Author: Kafian Jirair

“Hooligans” and “Cowboy del Amor” Sweep Top SXSW ’05 Prizes

Indiewire.com
March 16, 2005
by Eugene Hernandez

Lexi Alexander’s “Hooligans,” starring Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Claire
Forlani, Marc Warren, and Leo Gregory won both the narrative feature
audience award and the narrative jury prize at the 2005 SXSW Film Festival,
while Michele Ohayon’s “Cowboy del Amor” was the winner of both the
documentary audience award and the doc jury prize. At the SXSW film awards
in Austin, TX Tuesday night, festival and conference producer Matt Dentler
said that it was the first time that films won both jury and audience
awards.

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s “The Boys of Baraka” was won the special jury
prize from the documentary jury and was the runner-up in doc audience award
balloting. Ian Gamazon and Neill Della Luna’s “Cavite” won the special jury
award from the narrative jury and Ben Rekhi’s “Waterborne” was the runner-up
for the narrative audience prize.

Jay and Mark Duplass’ “The Puffy Chair” was the winner of the audience award
in the festival’s Emerging Visions section, while Marion Lipschutz and Rose
Rosenblatt’s “The Education of Shelby Knox” won the audience prize in the
Lone Star States section of the festival. Arin Crumley and Susan Buice’s
“Four Eyed Monsters” and Ellen Spiro’s “Troop 1500” were second in voting in
each category respectively.

In the Reel Shorts competition, jurors awarded the top prize to Keith
Bearden’s “The Raftman’s Razor,” while the special jury prize in the
category went to Katja Straub’s “All White People Are French.” In the
animated short category, Hathan Jurevicius’ “Orpheus & the Underworld” won
and Nadine Takvorian’s “Elegy” received the special jury notice. Monkmus won
the music video award for the video for “Year of the Rat” by Badly Drawn Boy
and the special jury award winner was Ton Petrossian for the “Vermillion”
video by Slipknot.

In Texas prizes, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra won the Texas Shorts award for
“Termination” and Spencer Parsons won the special jury award for “Once and
Future Asshole.” David McGinnis won the Texas High School competition award
for “Comic Y” and the special jury award went to David Vass for “Life of a
Pencil.”

PanArmenian News
March 14 2005

ANDRANIK MARGARIAN: ARMENIA DID NOT INTERFERE AND WILL NEVER
INTERFERE IN GEORGIA’S DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

14.03.2005 05:22

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `We will agree on the withdrawal of the Russian
military bases from the territory of Georgia in the near future’,
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli stated in the Yerevan
airport of Zvartnots before departure, IA Regnum reports. In his
words, this issue has not been discussed with the Armenian party. In
his turn Armenian Premier Andranik Margarian said that Armenia did
not interfere and will never interfere in the domestic affairs of
Georgia. `The only important thing for us is to know that the
Armenians of Javakhk are provided with jobs and their social problems
are being solved’, he noted.

Pasadena Star-News, CA
March 14 2005

Sacred symbol

New cross consecrated for St. Gregory

Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, above left, Primate of the Western
Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, consecrates a 7-foot
cross Sunday at St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church
in Pasadena. At right, Sarkis Sahagian, the donor of the new cross,
washes the cross with water during Sunday’s ceremony. The cross will
eventually sit atop the dome of the church’s new building. The
ceremony included washing the cross with water and wine a symbol of
the blood of Christ before anointing it with holy oil. After its
consecration, the cross is considered holy, said Father Zaven
Arzoumanian, who leads the church. The ceremony included the
parishioners kissing the cross one by one.

Vic eyes Las Vegas superfight
by TERRY SMITH

The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, Australia)
March 13, 2005 Sunday

VIC Darchinyan is poised to have a flyweight superfight in Las Vegas
against Venezuela’s WBA champion Lorenzo Parro.

But the man nicknamed Raging Bull II must first defend the IBF world
title he won in December, this time against South African Mzukisi
Sikali at the State Sports Centre on March 27.

Sikali has a 25-5-2 record, compared with Darchinyan’s 22-0.

“I have the tape of Sikali’s fight with [Masibulele] Makapula and he
looks a good boxer, a southpaw like me,” Darchinyan said. “He doesn’t
like to run, and that’s a good sign.

“No one in the world can beat me if they stand toe-to-toe. I can
smash anyone who doesn’t run.” A bout with Parro, who is unbeaten in
25 fights, would be the first step in Darchinyan’s dream of unifying
the flyweight titles before stepping up a division.

