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THRILLER '1915' TO HIT THEATERS & VOD THIS APRIL
Broadway World
March 23 2015
March 23
The thriller "1915" which will be hitting theaters April 17th and VOD
April 22nd. Timed to the 100th anniversary of the event that ravaged
the Armenian population, "1915" is set against the forgotten genocide
of 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey 100 years ago.
"1915" centers on a mysterious theater director (Simon Abkarian)
who stages a play at the Los Angeles Theatre to honor the victims of
that tragedy - a horrifying crime forgotten and denied for an entire
century. But as protesters surround his theatre, and a series of
strange accidents spread panic among his producer (Jim Piddock) and
actors (Angela Sarafyan, Sam Page, Nikolai Kinski), the director's
mission is more controversial than original realized and the ghosts
of THE PAST are everywhere.
"1915" is directed by Armenians Garin Hovannisian (author of Family
of Shadows) and Alec Mouhibian, and features a who's who of Armenian
cast and crew, including executive producer Raffi K. Hovannisian
(Armenia's first foreign minister), Grammy Award winning composer
Serj Tankian (from System of a Down, currently on a tour dedicated to
the Genocide), and actors Simon Abkarian (Casino Royale) and Angela
Sarafyan (Twilight). The filmmakers will also join tens of thousands
of Armenians to participate in a march for justice on April 24th
in Los Angeles to bring attention to the first genocide of modern
history - which has been denied by the government of Turkey for an
entire century.
Official Website: www.1915themovie.com Facebook:
www.facebook.com/1915themovie Twitter: www.twitter.com/1915themovie
Synopsis:
Exactly 100 years after the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey,
a mysterious director (Simon Abkarian) is staging a play at the Los
Angeles Theatre to honor the victims of that tragedy - a horrifying
crime forgotten and denied for an entire century. But as protesters
surround his theatre, and a series of strange accidents spread panic
among his producer (Jim Piddock) and actors (Angela Sarafyan, Sam Page,
Nikolai Kinski), it appears that the director's mission is profoundly
dangerous, and the ghosts of THE PAST are everywhere.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
On April 24, 1915, in Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of
the Ottoman Turkish Empire, hundreds of Armenian community leaders,
clergymen, and intellectuals were rounded up and slaughtered in the
night. During the summer of 1915, under cover of world war, Turkish
soldiers escorted millions of unarmed civilian Armenians out of
the towns and villages in which they had been living for thousands
of years. The systematic deportation and slaughter of the Armenian
people was accomplished. The word "genocide" did not yet exist.
International news accounts, photographs, and official government
archives undeniably confirmed what then US Ambassador to Turkey, Henry
Morgenthau, witnessed and called a "campaign of race extermination."
Legal scholar Raphael Lemkin coined the word "genocide" and himself
applied it to the Armenian case. The government of Turkey began
its century-long denial of the Armenian Genocide, but the survivors
and their descendants across the world countered with a quest for
recognition, restitution, and justice.
In September 1992, Armenia's foreign minister Raffi K. Hovannisian
(also the Executive Producer of "1915" and father of the film's
director Garin Hovannisian), defied the Genocide taboo and called the
"Armenian Genocide" by name at a Council of Europe summit in Istanbul.
In June 2005, the Turkish government enacted Article 301, which made
it a crime to "insult Turkishness," which included discussing the
Armenian Genocide. Turkey's own Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk, Armenian
intellectual-journalist Hrant Dink, and others were prosecuted for
this crime. In 2007, Dink was murdered in broad daylight in front of
his newspaper offices in Istanbul.
The Armenian Genocide remains one of the most important unresolved
global socio-political issues in world history and it will become
even more important in the months surrounding its 100th anniversary
on April 24, 2015. "1915" is about the danger of denial, not just
of historical events, but also of the uncomfortable truths hidden in
our own private pasts.
http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmovies/article/Thriller-1915-to-HIt-Theaters-VOD-This-April-20150323
Broadway World
March 23 2015
March 23
The thriller "1915" which will be hitting theaters April 17th and VOD
April 22nd. Timed to the 100th anniversary of the event that ravaged
the Armenian population, "1915" is set against the forgotten genocide
of 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey 100 years ago.
