A1+
`THE MAN WENT MAD BEFORE MY EYES’
[05:02 pm] 07 December, 2007
more images `When we reached Spitak, the city was already lying in
ruins. Everything was destroyed and leveled to the ground. The earth
was still shaking,’ producer Anahit Movissian told A1+.
In 1988 Anahit Movissian worked as a producer in the information
department of the Television and Radio State Committee. She visited
different plants to shoot films.
On December 7, 1988, the shooting group was going to the `factory of
lifts’ of Spitak which was in a tight plight.
On the way I felt that the car was now slowing down then speeding
up. I wondered what the matter was. After checking the wheels the
driver said everything was all right.
On getting to Spitak we were paralyzed by fear. Everything was
ruined. The earth was quaking under our feet.
`Eventually, we hadn’t felt the quakes in the car because of the
speed,’ Anahit Movsissian says. There was a hustle and bustle in
Spitak: people were at a loss. They were rushing to and fro. The first
man I met had lost his family. He went mad before my eyes. Every time
I hear the word `Spitak’ I recall the man.’
I asked our cameraman to shoot the man but the latter refused.
`Anahit, I cannot do it. My hands are trembling.’
Nevertheless, he braced up in a few minutes and obeyed my
instructions.
Curfew had been announced in Spitak the day before. Russian soldiers
were marching through the city all day long.
Our cameraman and editor-in-chief Vahan Harutiunian set to work. I
couldn’t see anything as I was standing a long way from the
buildings. `Watch Out! The earth is shaking,’ the boys warned me all
the time.
Òhe shooting group was stopped by soldiers. The soldiers drove them
into a corner with submachine guns. They called us `saboteurs’ and
wondered where we came from. `You are breaching the law on curfew,’
they shouted at us.
Under the law on curfew the boys may have been shot dead but for the
director of the garment factory.
The shooting group had taken a 7-year-old boy under wreckages. They
took the boy to Aparan on their knees. After receiving the first
medical aid the boy was taken to a Yerevan hospital where he underwent
an operation. We knew neither his name nor his surname. After
learning that the boy was already safe and sound we hurried to the TV
Station.
At that time it was rumoured that an earthquake had occurred in
Yerevan. Nobody could imagine its consequences. The administration
doubted whether we were still alive as there was no means of
communication then. We were the first to shoot a film about the
earthquake. After getting permission from Moscow, the film was shown
by a Russian informative programme.
Shortly afterwards the dreadful events were televised by an Armenian
TV Channel without mounting.