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Armenian Genocide Film And Discussion Take Centre Stage In London

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  • Armenian Genocide Film And Discussion Take Centre Stage In London

    ARMENIAN GENOCIDE FILM AND DISCUSSION TAKE CENTRE STAGE IN LONDON

    14:14, 02 Dec 2014

    On Tuesday, 25 November 2014, the Armenian clubs at the School of
    African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) and University College of London
    (UCL) screened an unusual and compelling observational documentary on
    the Armenian Genocide, "The Blue Book. Political Truth or Historical
    Fact ," by Gagik Karageuzian (Ani Sounds, London). The screening took
    place at SOAS and drew a good number of students. Among the guests
    were filmmaker Gagik Karageuzian and the historian Ara Sarafian
    (Gomidas Institute), who featured prominently in the film.

    "The Blue Book" is an observational documentary following Ara
    Sarafian between 2006-2008, when he engaged the Armenian Genocide
    issue in London, Istanbul, Ankara and Elazig in Turkey. Much of the
    film was shot in archives, conferences, TV studios, and the killings
    fields of eastern Turkey. His discussions with Turkish intellectuals,
    journalists and deniers are particularly interesting, giving viewers a
    unique perspective into the Armenian Genocide as a contemporary issue.

    The screening of "The Blue Book" led to a fascinating discussion.

    Following the London screening, Gagik Karagheuzian agreed to an
    interview with Nora Vosbigian about his film.

    N.V.: How do you know Ara Sarafian and why did you approach him to
    make such a documentary?

    G.K.: I met Ara in the late nineties. I wanted to make a documentary
    film about the Armenian Genocide and its denial. My background was
    very much in the observational style of documentary filmmaking. At
    the time I didn't think I would be able to film on this subject in
    Turkey, but once I met Ara I realised that with his involvement this
    was possible. We needed to find the right approach to the subject. In
    2005 the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) presented a petition
    to the British Parliament saying the 1916 Blue Book on the Armenian
    Genocide authored by British parliamentarians was based on lies
    and the British should apologise to Turkey. Ara had republished the
    critical edition of the Blue Book in 2000 and he was the expert on
    this subject. So I asked him to allow me to make an observational style
    documentary about his efforts to respond to the TGNA accusations. The
    filming started in 2005 and the final sequence was shot in 2009.

    N.V.: Did you expect him to agree to such a documentary and what were
    your expectations?

    G.K.: When I met Ara he was interested in working with film makers
    on the issue of the Armenian Genocide, but he was very careful who
    he worked with. When I told him I wanted to make films on this issue
    he suggested we work on a few smaller projects first, to get know
    each other's working style. By 2005, when the TGNA petition arrived
    in London, we had already been working together for six years and
    had been to Turkey twice to make other films. When I approached him
    about making the Blue Book documentary, the issue was not whether
    we could work together but could we sustain working on a demanding
    project like this. I knew I wouldn't be able to take a film crew with
    me, I had to be subtle and not attract attention to me while he was
    dealing with Turkish and other politicians and historians. I knew he
    was apprehensive, but he also knew these events were very important
    and needed to be documented. So both of us felt we had to take on
    these risks.

    N.V.: What were Sarafian's conditions for your co-operation? Was he
    easy to work with?

    G.K.: Ara's main concern was that filming did not interfere with his
    work. For example, my presence stopping people from talking to him,
    because they did not want to be on camera. Also he did not want to
    "act for the camera" - he wanted a very honest depiction of the
    events. Not only did I feel these demands were possible, this was
    the style of film I wanted to make!

    N.V.: What were the dynamics of actually working with Sarafian? How
    were decisions made to do things? Did he discuss what he was doing
    with you? How were you prepared for shooting your footage on a day
    to day basis?

    G.K.: As I mention earlier, when I started filming the Blue Book,
    I had already worked with Ara on other smaller projects, so we had
    established a working relationship. He would explain to me what
    was going to happen in any particular day, and whether it would be
    interesting to film it or not. I would discuss with him what I had
    filmed and what would be useful to portray what was happening. For
    example he would ask if he should agree to an interview with
    a particular journalist, I would say it could be useful way of
    summarising the events of that day and give us an insight into the
    thinking of the people at that place and time.

    N.V.: How much footage did you shoot, and how did you come up with
    the final cut?

    G.K.: I filmed Ara from 2005 until 2009. The total footage shot
    during this time came to about 100 hours. I made two versions of the
    Blue Book. First one subtitled "Witnessing History" (77 minutes)
    focused on his overall approach in dealing with the TGNA petition
    and the denial of the Armenian Genocide. The second version which
    I am releasing this year, "Political Truth or Historical Fact" (54
    minutes) still shows the denial process but concentrated on the 2006
    symposium where Ara came face to face with the Turkish historians
    and politicians who deny the Armenian Genocide.

    N.V.: What were some of the memorable moments, on or off camera?

    G.K.: While filming in the Kharpet region, where Consul Leslie Davis
    had witnessed the remains of massacred caravans of Armenians, we got
    a flat tyre. I stayed with the car while Ara went off with a local
    18 year old to find a jack to prop the car up. It turned out that
    the uncle of the 18 year old had the right jack, but he refused to
    help, advising his nephew, the son of the mayor of that village, not
    to help this "gavour" (infidel, unbeliever). Ara said the boy told
    his uncle that he could not help how he (the uncle) behaved but he,
    as a good Muslim, had to help a person in need. He managed to find a
    jack from elsewhere and helped us change the tyre. In my experience,
    this 18 year old was not in the minority in the region or in most
    areas that we visited in Turkey. Most of the people that we met,
    when they realised we were Armenian, expressed sorrow at what had
    happened in 1915.

    N.V. What do you hope to achieve with such a film?

    G.K.: I have seen many films dealing with the Armenian Genocide.

    Obviously all of them portray Armenians as victims. While this was
    true of Armenians in 1915 and immediately after the Genocide, it is
    not true of Armenians today. We are not victims. My intentions as an
    Armenian filmmaker is to show this. Ara Sarafian's approach to his
    work and his ethics, I find, are empowering. I hope to share these
    experiences through this documentary. In fact, I recently re-edited the
    original cut of "The Blue Book, Political Truth or Historical Fact,"
    to bring focus to the issue of empowerment as part of the upcoming
    100th year Armenian Genocide commemoration.

    http://www.armradio.am/en/2014/12/02/armenian-genocide-film-and-discussion-take-centre-stage-in-london/

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