"1915" centers on a mysterious theater director (Simon Abkarian)
who stages a play at the Los Angeles Theatre to honor the victims of
that tragedy - a horrifying crime forgotten and denied for an entire
century. But as protesters surround his theatre, and a series of
strange accidents spread panic among his producer (Jim Piddock) and
actors (Angela Sarafyan, Sam Page, Nikolai Kinski), the director's
mission is more controversial than original realized and the ghosts
of THE PAST are everywhere.
"1915" is directed by Armenians Garin Hovannisian (author of Family
of Shadows) and Alec Mouhibian, and features a who's who of Armenian
cast and crew, including executive producer Raffi K. Hovannisian
(Armenia's first foreign minister), Grammy Award winning composer
Serj Tankian (from System of a Down, currently on a tour dedicated to
the Genocide), and actors Simon Abkarian (Casino Royale) and Angela
Sarafyan (Twilight). The filmmakers will also join tens of thousands
of Armenians to participate in a march for justice on April 24th
in Los Angeles to bring attention to the first genocide of modern
history - which has been denied by the government of Turkey for an
entire century.
Official Website: www.1915themovie.com Facebook:
www.facebook.com/1915themovie Twitter: www.twitter.com/1915themovie
Synopsis:
Exactly 100 years after the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey,
a mysterious director (Simon Abkarian) is staging a play at the Los
Angeles Theatre to honor the victims of that tragedy - a horrifying
crime forgotten and denied for an entire century. But as protesters
surround his theatre, and a series of strange accidents spread panic
among his producer (Jim Piddock) and actors (Angela Sarafyan, Sam Page,
Nikolai Kinski), it appears that the director's mission is profoundly
dangerous, and the ghosts of THE PAST are everywhere.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
On April 24, 1915, in Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of
the Ottoman Turkish Empire, hundreds of Armenian community leaders,
clergymen, and intellectuals were rounded up and slaughtered in the
night. During the summer of 1915, under cover of world war, Turkish
soldiers escorted millions of unarmed civilian Armenians out of
the towns and villages in which they had been living for thousands
of years. The systematic deportation and slaughter of the Armenian
people was accomplished. The word "genocide" did not yet exist.
International news accounts, photographs, and official government
archives undeniably confirmed what then US Ambassador to Turkey, Henry
Morgenthau, witnessed and called a "campaign of race extermination."
Legal scholar Raphael Lemkin coined the word "genocide" and himself
applied it to the Armenian case. The government of Turkey began
its century-long denial of the Armenian Genocide, but the survivors
and their descendants across the world countered with a quest for
recognition, restitution, and justice.
In September 1992, Armenia's foreign minister Raffi K. Hovannisian
(also the Executive Producer of "1915" and father of the film's
director Garin Hovannisian), defied the Genocide taboo and called the
"Armenian Genocide" by name at a Council of Europe summit in Istanbul.
In June 2005, the Turkish government enacted Article 301, which made
it a crime to "insult Turkishness," which included discussing the
Armenian Genocide. Turkey's own Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk, Armenian
intellectual-journalist Hrant Dink, and others were prosecuted for
this crime. In 2007, Dink was murdered in broad daylight in front of
his newspaper offices in Istanbul.
The Armenian Genocide remains one of the most important unresolved
global socio-political issues in world history and it will become
even more important in the months surrounding its 100th anniversary
on April 24, 2015. "1915" is about the danger of denial, not just
of historical events, but also of the uncomfortable truths hidden in
our own private pasts.
http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmovies/article/Thriller-1915-to-HIt-Theaters-VOD-This-April-20150323