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Targeted News Service
December 2, 2011 Friday 11:44 PM EST
Film Lifting Veil on Armenian Women Who Were Forced Into Bondage
During Genocide to Be Screened at Ramapo College
MAHWAH, N.J.
Ramapo College issued the following news release:
Director Suzanne Khardalian will screen and lead a discussion of her
film "Grandma's Tattoos," at Ramapo College of New Jersey on December
9 from3:45 to 5:15 p.m. in Room B222/223.
The film is a personal film about what happened to many Armenian women
during the genocide. It is a ghost story-with the ghosts of the
tattooed women haunting us-and a mystery film, where many taboos are
broken. As no one wants to tell the reel and whole story, and in order
to bring the pieces of the puzzle together, the director makes us move
between different times and space, from today's Sweden to Khardalian's
childhood in Beirut. The viewer is taken on a journey into the secrets
of the family.
Eventually, Khardalian's mother reveals the secret behind Grandma
Khanoum's blue marks. "Grandma was abducted and kept in slavery for
many years somewhere in Turkey. She was also forcibly
marked-tattooed-as property, the same way you mark cattle. Grandma
Khanoum's fate was not an aberration. On the contrary, tens of
thousands of Armenian children and teenagers were raped and abducted,
kept in slavery. Although after World War I U.S. and European
missionary and aid groups rescued over 90,000 of these victimized
Armenian young girls and children, the film makes clear that the
ordeal for these survivors of genocide did not end there.
Suzanne Khardalian is an independent filmmaker and writer. She studied
journalism in Beirut and Paris and worked as a journalist in Paris
until 1985, when she started to work on films. She also holds a
master's degree in international law and diplomacy from the Fletcher
School at Tufts University, and contributes articles to different
journals. She has directed more than 20 films that have been shown
both in Europe and the U.S. They include "Back to Ararat" (1988),
"Unsafe Ground" (1993), "The Lion from Gaza" (1996), "Her Armenian
Prince" (1997), "From Opium to Chrysanthemums" (2000), "Where Lies My
Victory" (2002), "I Hate Dogs" (2005), "Bullshit" (2006), and "Young
Freud in Gaza" (2009).
The screening and presentation are free and open to the public. It is
being co-sponsored with the Armenian National Committee of New Jersey.
For more information or to reserve a seat, please call 201.684.7409.
Contact: Anna Farneski, Assistant Vice President, Marketing and
Communications, 201/684-6844
December 2, 2011 Friday 11:44 PM EST
Film Lifting Veil on Armenian Women Who Were Forced Into Bondage
During Genocide to Be Screened at Ramapo College
MAHWAH, N.J.
Ramapo College issued the following news release:
Director Suzanne Khardalian will screen and lead a discussion of her
film "Grandma's Tattoos," at Ramapo College of New Jersey on December
9 from3:45 to 5:15 p.m. in Room B222/223.
The film is a personal film about what happened to many Armenian women
during the genocide. It is a ghost story-with the ghosts of the
tattooed women haunting us-and a mystery film, where many taboos are
broken. As no one wants to tell the reel and whole story, and in order
to bring the pieces of the puzzle together, the director makes us move
between different times and space, from today's Sweden to Khardalian's
childhood in Beirut. The viewer is taken on a journey into the secrets
of the family.
Eventually, Khardalian's mother reveals the secret behind Grandma
Khanoum's blue marks. "Grandma was abducted and kept in slavery for
many years somewhere in Turkey. She was also forcibly
marked-tattooed-as property, the same way you mark cattle. Grandma
Khanoum's fate was not an aberration. On the contrary, tens of
thousands of Armenian children and teenagers were raped and abducted,
kept in slavery. Although after World War I U.S. and European
missionary and aid groups rescued over 90,000 of these victimized
Armenian young girls and children, the film makes clear that the
ordeal for these survivors of genocide did not end there.
Suzanne Khardalian is an independent filmmaker and writer. She studied
journalism in Beirut and Paris and worked as a journalist in Paris
until 1985, when she started to work on films. She also holds a
master's degree in international law and diplomacy from the Fletcher
School at Tufts University, and contributes articles to different
journals. She has directed more than 20 films that have been shown
both in Europe and the U.S. They include "Back to Ararat" (1988),
"Unsafe Ground" (1993), "The Lion from Gaza" (1996), "Her Armenian
Prince" (1997), "From Opium to Chrysanthemums" (2000), "Where Lies My
Victory" (2002), "I Hate Dogs" (2005), "Bullshit" (2006), and "Young
Freud in Gaza" (2009).
The screening and presentation are free and open to the public. It is
being co-sponsored with the Armenian National Committee of New Jersey.
For more information or to reserve a seat, please call 201.684.7409.
Contact: Anna Farneski, Assistant Vice President, Marketing and
Communications, 201/684-6844