ARAZ ARTINIAN – “GOD HAS GIVEN ME THE ENERGY TO HELP AS MANY PEOPLE AS I CAN”
Inga Martinyan
2010/05/31 | 15:14
Feature Stories society
Canadian Filmmaker Says Diaspora is Losing Ground; Has Found New
“Calling” in Armenia
Araz is on the go all day long and thanks her shoes for wearing tough
and getting her to where she has to be. It seems that in Armenia that
aren’t enough hours in the day for all she has to do.
“It irritates me to no end to see students lazily walking by. I’m often
tempted to grab them by the arm, rip off the heels from there shoes,
and tell them that life is short; that they should be running.
What I also find upsetting is how Armenian girls get all fancied-up,
with make-up and all. They waste so much time on trivialities. There
are so many problems in this country. If all young people are
interested in are there things, then what kind of country will they
demand in the future?” says Araz Artinian, an Armenian film director
from Canada.
Araz believes that she was born to become a star. She also dreamt of
a singing career but never had the time to devote to it. But he has
polished his singing voice. Araz has yet to be regarded as a star,
but she shoots films, takes photos and creates websites.
In September, her first book of poems will be published, entitled
“Philophobia” (a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of love
and intimacy). Afterwards, she is thinking of presenting her poetry
via the medium of photography
Araz’s parents hail from Egypt and his grandparents are from western
Armenia. She is the youngest in the family. His older sister is an
attorney. She is marries and lives with her parents in Canada.
Wanted to escape the responsibilities of being Armenian
Araz’s father established the Sourp Hagop School in Canada. Her mother
worked as the director of the kindergarten. Both her parents were very
active in local Armenian community life and raised their children in
a strict Armenian atmosphere. This focus on an Armenian upbringing got
so intense that the kids started to hate being Armenian. “My father’s
main focus was on national identity and the pressure on me was great.
I had to withstand it.” Arazx’s father is an architect. He would draw
pretty maps of Armenia and the children would point out the borders
of Armenia in the past and today. Posters of the Armenian alphabet
adorned the walls of their house. The father was always fearful that
his daughters would marry non-Armenians and that they would thus
forget the language.
When she was 17, she brought home her first boyfriend, a non-Armenian.
Her father was not pleased, to say the least, and told her never to
bring him to the house again.
After graduating from Sourp Hagop’s, Araz attended the French College.
She completed her B.A. in Communication Studies at Concordia
University, specializing in film-making. During her senior year she
produced her first film. It was about the Spitak earthquake.
She was 17 when the earthquake struck. Every day, her father would
bring home newspaper clippings about the earthquake. Araz would
read the articles and save them. In 1997, Araz came to Armenia. She
tracked down twelve individuals named in those articles and made a
film about them.
Her film “The Genocide in Me” Shown at 2006 Golden Apricot
She then produced her second film, “The Genocide in Me”. Over the
course of 18 months, the film was shown in 47 cities. At the 2006
“Golden Apricot” film festival in Armenia, the film won an honorable
mention award. Araz decided to remain in Armenia. “In that film,
I explained how I no longer wished to be Armenian, because in the
diaspora the pressure is great to remain Armenian; to retain the
language, marry an Armenian, etc. I was so tired of it all that I
wanted to escape and no longer be Armenian. Then, when I came to
Armenia, I decided to stay. I felt that the future lie here. In the
diaspora, slowly but surely, we are disappearing. I want to be Armenian
and free,” says Araz. Later she worked with Atom Egoyan on the film
“Ararat” as a screenwriter and head researcher.
In 2005 she launched the website , the story of
20 survivors of the 1915 Armenian genocide.
Araz had grown tired of the word “genocide” and wanted to do something
different; but what? “I thought about creating a website through
which all the children of the world could exchange their cultures with
others. The I thought about restoring the culture of 21 centuries. I
searched for children in Yerevan. Each one represented one art form,
one culture.”
Araz has studied Armenian history and culture and has traveled to many
sites to select those that should be filmed. She will call her new
website “Zart”, her signature. It will be up and running in September.
Each photo placed in the site is a history unto itself, a branch
of culture. By pressing any pictured church on a phot, you can read
its history.
By visiting various music schools, Araz saw the condition they were in
and decided raise some charitable funds that went towards renovating
the halls, bathrooms, roofs and the purchase of instruments. She is
amazed that art schools receive no assistance.
