PRESS RELEASE
The Greater Boston Committee to Commemorate the Armenian Genocide
P.O. Box 35538
Boston, MA 02135
phone: (617) 489-1610
email: [email protected]
web:
Contact: Ara Nazarian
Screening of Armenian Genocide Films by J. Michael Hagopian at Kendall
Square Cinema
Boston, MA — April 27, 2005 — Two movies by director J. Michael
Hagopian probe two aspects of the Armenian Genocide, referred to as the
forgotten or the secret genocide. In Germany and the Secret Genocide,
Hagopian presents the involvement of the German government in the
planning and execution of the Genocide relying mainly on recently
declassified archives of the German government, while in the /Voices
>From the Lakes/, he focuses on the day to day tragedies befallen upon
the Armenians of Kharpert-Mezreh, he provides a case study of the
Genocide’s impact on one community, Hagopian’s birthplace Kharpert-Mezreh.
These movies will be screened at the Kendall Square Cinema in
Cambridge from April 29 to May 5, 2005 through the initiatives of
the Greater Boston Committee to Commemorate the Armenian Genocide. The
show times for these movies are as follows: Germany and the Secret
Genocide (86 min): Mon-Thurs at 2:20 PM, Fri-Sun at 12:20 PM. Voices
>From the Lake (57 min): Mon-Thurs at 1:00 PM, Fri-Sun at 11:00 AM.
There’s a nominal fee.
Germany and the Secret Genocide, released in 2003, takes place against
the backdrop of World War I when German diplomats and soldiers help to
cover up and deny the massacre of Armenians in exchange for Turkey’s
support in the war. It follows the final footsteps of Armenians who were
led to their deaths in Turkey during the Armenian Genocide beginning in
April 1915. Director J. Michael Hagopian weaves together filmed
interviews and letters written by American and European survivors of the
Genocide, plus witnesses and experts in the field, to examine Germany’s
involvement in the mass killings of Armenians at the hands of Turkish
soldiers. He examines how German bureaucrats, diplomats and soldiers are
complicit in the Genocide. Hagopian presents evidence throughout the
film that the Genocide was a well thought-out attempt to exterminate an
entire culture, complete with train schedules for the transportation of
Armenians out of an area Turkey wanted to control during a time when its
once powerful Ottoman Empire was on the decline.
Twenty-five years in research and production, Voices from the Lake,
the first feature-length documentary film on the Armenian genocide
focuses on the day-to-day tragedy unfolding in Kharpert-Mezreh, one
among 4000 towns and villages of the former Ottoman Empire in 1915,
where monumental forces were unleashed by a policy of annihilation. The
global humanitarian dimensions of the cataclysmic event are recorded by
eyewitness accounts of American and European officials, missionaries,
and educators, and by Armenian survivors. These are revealed for the
first time through censored reports, classified documents and hidden
diaries. Amazingly, scratched-out journals have been decoded with the
help of modern digital technology.
As a political science and economics professor at the University of
California at Los Angeles (UCLA), J. Michael Hagopian was unsatisfied
with the quality of educational films that were available for him to use
in his classroom. Before long, he left his teaching post and picked up a
camera to produce and direct quality educational tools on topics ranging
>From Black history to Nigerian culture. Born in Kharpert-Mezreh,
Armenia, Hagopian’s search for his roots and the history of his people
have won him critical acclaim, including two Emmys for the writing and
production of The Forgotten Genocide, the first full-length feature
film on the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Since then, filmmakers from
around the world have turned to the Armenian Film Foundation seeking the
rare archival film footage and survivor interviews Hagopian assembled
for this film. In all, Hagopian’s work encompasses nearly 400 survivor
interviews and 20 years of research.
In 1979, Hagopian founded the Armenian Film Foundation, a California
educational non-profit organization, to document the Armenian culture
and instill pride in Armenian youth worldwide. Since then, he has been
leading the effort to raise funds and create THE WITNESSES trilogy on
the Armenian Genocide. For additional info on the Armenian Film
Foundation, please visit their website at
Germany and the Secret Genocide was first screened in Boston by the
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research and was featured
in Boston Film Festival in 2004.
The Greater Boston Committee to Commemorate the Armenian Genocide is an
umbrella organization representing the great majority of the Armenian
religious, educational, cultural and athletic organizations in the
Greater Boston area. For more information about the activities of the
committee or ways to contribute, please visit our website at: