Film: Reviews: Armenian drama ‘Spitak,’ ‘Bernie the Dolphin’ and more movies

Los Angeles Times
Dec 5 2018

With a theatrical release timed to coincide with the anniversary of the devastating 1988 Armenian Earthquake, Alexander Kott’s “Spitak” is a spare, haunting character-driven drama set in the immediate aftermath of the temblor that left more than 25,000 dead.

Hurrying back to Spitak, where he left his family behind for a new life in Moscow with another woman, Ghor (Lernik Harutyunyan) finds his hometown, located at the quake’s epicenter, reduced to rubble.

Driven by desperation and guilt, Ghor feverishly combs through the ashen debris in search of his wife and young daughter, probing locals for clues as to their possible whereabouts.

Somewhat reminiscent in tone of 2012’s “The Impossible,” which dealt with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the production, Armenia’s official selection for best foreign language film Academy Award consideration, is more concerned with the unfolding, subdued human drama than action-heavy rescue sequences.

That doesn’t mean Russian filmmaker Kott spares us the horrific images — the most disturbing of which involves the discovery of a school classroom full of lifeless students entombed beneath the rocky wreckage.

“The sun has gone into hiding,” remarks one of the survivors of the grey, perpetual winter that engulfs them, against the aching strains of the mournful score by System of a Down lead vocalist Serj Tankian.

Amidst the despair, “Spitak” nevertheless offers a glimmer of hope in the bleakness.

— Michael Rechtshaffen

‘Spitak’

In Armenian and French with English subtitles

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

Playing: Starts Dec. 7, Laemmle’s Glendale Theatre, Glendale

conti. reading aboute the other movies at

Azerbaijani Press: Armenian Side Proposes to Exchange Elnur Huseynzadeh for Armenian Captive

Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition Press
December 5, 2018 Wednesday
Armenian Side Proposes to Exchange Elnur Huseynzadeh for Armenian Captive


Baku / 05.12.18 / Turan: The representative of the "MFA" of Karabakh Artak Nersisyan told the Armenian media that the Armenian side does not consider it possible to exchange Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev for Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan.

According to him, Guliyev and Asgarov "committed serious crimes and cannot be considered prisoners of war". At the same time, "as a humanitarian gesture," the Karabakh side is ready to consider the possibility of early release of the Azerbaijani citizen Elnur Huseynzadeh, who "did not commit serious crimes in Karabakh", Nersisyan said.

He made it clear that the Armenian side is waiting for a response from Baku in the form of the liberation of Armenians and, above all, those with health problems.

Recall that in Azerbaijan there are three captured Armenians and as many Azerbaijanis on the Armenian side. Some time ago, Baku offered to exchange everyone for everyone, but the Armenian side refused to do so.

Recall that Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev were detained and convicted in Karabakh in 2014. Elnur Huseynzadeh was captured in February 2017.

Azerbaijan has Armenian citizens Zaven Karapetyan and Karen Ghazaryan, as well as a Karabakh resident Arsen Baghdasaryan. -02D-

Sports: Armenia coach talks qualifying opponents in Group J

MediaMax, Armenia
Dec 6 2018
Armenia coach talks qualifying opponents in Group J

“Italy is the obvious favorite in our group, but compared to other top teams, Italy isn’t the hardest option we could get: there are France, Belgium, Spain, all very impressive. Bosnia and Herzegovina progressed substantially and has footballers playing for strong European clubs. They play very fast, aggressive football. It was no coincidence that they won their group in Nations League. We don’t have a good record with them, but we’ll try to fix it,” Gyulbudaghyants told the official website of Football Federation of Armenia.

According to him, Finland has great potential and a good squad play despite lacking outstanding individuals.

“It has always been difficult with Finland, but I think the style of their current team could be more convenient for us, if we don’t allow too many aerial challenges. Greece was in the same group as Finland in the Nations League and conceded the first place to them. There’s been a decline in their game in recent years, but I think the team will get into a better form gradually,” added Gyulbudaghyants.

The other team in Group J is a familiar rival from the Nations League, Lichtenstein. “We know them the best, because we played them very recently. Despite low ranking, they are a good team and they give good performance especially at home ground. We have to avoid repeating the mistakes we made in previous games against them,” said Gyulbudaghyants.

The coach also spoke about the Euro 2020 qualifying fixtures, saying Armenia had no reason to complain. He considers it important that Armenia won’t have an away game against Finland in the tough weather conditions in March or November, thanks to the new regulations introduced by UEFA.

Azerbaijani Press: Russia Refuses to Sell "Bal" Missile System to Azerbaijan

Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition Press
December 5, 2018 Wednesday
Russia Refuses to Sell "Bal" Missile System to Azerbaijan
 
Moscow / 12/05/18 / Turan: The Kommersant newspaper reported on Moscow"s refusal to supply "Bal" missiles to Azerbaijan.
 
The military believe that this coastal missile system will pose a threat to Russian ships in the Caspian.
 
"Bal-E" is intended for control of territorial waters, protection of bases, coastal infrastructure and sea communications. The complex includes self-propelled command and control centers, self-propelled launchers with anti-ship missiles, transport and handling machines. The range of destruction is up to 120 km.
 
According to the publication, the parties had initialed a contract for the supply of a small batch of "Bal" missiles and several dozen 3M24 missiles (export version of the X-35E missiles). But the agreement was not signed finally. The calculations of the Russian side showed that even the export modification of these missiles could pose a potential threat to the ships of the Russian Navy in Russian territorial waters.
 
The Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation and Rosoboronexport declined to comment the matter.
 
According to a high-ranking source, the issue of "Bal" deliveries to the Azerbaijani military is not discussed also because of "a very delicate geopolitical nuance." Since in recent years the X-35 type rocket has been modernized for the destruction of earthly targets, Moscow does not want Baku to use these weapons in Nagorno-Karabakh, the source said.
 
-02D-

Azerbaijani Press: Armenia heats confusion over CSTO summit

Azer News, Azerbaijan
Dec 6 2018

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Armenian political circles are entangled in their own statements and continue to create problems with the activities of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The CSTO summit, scheduled earlier for December 6 in St. Petersburg, will not take place. Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told reporters that in a telephone conversation with him, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested postponing the meeting, considering it necessary first to discuss all the contradictions in a working order, and then get together with the ready-made solution.

However, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov noted that the summit of CSTO countries’ leaders was cancelled, taking into account the request of Armenia, which is preparing for parliamentary elections.

Thus, Valery Semerikov remains the CSTO Secretary General. Speaking about the candidacy of the new Secretary General, Ushakov stressed that "there are several options." Besides, the new CSTO summit is unlikely to be held by the end of 2018 he noted.

Ushakov’s statement, in fact, puzzled the Armenian authorities on the eve of the elections, putting them in a ridiculous situation. While Pashinyan claims that the summit was cancelled by Putin, the assistant to the president of Russia indicates that the meeting was cancelled at the request of the Armenian side. And something suggests that the latter is precisely the truth.

Yerevan hurried up to refute Ushakov. Arman Yegoyan, spokesman for Pashinyan said that Armenia did not address the proposal to postpone the summit of CSTO countries’ leaders, which was scheduled for December 6.

Meanwhile, Armenia is indeed not interested to discuss the issue of the CSTO Secretary General on December 6 because of upcoming December 9 elections. Failure in St. Petersburg could adversely affect the number of mandates collected by the Pashinyan team. And after the meeting in Astana, his rating has been strongly shaken. Probably Nikol Pashinyan understands that the chance to incline the allies to a decision in favor of Armenia is small. The new failure does not promise the crowd leader anything good.

For instance, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the statements of Arman Egoyan as disturbing both in form and in content. Moreover, she added that words of Assistant to the President of Russia Ushakov do not need confirmation.

What is obvious misleading the public becomes for Pashinyan an unshakable tradition. Sooner or later the time will come and Pashinyan pay for his lies used to achieve his goals. His thoughtless steps in foreign policy reduce the chances of Armenia to become a worthy country in the international arena.

This may result in the fact that Armenia may lose CSTO membership due to Pashinyan’s irrational policy.

Armenian State Revenue Committee head comments on Golden Palace Hotel handover to government

ARKA, Armenia
Dec 6 2018

YEREVAN, December 6. /ARKA/. Narek Babayan, the head of the Armenian State Revenue Committee, told journalists on Thursday at which stage the process of handover of Golden Palace Hotel to the government is.  

On November 28, Armenian Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armen Avetisyan, a former head of the Armenian Customs Committee, is providing the hotel owned by him to the government as gift. 

Earlier, the National Security Service opened a criminal case against Avetisyan suspecting him of illegal engagement in entrepreneurship and of gross money laundering.  

”First, it is necessary that law enforcement agencies react properly to that, and after that the government will instruct to launch the process,” Narek Babayan said. “Particularly over Golden Palace, we are specifying procedures, an appropriate draft decision will be submitted to the government, and appropriate procedures will be launched after a positive conclusion on accepting the gift.”

Babayan said that investigators’ conclusions are very important either on the Avetisyan case and MP Manvel Grigoryan’s case to confirm the illegality of the purchase of these properties.  

Early, Sasun Khachatryan, the head of the Special Investigation Committee, said that 40 units of immovable property owned by Grigoryan will be provided to 40 communities. 

”On the other side, the government itself makes this political decision, taking into account the law enforcement agency’s conclusion,” Babayan said. “We are waiting now the final instruction, but along with that, we are working out other versions.” –0—

Russia’s trade representative in Armenia urges to respect presumption of innocence and refrain from premature accusations – media

ARKA, Armenia
Dec 6 2018

YEREVAN, December 6. /ARKA/. Russia’s Trade Representative in Armenia Andrei Babko, commenting Armenia’s law enforcement agencies’ attention to the South Caucasus Railway CJSC and Gazprom-Armenia CJSC, urged everybody not to make such a fuss over these companies and to respect presumption of innocence, 168 Zham reported on Thursday. 

“There is a fuss, but there is no evidence,” he said. “I would like everything to take place in accordance with the law. If there is a crime, then conduct an investigation and apply to court. Only having a court decision it is possible to speak about guilt.”

Speaking about Gazprom-Armenia, he said that it is necessary to find how the natural gas price grows twice for consumers in Armenia. 

“We welcome anti-corruption measures, but everything should be done in accordance with the law,” Babko said. -0—

Ce vendredi dans La Provence : il y a 30 ans, l’Arménie balayée par un séisme

La Provence, France
6 dec 2018


Ce vendredi dans La Provence : il y a 30 ans, l’Arménie balayée par un séisme

Par La Provence

Photo archives       

Le 7 décembre 1988, à 11 h 41, un tremblement de terre d’une magnitude de 6,9 sur l’échelle de Richter faisait 30 000 morts en Arménie, soulevant un élan de solidarité exceptionnel à Marseille et dans la région…

Video https://www.laprovence.com/actu/en-direct/5275555/demain-dans-la-provence-il-y-a-30-ans-larmenie-balayee-par-un-seisme.html

  

Longlaville : la famille Balasanyan repart en Arménie

Le Républicain Lorrain– France
4 déc. 2018




Longlaville : la famille Balasanyan repart en Arménie

  • Vu 9573 fois
  •                
Photo HD Zenhya, Gurgen et leurs jumelles, Julia et Jiana, sont repartis en Arménie. Les filles, nées en France, vont se retrouver dans un pays qui leur est totalement étranger. Photo René BYCH
  • REAGIR

De guerre lasse, la famille Balasanyan a décidé, dans la soirée de lundi, d’accepter son retour “volontaire” en Arménie. Les parents, Gurgen et Zenhya, avaient signé cet accord suite à leur signification d’expulsion de leur logement d’urgence.

Ils sont partis mardi de chez eux aux aurores, à 5h. Ils avaient rendez-vous avec l’Office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration (Ofii) à 10h à l’aéroport. Leur vol étant prévu vers 13h à destination de l’Arménie. « La famille a décidé d’honorer la date de départ fixée, de peur de ne pas voir aboutir un nouveau recours », indique, désabusée, Émilie l’Huillier, une des mères d’enfants scolarisés à l’école Paul-Doumer de Longlaville, qui a soutenu les Balasanyan.

« Leur famille va effectuer huit heures de route entre l’aéroport et leur village. Et ils n’auront pas la possibilité de revenir en France. Je suis inquiète et triste par rapport aux enfants. Ils ont apprécié le soutien apporté », reprend Émilie l’Huillier.

Lundi soir, une dernière réunion avait lieu dans les locaux de la mairie de Longlaville, en présence de membres de la municipalité, des Balasanyan, de parents d’élèves et d’une avocate. Cette dernière avait évoqué la possibilité de lancer un recours devant le tribunal administratif. Gurgen et Zenhya avaient émis plusieurs demandes de naturalisation avec promesse d’embauche à la clé. Elles avaient toutes été refusées.

« Nous respectons la décision de la famille. Elle avait signé un accord un peu contrainte et forcée. Nous l’aurions accompagnée si elle était restée en France. Elle craignait d’avoir des problèmes plus graves si elle restait sur le territoire », note Jean-Marc Duriez, maire de Longlaville, parlant au nom de la municipalité. La famille était intégrée.

Les jumelles de Gurgen et Zenhya, Julia et Jiana, vont donc se retrouver à l’étranger. Les jeunes filles sont nées en France, ont une éducation française puisqu’elles ont suivi toute leur scolarité dans l’Hexagone, de la maternelle au CP. Elles comprennent l’arménien mais ne le parlent pas et ne l’écrivent pas, l’alphabet n’étant pas latin dans ce pays.

Stéphane MALNORY.

https://www.republicain-lorrain.fr/edition-de-longwy/2018/12/04/longlaville-la-famille-balasanyan-repart-en-armenie




Residents in Armenia’s Debed Canyon Face Stark Choice between Poison and Destitution

IndraStra Global
Dec 6 2018


Residents in Armenia’s Debed Canyon Face Stark Choice between Poison and Destitution

In February 2018, with its Danish state-sponsored backers having pulled out citing health and safety violations, the Vallex Group open-pit mine at Teghut in Armenia’s Debed Canyon laid-off over a thousand workers. Families have been ripped apart as husbands and sons emigrate to look for work, whilst local farmer’s lands have been rendered infertile by the tailing dam from this and other mines pouring straight into the Debed River. Combined with the Vallex-operated copper smelting factory in the region’s main town of Alaverdi, the project at Teghut had accounted for 80% of employment opportunities in the region, leaving residents facing a stark choice between poison and destitution.

Replete with UNESCO sites, the Debed Canyon in Northern Armenia is a region rich in history. Copper smelting in the region dates back to the eighteenth century. By 1903, output accounted for 13% of the total produced in the Russian Empire. Massive construction works during the Soviet-era saw Alaverdi become a key hub of metallurgy and the chemical industry. With the influence of Moscow declining, when the smelter closed in 1988, parts were sold off, including filters which had mitigated the effects of caustic emissions. When the plant reopened in 1997, nothing was done to replace the missing filters.

Image Attribute: Oleg Dulgaryan at the Center for Community Mobilization and Support in Alaverdi / Photo: Klaus Richter
Oleg Dulgaryan is the Executive Director at the Center for Community Mobilization and Support in Alaverdi. Operating since 2009, his NGO is engaged in project implementation, advocacy and protecting the environment.

"In our region, many people complain about health problems such as headaches, difficulties with breathing and blurred vision," he told IndraStra Global. "An inordinate number of serious diseases plague our town. According to a report from 2016 by the World Health Organization, Armenia is second only to Zimbabwe in terms of tuberculosis, and our province is the epicenter". 
"At the moment, the Debed River is at risk from tailing dams. We shot a video three days ago at Akhtala," he said, reaching for his phone and pointing out the luminous yellow run-off. "People in the villages use this water. In our region, experts have found that the heavy metal levels in fruits and agricultural products are ten times the safe limit. In 2014, the American University in Armenia conducted an examination on the blood of children and found that the content of heavy metals was ten to twelve times the standard amount. There are many cases where gardens watered by tributaries of the Debed are now barren… There have been incidents where all the fish were floating dead on the surface".

Image Attribute: Polluted water in a tributary of the Debed River / Photo: Klaus Richter

From the peak of a dirt track near the village of Shnogh, the sprawling gray landfill site and the destruction reaped on the environment by the copper and molybdenum mine at Teghut is immediately visible. Due to the closure of the mine, the residents of Shnogh are overwhelmingly female; just a few listless men loitering on the streets.
"There are around 3,200 people in Shnogh, of which around 500 worked at Teghut," a shopkeeper who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing her family’s chances of future employment told IndraStra Global. "Only about 30 still have their jobs. It’s been very bad for the community. Many people took loans from the banks based on their jobs for health treatments, buying a car and so on. Their lands are not fruitful because the project bought their fertile lands extremely cheaply. Many people have had to leave Armenia because they couldn’t afford food, not even bread. So the men left and their families stayed behind. The husbands feel depressed about the situation, so they leave for Russia. In some cases, it’s led to divorces".
"I hope the mine will reopen; most people here do. Even now, in my shop, people can’t settle their bills, so it’s not possible for us to take care of our needs. For us, the environment isn’t an issue. It’s better to work and have environmental problems than to be unemployed."

Below the village, at an orchard on the banks of the Debed River, Ara Babayan surveyed his decimated peach grove.

Image Attribute:  Ara Babayan at his decimated orchard  / Photo: Klaus Richter
"The run-off from Teghut has affected the land horribly," he told IndraStra Global. "There’ll be a harvest this year, but very small. With the mining, the trees are dehydrated, and year by year it’s getting worse. The poison also comes down from the smokestack into the river. I took a $60,000 loan to buy this land; how can I pay it back? If the product is poisoned, no one will buy it. The Germans used to be big customers, but they won’t buy fruit from this region anymore".
"Almost every day the water here is silver. That’s from the tailing dam at Akhtala, whilst the one from Teghut has a terrible smell like rotting flesh. Despite promises they’d only be used in case of emergency, Teghut had two pipes flowing directly into the river. We had the water analyzed; the metal content is very high, but the mines and the factory say it’s got nothing to do with them".

Image Attribute: A mile away from the smelter smokestack, fumes obscure the view of Alaverdi / Photo: Klaus Richter

On the streets of Alaverdi, where the population has halved since 1989, the part-derelict front of the smelter stretches for over half a mile. Beyond its broken windows and barbed wire, atop a mountain at the back of the plant, a soaring smokestack belches a haze of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which becomes trapped in the gorge, poisoning the town’s residents. In 2003 alone, 1,389 children under the age of fourteen were diagnosed with respiratory illnesses.

"My father used to work at the copper smelter, but he lost his job," a twenty-year-old girl called Arminka told IndraStra Global. "When the last big layoff happened, the company gave a small amount of money, 20,000 Dram ($40 U.S.) per person to the regional administration, but no one who was made redundant received it. Before the factory, my father used to go to Russia to look for work. We were so happy when he got a job at the smelter, but now it’s the same situation where he needs to go to Russia. We keep putting off his departure hoping he’ll get his job back."


Image Attribute: Arminka at the tailing dam near Akhtala / Photo: Klaus Richter
When operations at Teghut were suspended in February 2018, the Vallex Group claimed it would reopen the mine shortly on a larger scale, but in October 2018 the Russian commercial bank, VTB gained control after Vallex failed to repay hundreds of millions of dollars in outstanding debts. Visiting Alaverdi as part of his election campaign on November 27th, 2018, acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Teghut would be ‘exploited’ again once the tailing dam had been renovated at a cost of US$ 14 million. "Now our compatriot, Russian-Armenian Norik Petrosyan has set to work… after which the mine will again operate," he told the crowd. Environmental groups strongly oppose the reopening of the site. Elections in Armenia are scheduled for the 9th of December.
About the Author:
Stephen M. Bland is a freelance journalist and award-winning author specializing in Central Asia, the Caucasus and South-East Asia. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including The Diplomat, Vice, EurasiaNet, and Motherboard. You can view a selection at www.stephenmbland.com Twitter: @stephenmbland

About the Photographer:

Klaus Richter is a freelance photographer currently living in and working from Lithuania. For more photographs, visit www.klausrichter.at

Cite this Article:

Bland, S.M, Richter, K., "Residents in Armenia’s Debed Canyon Face Stark Choice between Poison and Destitution", IndraStra Global Vol. 4, Issue No: 12 (2018), 0010, , ISSN 2381-3652.