Tweet
NIGOL BEZJIAN: I WANTED TO SHOW A DIFFERENT ISTANBUL TO TURKS
Alisa Gevorgyan
"Radiolur"
11.07.2012 14:53
Authors of the "I Left My Shoes in Istanbul" and "Nana" films
Nigol Bezjian and Valerie Massadian , who have arrived in Armenia
to participate in the 9th Golden Apricot Film festival, met with
reporters today to tell about the films and share their impressions
from the Motherland.
Nigol Bezjian was born and grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, before
moving to the USA where he attended New York School of Visual Arts
(BFA in Cinema) and then UCLA. Nigol Bezjian lived and worked in
many countries. He has shot a number of films and won awards from
prestigious international FFs.
The film "I Left My Shoes in Istanbul" closely follows Sako Arian,
A Lebanese Armenian modernist poet who embarks onto a journey that
has been delayed for a century; the return to his ancestral city of
Istanbul, where his cultural and literally roots are found.
Sako tours the old streets of Istanbul once populated by Armenians,
the ancient cemeteries and the poets buried in them, the old churches
and more than a century old high school.
He meets the young and the old, the famed and the humble, Armenians
and Turks, listens to their stories, their opinions, he laughs and
shares food with them.
"With this film I wanted to show a different Istanbul to Turks, a
city they are not familiar with, it is the Armenian Bolis," director
of the film Nigol Bezjian said.
"We created a state, but created it with bloody hands," one of
the heroes of the film confesses. The film openly speaks about the
Armenian Genocide, although it is a joint Lebanese-Armenian-Turkish
production. The director of the film says the Turkish side created
no obstacles for shooting the film. However, he is not certain about
the reaction that will follow the screening of the film in Turkey.
The film was first screened within the framework of the Golden Apricot
Film Festival. "I Left My Shoes in Istanbul" and Valerie Massadian's
"Nana" are presented in the "Armenian Panorama" program.
This was Valerie Massadian's first visit to the Motherland. She said
feelings do not allow her to speak about the impressions.
Alisa Gevorgyan
"Radiolur"
11.07.2012 14:53
Authors of the "I Left My Shoes in Istanbul" and "Nana" films
Nigol Bezjian and Valerie Massadian , who have arrived in Armenia
to participate in the 9th Golden Apricot Film festival, met with
reporters today to tell about the films and share their impressions
from the Motherland.
Nigol Bezjian was born and grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, before
moving to the USA where he attended New York School of Visual Arts
(BFA in Cinema) and then UCLA. Nigol Bezjian lived and worked in
many countries. He has shot a number of films and won awards from
prestigious international FFs.
The film "I Left My Shoes in Istanbul" closely follows Sako Arian,
A Lebanese Armenian modernist poet who embarks onto a journey that
has been delayed for a century; the return to his ancestral city of
Istanbul, where his cultural and literally roots are found.
Sako tours the old streets of Istanbul once populated by Armenians,
the ancient cemeteries and the poets buried in them, the old churches
and more than a century old high school.
He meets the young and the old, the famed and the humble, Armenians
and Turks, listens to their stories, their opinions, he laughs and
shares food with them.
"With this film I wanted to show a different Istanbul to Turks, a
city they are not familiar with, it is the Armenian Bolis," director
of the film Nigol Bezjian said.
"We created a state, but created it with bloody hands," one of
the heroes of the film confesses. The film openly speaks about the
Armenian Genocide, although it is a joint Lebanese-Armenian-Turkish
production. The director of the film says the Turkish side created
no obstacles for shooting the film. However, he is not certain about
the reaction that will follow the screening of the film in Turkey.
The film was first screened within the framework of the Golden Apricot
Film Festival. "I Left My Shoes in Istanbul" and Valerie Massadian's
"Nana" are presented in the "Armenian Panorama" program.
This was Valerie Massadian's first visit to the Motherland. She said
feelings do not allow her to speak about the impressions.