KCET TO AIR ‘ARMENIAN MINSTRELS’ AND ‘ARMENIAN EXILE’ DOCUMENTARIES

asbarez
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian

LOS ANGELES-KCET, independent public media for Southern and Central
California, presents a special night of programming featuring
back-to-back documentaries by filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian on Tuesday,
April 5, in observance of Armenian Remembrance. Larry Zarian, Vice
Chair of the California State Transportation Commission and former
mayor of Glendale, will host the evening with his son – film and
television actor Gregory Zarian. Armenian Minstrels begins at 8 p.m.,
followed by Armenian Exile at 9:30 p.m.

Armenian Minstrels – in his newest film, filmmaker Hagop Goudsouzian
travels to Armenia in search of the soul of Armenian music. Through
a series of chance encounters, he attends a concert in Yerevan to
see the Sayat-Nova Minstrel Song Ensemble, one of the most renowned
minstrel groups in Armenia. Stunned by the beauty of their music and
professionalism, he embarks on an unprecendented musical journey
and spends a month filming them. Through songs and interviews the
minstrels recount the critical role their songs and music play in
keeping alive a once-dying art form, and the role music and songs
play as a tool for cultural survival.

In Armenian Exile (2009), his second film, Goudsouzian paints a
self-portrait in which he pursues a greater understanding of his
cultural roots. In 1988, Nagorno-Karabakh’s war for independence
was in the headlines worldwide. Halfway across the world in Canada,
Goudsouzian’s peaceful world was suddenly shaken: “I had forgotten I
was Armenian, until I saw the courage of these people who had never
forgotten who they were and knew what they had to do.” Seeking clarity
of both history and self, Goudsouzian reflects on Armenian identity,
which is at the heart of all his films.

Born in Egypt, Hagop Goudsouzian is of Armenian descent and currently
lives in Toronto. In partnership with TVOntario TFO, he has produced
and directed a number of television and documentary series.

Look for Asbarez’s exclusive interview with Goudsouzian tomorrow.

From: A. Papazian