FILM STUDIES: REFUGEE STORIES
Clarence Tsui
South China Morning Post
June 18, 2009 Thursday
Hong Kong
Carla Garapedian can still remember what crossed her mind when she
first heard the music of Armenian-American rockers System of a Down. "I
don’t understand the music at all – I just want to turn it down,"
says the American filmmaker, laughing. Little did she know that the
band would, a few months later, become the stars of her documentary
about genocide and the way international powers turn a blind eye to it.
While handing out pamphlets about the Armenian genocide at a System
of a Down concert, Garapedian was surprised by some fans’ knowledge
of the subject.
"The fans came along and said, ‘Actually, we know about this,’"
she says. The band’s music – which also touches on the persecution
their ancestors suffered almost a century ago – helped educate these
youngsters about history, she says. "I’ve spent my whole adult life
waiting for that moment – when someone comes along and I don’t have
to explain it all to them. And they knew about it because of this
rock band."
Seeing how a band could generate awareness, Garapedian contacted the
group who agreed to work with the ex-journalist on her project. The
band featured heavily in her documentary, Screamers, as they joined
forces with activists to pressure the American and British governments
to acknowledge the Turkish army’s massacre of Armenians after the
first world war.
Garapedian admits she would prefer journalists to channel such
information to the masses, but says music or film works just as
well. "It’s a good thing, in that you can access people’s emotions
through art in a way that you can’t in other media," she says. "If
the music makes you feel uncomfortable, good – you should feel
uncomfortable. If it makes you feel a bit angry – if it rattles the
cage and shakes people up … and the movie can do that."
Screamers will be part of the Refugee Film Festival, a cinematic
showcase the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the
Crossroads Foundation organised for World Refugee Day on Saturday.
"I think the level of knowledge [among Hongkongers about forced
displacement of people] is very low, given local newspapers don’t carry
much international news," says Rosina Shing, fund-raising manager at
the UNHCR’s Hong Kong office. "I think this is the best way [to raise
awareness] under the current situation, as we can reach the masses on a
limited budget with support from Crossroads and Broadway Cinematheque."
The programme comprises feature films (The Black Pimpernel, which
revolves around a Chile-based Swedish diplomat’s decision to save
1,300 dissidents after Augusto Pinochet’s deadly putsch in September
1973) and five documentaries that touch on real-life stories in Uganda
(Uganda Rising), Darfur (The Devil Came on Horseback), Sierra Leone
(Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars), Cambodia (New Year Baby) and,
in Screamers, Armenia, Rwanda and Kurdistan.
"We are not the first country to have held a Refugee Film Festival,"
says Shing. "The UNHCR’s Japan office will hold its fourth one this
year. More than 8,000 people attend the film festival in Tokyo every
year, and it’s an excellent public awareness tool."
The Refugee Film Festival runs from Sunday to June 26 at the Broadway
Cinematheque; details at