Three weeks after relinquishing his Armenian nationality to become an
Australian citizen, Darchinyan took the IBF world crown from long-time
champion Irene Pacheco, stopping him in the 11th round of their fight
in Hollywood, Florida.

“I’m proud to be a citizen of Australia,” Darchinyan said. “It
has given me a world title and a lovely Russian girl, Olga, who is
my fiancee. No wonder I love it here.” Darchinyan’s trainer Jeff
Fenech claims there isn’t a flyweight on the planet who can match
his fighter’s power.

Of his nickname, Darchinyan said: “I like the bull thing because I
like to destroy.

“But [original Raging Bull] Jake La Motta was not a nice man.

“His movie did not have a happy ending.”

GEORGIAN ARMENIANS DISAPPROVE TBILISI’S DRIVE TO HAVE RUSSIAN BASE OUT

ArmenPress
March 11 2005

TBILISI, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS: David Rstakian, a Georgian Armenian
political figure, warned Thursday that Georgia’s drive to have two
Russian military bases pulled out from the country would hit heavily
the Armenian population in Akhalkalaki, the administrative center of
Samtskhe Javakhk province that is home to one of the bases.
Georgian parliament with a 158-0 vote, approved yesterday a
resolution instructing the government to take measures against the
Russian military bases stationed in Georgia if an agreement over a
timeframe for their withdrawal is not reached with Russia before May
15, 2005.
These measures include halting of issuing entry visas to Russian
military servicemen and assessment of the total debt for the
functioning of the bases. The Parliament also instructed the Ministry
of Environment “to assess the ecological damage caused by the
functioning of the Russian military bases.”
Rstakian said some 300 Armenians work at the base in Akhalkalaki
and the withdrawal of the base would be catastrophic for their
families. He also argued that the pullout of the bases would change
the balance of forces in the region jeopardizing its stability.
The most pressing problems in Javakhk are economic and it remains
notably the most underdeveloped region in the country. It has the
highest unemployment rate, the lowest level of state investment and
its infrastructure is the oldest and most damaged in Georgia. For
Javakhk residents not fortunate enough to have work associated with
the local Russian military base, conditions force much of the male
population to seasonally migrate to Russia in search of work, only
returning to their families in winter.

RFE/RL Analysis: Georgia Parliament Ups Ante On Russian Bases
Thursday, 10 March 2005

By Liz Fuller

Deputies in Georgia’s parilament voted unanimously on 10 March to call
on the government to effectively blockade the bases if the two countries
do not agree on their removal by mid-May.

Under an agreement signed at the OSCE Istanbul Summit in November 1999,
Russia undertook to close by 1 July 2000 its military bases in Vaziani,
near Tbilisi, and Gudauta, Abkhazia, and to begin talks with the
Georgian leadership in 2000 on the timeframe for closing its two
remaining bases in Batumi and Akhalkalaki. Russia complied with first of
those commitments, and embarked as required on talks on shutting down
the latter two bases.

But in the course of those talks, Russian officials have consistently
argued that a lengthy time period is required to build housing in Russia
for the troops to be withdrawn from Georgia. (That argument is specious
insofar as many of the personnel at the base in Akhalkalaki are in fact
ethnic Armenians who are citizens of Georgia.) Initially, Russian
officials said they needed 15 years to close the bases, then 14; that
figure was revised downward to 11, and then eight years, according to
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli on 9 March.

After the Georgian and Russian sides failed during Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Tbilisi last month to make any
progress toward solving either the deadlock over the bases or any of the
problems bedeviling bilateral relations, it was agreed to establish
working groups to seek to narrow the disagreements and report on 1 May
to the countries’ two presidents. Those working groups will focus on six
issues, including the proposed framework treaty on friendship and
cooperation and the timeframe for the closure of the two bases.

“If Russia rejects or refuses to met that deadline, the Georgian
parliament would declare the bases illegal and measures would be taken
to prevent them from functioning: Georgia would, for example, decline to
issue visas to Russian military personnel.”

Despite that agreement, Givi Targamadze, chairman of the Georgian
parliament’s Defense and Security Committee, announced within days of
Lavrov’s departure that the two remaining Russian bases should close by
1 January 2006 at the latest. On 25 February, parliament speaker Nino
Burdjanadze suggested that the Georgian leadership might declare the
Russian bases illegal if an agreement is not reached soon on a date for
their closure. Then on 7 March, parliament deputy Giga Bokeria unveiled
a draft bill that would require Russia to agree formally by 15 May to
close the two remaining bases by 1 January 2006. If Russia rejects or
refuses to met that deadline, the Georgian parliament would declare the
bases illegal and measures would be taken to prevent them from
functioning: Georgia would, for example, decline to issue visas to
Russian military personnel.

