drive this long-gestating project.
For "Screamers," Garapedian followed System of a Down on its 2005
European and US concert tours as the band played music and spread its
message. The musicians also visited with survivors, including lead
singer Serj Tankian's grandfather, and lobbied then-House Speaker
Dennis Hastert to allow a vote on a resolution that calls for the US
government to recognize the atrocities committed in 1915. (The
Turkish government attributes the deaths to famine, disease, and
internecine fighting during World War I.)
Beyond that, the band members' and Garapedian's common goal with the
film is to shine a light on the more recent and current genocides
occurring around the globe in places such as Rwanda and Darfur.
Garapedian interviewed authors, politicians , and historians,
including Henry Morgenthau III, whose grandfather was US ambassador
to Turkey at the time and bore witness to the massacres, and Pulitzer
Prize-winning Harvard professor Samantha Power , who authored the
2002 book "A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide."
Garapedian stopped by the Globe offices recently to discuss the film.
Power will also host a screening at Harvard's Kennedy School of
Government tomorrow night at 6:30. The director, Power , and others
will participate in a panel discussion afterward.
Q So you discovered that you grew up in the same area of Los Angeles
as the band members but didn't know them?
A Yes, in fact my mother taught in the public school a block away
from where [three of the band members] went to school. In a way ,
that's why it was easy to work with them even though the rock world
is so alien to me with the groupies, the entourage, and the politics
of how things are. But because they were Armenians they treated me
like a relative : "Carla's a nice Armenian girl and we're nice
Armenian boys. We want to look after her." That made it a pleasant
experience.
Q How did you become familiar enough with the band to know you wanted
to use them for the film? And are you a fan of the music now?
A Yes. [System of a Down has ] held three concerts on Armenian
Commemoration Day in Los Angeles. The first one was in 2003, I went
to one in 2004 , and then I filmed the one in 2005. They encourage
human-rights organizations to set up tables outside the concert area.
I was sitting at a table called the Armenian Film Foundation with my
little pamphlets not really knowing the music at all , and what
impressed me was the fans coming up to the table, kids who were like
15, 16, 17 years old and a lot of them already knew about the
Armenian genocide and other genocides because the band's message is
to recognize all genocide and that they are all linked.
These fans had been politicized and I didn't know if they were fans
who were naturally political who were attracted to the band or
whether it was the other way around, but I was really shocked. And
they represented every social group, ethnic group in Los Angeles. I
thought, "My God, they're reaching out to a generation of young
people. Maybe that's something I can work with." Because how do you
tell the story of genocide in the last century that will reach out to
people and not turn them off?
And meeting the band and Serj Tankian made me realize that he was
very much about educating people. And he said, "If you make a film
about the denial of all genocides, then count me in. If you make it
just about the history of the Armenian genocide , that's not enough
for me because it's about the denial of all genocide." So we were
very much on the same page and that's what began it.
Q There are some very disturbing images in the film of everything
from the corpses of children in the Holocaust to video of attacks in
Rwanda.
A It's upsetting when you're seeing it but I was looking for that.
It's to access our outrage. We say "never again" but we have allowed
genocides to happen consistently since the Holocaust. And the
Armenian genocide happened before the Holocaust. I thought it was
very important to show children in each of the genocides because
that's really what genocide's about, it's about killing everybody or
going after everybody.
Q What do you hope people do when they see the film?
A What I would like to have happen is that people who see the film,
at the very least, access their emotions and their outrage. And at
the other side of it feel that they can actually do something to stop
genocide.
On Jan. 19, two weeks after our initial interview, Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, who is featured in "Screamers," was shot to
death outside the offices of the Agos newspaper in Istanbul. Dink was
editor of the bilingual newspaper and after writing about the
genocide of the Ottoman Armenians had been charged under Turkish
penal code 301 for "insulting Turkish identity." We called to follow
up with Garapedian, who last saw Dink at the "Screamers" premiere in
LA this past November.
Q How disturbing is this, not just on a personal level, but on a
symbolic level?
A I think because the film is called "Screamers," the obvious
parallel is to say Hrant Dink was a screamer and look what happened
to him. Unfortunately we have to do what we have to do. We make
choices in our lives. He said to me, "If I go to prison I'll struggle
in prison. If I'm out of prison, I'll continue the struggle. This is
who I am and this is what I'm going to do." And I think that goes for
all of us.
The band is going to do its music and I'm going to continue the
national release of this film. People of good conscience just have to
keep doing what they're doing and keep screaming, because we do have
a genocide going on now [in Darfur]. It's not just this little crisis
going on in a little place somewhere in Africa that nobody cares
about. It is actually a genocide going on now, so we have to scream,
it's our responsibility to scream.