"SCREAMERS" SCREENED BEFORE CONGRESSIONAL COMMUNITY
Marlena Hovsepyan

"Radiolur"
18.01.2007 16:30

After numerous screenings in different cinemas of the United States
the " Screamers" documentary was screened on the Capitol Hill
yesterday. Editor and publisher of the US based "California Courier"
Harout Sasunian told "Radiolur" that the film had a great impression
on Congressmen. The screening was organized by Congressmen Adam Schiff
(D-CA) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Save Darfur, the ANCA Endowment,
and the Raffy Manoukian Charity.

The "Screamers" is starred by Grammy-award winning band "System Of
A Down."

The documentary tells about the group’s campaign to end the cycle
of genocides.

"There were tens of Congressmen with their assistants, the film
generated considerable excitement. This initiative was especially
important on these days of discussion of the Armenian Genocide
recognition bill," Harout Sasunian said.

Certainly, such films are of great value for telling the truth to
humanity. " The contemporary generation neither reads books, nor
investigates archive materials. Therefore, films are the best way
for them to learn the truth," Mr. Sasounian said.

It’s worth mentioning that the "Screamers" debuted at the American
Film Institute Film Festival on November 2nd and won the coveted AFI
Audience Award.

The film, distributed by Maya Entertainment, is currently playing in
the Los Angeles area and will open on January 26th in New York City,
Washington, DC, Boston, Chicago and Detroit.

The film’s title has a double meaning: "Screamers" refers both to the
band’s propulsive musical style and to people who force the world to
acknowledge atrocities that it would often rather ignore.

System of a Down is well known for its activism – using its
performances to educate fans, appearing at annual demonstrations
in front of the Turkish consulate in Los Angeles and supporting a
congressional resolution to officially designate as genocide the
atrocities visited upon Armenians around 1915 in the waning days of
the Ottoman Empire. In their concerts, Tankian also demands onstage
that the Turkish government acknowledge that what happened was genocide
(which it has so far refused to do).

It’s worth mentioning that Carla Garapedian’s ancestors also come
from Sebastia and Van. When the massacre of Armenians started in the
Ottoman Empire, they moved to the US.
From: Baghdasarian