Boston Globe, MA
April 26 2009

Wide-ranging stories in Armenian fest

The Armenian Film Festival returns for its second annual engagement
May 1 through 3 at the Museum of Fine Arts, celebrating Armenian
culture, language, and filmmakers through documentaries, dramas, and
comedies. The festival opens with a screening of "The Blue Hour" by
Eric Nazarian, a story of loss and hope encountered by several
strangers in Los Angeles.

Other film highlights include "Float," a "dramatic comedy" about the
lives of an ice cream parlor owner and his family. "Autumn," tells the
story of a man’s struggle to rebuild his life after being a political
prisoner for 10 years, and four documentaries by beloved French
filmmaker Serge Avedikian will also be screened, including "We Drank
the Same Water," about the tense relationship between Armenians and
Turks, and Avedikian’s efforts to help them reconcile. The fanciful
drama "Mermaid," by director Anna Melikyan, tells the story of a
green-haired girl who takes a vow of silence after her mother refuses
to enroll her in ballet class, and discovers she has the power to make
wishes come true.

Tickets: $8 members, seniors, and students; $10 general
admission. Matinees: $6 members, seniors, students; $7 general
admission weekdays until 5 p.m., weekends until 12:30
p.m. 617-369-3306,

"Yellow Earth" by Chen Kaige will be presented by the Harvard Film
Archive on April 27 at 7 p.m., in honor of the film’s 25th
anniversary. Harvard Professor Eugene Wang will introduce the film,
which marked a breakthrough of new Chinese cinema in the 1980s, and
has remained a signature piece of the so-called Fifth Generation of
filmmakers.

"Yellow Earth" is a story of an army "art worker" in search of rural
folk songs in northwestern China, and invokes elements of classical
Chinese aesthetics through modern cinema. The film thrust director
Kaige, as well as cinematographer Zhan Yimou, into international
stardom.

Tickets: $8 general admission; $6 seniors, non-Harvard students,
faculty, and staff; free for Harvard students. Tickets will go on sale
45 minutes prior to showtime. 617-495-4700,

RACHEL ZARRELL

2009/04/26/wide_ranging_stories_in_armenian_fest/