She has raised funds to help disabled kids walk
“You walk into a school and see the kids shivering, playing the piano
wearing gloves. Why does it have to be like this. They produced
national instruments free of charge but you don’t see any in the
schools for the students to learn.”
Araz then redirected her attention on children in the boarding schools,
formerly known as orphanages.
“Can you imagine what a feeling it is to start to walk after so many
years of being bed-ridden or sitting in a wheelchair? I organized
surgical operations for these kids and now many can walk. When you
think that many of these kids might go through life without walking
and the fact that no one else is taking an interest, I decided to
do something. I am always busy with my art, but it’s such a pleasure
that I now help the kids of others. I just don’t focus on myself.”
>>From January till now, Araz has been able to organize operations
for four children. She uses facebook to get the message out and to
fund-raise. With the donations she receives, Araz buys presents for
the kids. She films it all and places it all on her facebook page.
People can thus read how the donations have been spent.
Araz tells us about the time when two sisters at the boarding school
stole $500 in donations out of her bag. However, the next day, Araz
brought the sisters some gifts. Araz says that she likes these girls
the most.
“Kids overseas are more jaded. They have everything but still want
more. Here, they are different. I go inside and the kids run out,
take off my coat and hang on to me, chanting, Araz, Araz,” she says
with emotion in her voice.
Government in Armenia lacks a conscience
Araz really doesn’t like to compare Canada with Armenia. She is
happy here. She misses regular films in English, her bike, car and,
of course, her parents. Araz believes that people in Armenia lead
very complex lives. She can’t remember a day in Canada when she went
without water. Here, it’s a struggle every minute, a war.
“People like us have to change things. We have to struggle and push
those in power up against the wall. The government has no conscience.
If they did, we wouldn’t have wound up in the spot we’re in today.
Every thing that is humane has been removed. In these conditions,
what kind of country are we talking about? If you give yourself an
aim, you will reach it. It’s just that the people are tired. If we
have no culture, then we cease to exists as well.”
Araz says that right now she is solely focused on helping the
children. Before this, if she saw building debris dumped in her yard
she would gather the neighbors and construction workers and clean
it up.
Araz already has a family here. “The seamstress is like a mother to
me, so too is the woman that cleans the house. the kids…” She has a
notebook in which she jots down what her tasks are for the following
day. The following evening she reviews what she accomplished during
the day. She finds it disgusting that people spit in the streets or
blow their noses on the sidewalks. Araz says that there is a lack of
respect here. She tells about the time when she was waiting in line at
a store and a woman cut in front of her. “It happened again last week.
In was waiting in line in a store and a woman walked in front. I
grabbed her and said “Excuse me lady but have a bit of respect. Do
you understand? I am waiting as well’. Her reply was, ‘What’s the big
deal. I’ll only be a minute?’ This is just wrong. We must understand
that you do not cut in front of someone else waiting in line.”
Laughter as a way to deal with daily annoyances
Araz sees such incidents all the time and has discovered a way to deal
with them. “You get so irritated that you start to laugh. Araz tell
about the time when she was waiting in line at Converse Bank. “There
were so many people that I was pressed upon the glass counter. The girl
sitting at the computer yelled out ‘what do you want?’ I said that
I wanted to see how much money I had in my account. The girl yelled
out my balance, $2,000. I turned around and asked ‘hey everyone, are
you happy that I have so much money in my account?’ One man looked
at me and said, ‘yes, dear girl, we are happy’.
Araz has no personal life to speak of at the moment. But she’s not
complaining. She’s says her life is much more comfortable this way and
that there are many more projects to work on. “I will buy a bicycle
for my Goharik to ride to school. They live on the border,” says Araz.
“If one is looking for a wife that will cook and clean house, I am not
that person; no, no, no. I like men who are creative, who break hearts,
who live on another imaginary plane; guys who are calm and collected,
who don’t talk but create. But right now, I’m not in the mood for
love.” This is how Araz described her ideal man. When it comes to
listing her own qualities, she notes that she is industrious, orderly,
organized, dedicated, good-natured and multi-talented. ” I don’t know
what to do – write, take photos, make a film? One life is just too
short. I can never abide those who use me and then leave. I’d really
make an awful fuss, to the point of leaving my friends in tears.”
In the end, Araz believes that her mission in life is helping as many
people as she can. She believes that this is why God has given her
an inexhaustible supply of energy.
From: A. Papazian