Bokeria’s draft bill appeared to take the Georgian leadership by
surprise. ITAR-TASS on 8 March quoted parliament speaker Burdjanadze as
telling the independent television station Rustavi-2 that parliament
should not adopt such a bill until after the expiry of the two months
agreed by Moscow and Tbilisi to try and reach a compromise. President
Mikheil Saakashvili also implicitly cautioned the parliament against
adopting the bill. He reaffirmed on 8 March Georgia’s “crystal-clear”
position that the bases should be closed, but proposed waiting to see
whether it is possible to reach an agreement with Russia within the two
month period, as did Prime Minister Noghaideli. Parliament was scheduled
to debate the draft bill on 9 March, but postponed the debate until 10
March at Burdjanadze’s request.

On 8 March, a senior Russian military official condemned the planned
debate as an attempt at blackmail, and on 9 March the Russian Foreign
Ministry warned that the debate would make it more difficult for the two
sides to reach the hoped-for compromise agreement. “The Russian side
will shortly submit its proposals aimed at finding solutions to existing
problems,” the Foreign Ministry statement continued.

In what have may have been a deliberate leak intended to defuse mounting
tensions, on 10 March, izvestiya.ru quoted an unnamed Russian Defense
Ministry official as saying that Russia does not want to keep the bases
in Georgia forever, but their personnel will be redeployed to the
Caucasus to serve in a new mountain rifle division which will be formed
only three or four years from now. While that time frame might appeal to
the Georgian leadership — in that the bases would theoretically have
been closed prior to the expiry of Saakashvili’s first presidential term
— it may not be enough to mollify the parliament. And that anonymous
statement represents a clear retreat from earlier Russian arguments in
favor of simply renaming one or both bases an “anti-terrorism center.”

Meanwhile, the Georgian State Employment Agency is already addressing
the problem of providing employment for the Armenians who currently
account for up to one third of the personnel at the Akhalkalaki base,
and who are already expressing unease at the prospects of losing their
livelihood in a region with few employment opportunities. The Georgian
daily “Rezonansi” on 10 March quoted the agency’s chairman, Levan
Peradze, as saying that a job-creation program is in the works, and he
suggested some of the personnel in question may find jobs in private
security services. And Goga Khachidze, who was recently named governor
of the Djavakheti region where the Akhalkalaki base is located, pledged
the same day that the Georgian leadership will do everything possible to
ensure that its closure “is painless” for the local Armenian population.

As the Georgian authorities have failed consistently to deliver on
earlier promises to improve conditions in the remote, mountainous and
impoverished region, the Armenians are understandably skeptical. David
Rstakian, leader of the Virk party that represents the local Armenian
community, was quoted by Caucasus Press on 10 March as saying, “The
Armenians of Javakheti will do all they can to prevent the Russian
troops from leaving Akhalkalaki. If Russia refuses to pull out its
troops, it may need our help.”

That help, he implied, would be willingly offered.

ArmenPress
March 7 2005

ARMENIAN OFFICIAL QUESTIONS VERACITY OF TURKISH FM’s ANNOUNCEMENT

YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS: An Armenian government official
questioned today the veracity of an announcement by Turkish foreign
minister Abdullah Gul who was quoted by Turkish daily Hurriyet as
saying last week that some 40,000 Armenian citizens live and work in
Istanbul and other Turkish cities.
Gagik Yeganian, head of a government-affiliated department of
migrants and refugees, said Gul’s announcement was an effort to
exploit this issue in its drive to join the EU and to allege that
even without diplomatic relations between the two countries Armenians
live and work in Turkey freely.
Citing official figures, Yeganian said in the years between
1998-2004 58,839 Armenian citizens went to Turkey and 53,318 of them
came back. According to him, the overwhelming majority of Armenians
traveling to Turkey are either tourists or shuttle-traders. He also
said about 100 Turkish citizens arrive in Armenia a month.

Agence France Presse
5 mars 2005 samedi 8:16 AM GMT

L’Arménie survit grce aux transferts de fonds de sa diaspora (PAPIER
D’ANGLE)

Par Mariam HAROUTIOUNIAN

EREVAN 5 mars 2005

L’économie arménienne, exsangue depuis la chute de l’URSS et la
guerre du Haut-Karabakh, dépend en grande partie des transferts de
fonds des membres de sa diaspora, lesquels n’ont cessé d’augmenter
ces dernières années et devraient dépasser le milliard de dollars en
2005.

