SYSTEM OF A DOWN LEND MUSIC AND VOICES TO SCREAMERS
-Jason MacNeil
Chart Attack, Canada
Nov 15 2006
System Of A Down
System Of A Down have lent "their voice, music, and support" to a
documentary entitled Screamers.
The film, directed by activist Carla Garapedian, had its world premiere
earlier this month at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles.
It was shot while the band toured Europe and the U.S. behind their
Mezmerize and Hypnotize releases.
The film’s website explains that it revolves around the personal
story of SOAD singer Serj Tankian’s 96-year-old grandfather, Stepan
Haytayan, a survivor of the 1915 Armenian genocide. The film shows
the band visiting different locations and hearing stories of genocide
while on tour.
"System Of A Down have always worked to spread the message about
official Armenian Genocide Recognition within the U.S. and other world
powers that have yet to formally acknowledge that it took place," the
group write on their website. "The band felt compelled to work with
this unique project that hauntingly illustrates how the denial of those
crimes lead to more genocides of the 20th Century – from the Holocaust
to Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda… and all the way to present-day Darfur."
The film includes interviews with the band members, all of whom
are grandchildren of genocide survivors. Seven live System Of A
Down performances are also featured, including "Holy Mountains,"
"P.L.U.C.K." and "B.Y.O.B."
Screamers will arrive in theatres in select American cities on Jan.
12 following an exclusive limited engagement starting in Los Angeles
on Dec. 8. There’s no word yet on a Canadian release date.
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