ARMENIAN FILM: EXAMINING ONE NATION’S IDENTITY

The Japan Times, Japan
Aug. 11, 2006

Seven films by directors from Armenia and its diaspora will be screened
as part of the "Armenian Film Selection," taking place Aug.

11-12 and Aug. 19 at two Tokyo venues, Athenee Francais Cultural Center
in Chiyoda Ward and Uplink Factory in Shibuya. Four films — Harutyun
Khachatryan’s "Return to the Promised Land" and "Documentarist,"
"Mariam" by Edgar Baghdasaryan and "Lord have Mercy" by Vigen
Chaldranyan — will screen with English subtitles. Atom Egoyan’s
"Calendar" is an English-language film.

Arsinee Khanjian in "Calendar," an Atom Egoyan-directed film showing
as part of "Armenian Film Selection" (C) EGO FILM ARTS

The son of Armenian refugees, Cairo-born, Canada-raised Egoyan shot
some of 1993’s "Calendar" (Aug. 11, 7 p.m., Aug. 12, 7 p.m., Aug. 19,
2:30 p.m) in Armenia, and examines the question of Armenian identity
through a man hired to photograph churches for a calendar. Egoyan
would go on to gain acclaim for 2002’s "Ararat."

Sergei Parajanov’s experimental 1968 film "Color of Pomegranates"
(Aug. 12, 1: 40 p.m., Armenian with Japanese subtitles only), is a
unique work which has little dialogue and was filmed mostly using
stationary cameras.

Born in 1924 in Tbilisi, Georgia, to Armenian parents, Parajanov
lived an eventful life that included spells in gulags in the 1970s
on charges of "homosexuality and illegal trafficking of religious
icons" that were widely accepted as being trumped up by the Soviet
authorities. Made at a time when most films coming out of the USSR
were state propaganda, the dreamy "Color of Pomegranates" vividly
explores the art and poetry of Armenia by looking at the life of a
troubadour named Sayat Nova, played by Sofiko Chiareli, who also took
on five other roles — male and female — in the film.

In addition to the screenings, Mitsuyoshi Numano, a professor at the
University of Tokyo, will discuss Armenian literature and film after
the screening of "Documentarist" (3:30 p.m., Aug. 12).

Tickets per screening are 1,000 yen at the door (800 yen in advance
from Athenee Francais Cultural Center, near Ochanomizu Station on
the JR Sobu Line and Marunouchi Subway Line, and Uplink Factory,
a 10-minute walk from JR Shibuya Station).

For the complete schedule, visit yoshida_m/.