“Les transferts de l’étranger permettent à nos citoyens de conserver
un bon niveau de vie, ce qui favorise en retour la croissance du
produit intérieur brut” (PIB), souligne le président de la Banque
centrale arménienne, Tigran Sargsian.

En 2004, les transferts des Arméniens expatriés à leurs proches
demeurés au pays ont augmenté de 55% pour s’établir à 740 millions de
dollars, surpassant le budget du pays de 600 millions de dollars.

Selon la Banque centrale, ces transferts de fonds génèrent un quart
de la croissance économique.

M. Sargsian explique l’augmentation des transferts par le fait que
les Arméniens établis à l’étranger ont vu leur situation économique
s’améliorer. Les liens entre la diaspora et sa patrie d’origine se
sont également renforcés.

“La croissance économique rend l’Arménie plus attrayante pour les
Arméniens de la diaspora, lesquels investissent dans l’immobilier et
retournent vivre dans leur patrie historique”, explique le chef de la
Banque centrale.

Depuis l’effondrement de l’URSS en 1991, près d’un million
d’Arméniens ont quitté l’Arménie, un pays du Caucase dépourvu de
ressources énergétiques et qui fait l’objet d’un blocus économique de
la part de la Turquie et de l’Azerbaïdjan en raison du conflit du
Haut-Karabakh, une province azerbaïdjanaise passée sous contrôle
arménien au début des années 1990.

La plupart ont émigré en Russie, aux Etats-Unis et en Europe.

Une grande partie des quelque 3,7 millions de personnes demeurées en
Arménie dépendent aujourd’hui pour vivre de l’argent que leur
envoient leurs proches travaillant à l’étranger.

“D’autres pays peuvent compter sur des ressources complémentaires
comme le pétrole. Pour l’Arménie, cette ressource est son importante
diaspora” et ses travailleurs émigrés, dit l’économiste Levon
Barkhoudarian.

M. Barkhoudarian estime que les fonds rapatriés permettent de
diminuer les tensions sociales et politiques dans le pays.

Mais d’autres experts mettent en garde contre les effets pervers de
tels transferts.

Vagram Avanessian estime qu’en plus d’handicaper la production locale
et d’augmenter les importations, ces transferts créent une
dépendance.

Beaucoup d’Arméniens risquent ainsi de devoir encore longtemps vivre
loin de chez eux même s’ils souhaiteraient rentrer.

“Pendant des années, mon mari a cherché vainement du travail en
Arménie et a dû partir travailler à l’étranger, même si c’était très
difficile pour lui de quitter sa famille”, raconte Anna, 36 ans, mère
de deux enfants. “Chaque fois qu’il téléphone, il demande s’il y a du
travail pour lui au pays”.

Le mari d’Anna travaille depuis cinq ans dans la construction dans
une petite ville de Russie et envoie tous les mois entre 300 et 400
dollars à sa famille.

Vardan, 60 ans, vit de l’argent que sa fille aînée lui envoie des
Etats-Unis: “Ma fille Marina travaille comme nourrice depuis deux ans
bien qu’elle soit diplômée de l’Ecole polytechnique d’Erevan”,
explique-t-il.

“Personne ne s’étonne plus qu’un ancien instituteur fasse du commerce
dans les rues de Moscou ou qu’un scientifique soit chauffeur de taxi
à Madrid”, ajoute le vieil homme.

Les Arméniens qui ont émigré pour des raisons économiques depuis 1991
travaillent principalement dans les services, le commerce et la
construction, selon des données de la Banque centrale.

Agence France Presse — English
March 2, 2005 Wednesday 5:58 PM GMT

Azeri soldier reported killed in ceasefire breach

BAKU

One Azeri soldier was killed and one wounded in a ceasefire breach
along the tense line dividing Azerbaijan and Armenian-occupied
territory, Azeri television channels reported Wednesday.

“One soldier was killed and another hospitalized in the aftermath of
a shootout with Armenian forces,” ANS television said in an evening
news bulletin.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a stalemate over the
ethnic Armenian enclave Nagorno Karabakh ever since they ended
large-scale hostilities with an uneasy ceasefire agreement in 1994.

Armenia controls Karabakh and seven surrounding regions equal to
roughly 14 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized
territory.

Last year six people lost their lives in ceasefire breaches while an
additional 13 people were killed and 21 injured on landmines around
Karabakh.

Armenia’s Kentron TV gets new chief

Aravot, Yerevan
2 Mar 05

The managing director of the Kentron TV company, Petros Kazaryan, has
resigned from his post.

Meruzhan Sarkisyan, the former commentator of Channel Two’s “Lraber”
[News] news bulletin, has become the 8th chief of the channel.