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36 Hours. A True Story: Istanbul-Yerevan By Bus (PHOTOS)
03.07.2012 09:37 epress.am
`44 passengers, 36 hours, one big family... Turkey and Armenia... Two
closed countries. Two distant neighbors. Throughout history, those two
nations have shared the same land. Nowadays, those two nations, though
living side by side, ignore each other,' said Aris Nalci, the
filmmaker and project coordinator of a new documentary project that
traces the lives and stories of the passengers and drivers of buses
that travel between Yerevan and Istanbul each week. Because of the
closed border between the two countries, a one-way trip takes 36 hours
and goes through Georgia.
`The main objective of the project is to shed some light on the
challenges faced by the Armenian immigrants that come to Turkey
through Georgia and to raise awareness about the problems related
specifically to the journey between Turkey and Armenia,' said the
filmmaker.
The film, `Bus: A Mobility Reporting Project,' will be screened in
Istanbul, Yerevan, Belgium and perhaps also in France. The team behind
the project has also submitted the film to several festivals with the
aim of attracting a broader audience. After it does the film festival
circuit, the film will be broadcast on Turkish television. There are
also plans to organize photography exhibits in Istanbul and Gyumri of
the photos taken on the trip.
Speaking to Epress.am, Nalci describes the story of one couple on the
bus and in the film: `A nurse originally from Armenia, Anahid, and an
Iranian labourer, Halil, met two years ago in Turkey. Anahid migrated
to Turkey to look for work, and it's been 6 years that she's been
living in Turkey and working as a nurse, so that her children can
study in Armenia. She takes care of the elderly by staying with them
overnight and helping them the best way she can. As a cheap labourer,
she does the work that others refuse to do, but she doesn't complain.
Her daughter is now expecting a child, which is why Anahid was coming
to Armenia, to see her daughter.
`Halil's story is totally different. He is Christian Iranian. He was
the first one to get on the bus. He took seat No. 19 and each
passenger that passed him looked closely at what he was reading. We
too were dumbstruck. We thought he was reading the Koran in a bus
going to Armenia. But no, actually he was reading the Bible in Farsi.
`Halil wanted to tell us his story but was afraid. Being Christian in
Iran, he tells us that he ran away from Ahmadinejad's regime.
`'To be Christian in Iran is only official for one minority group: the
Armenians. If you are Iranian and not Muslim you are more mistreated
than the member of a minority group,' he told us. By fleeing the
regime in Iran, he left his children behind him. They became Muslim
but Halil couldn't convert. He didn't want to convert. During the
entire trip he didn't put down his Bible.'
Described in the film are the stories of other passengers, mainly
people who are forced to take the long and tedious trip by bus since
they are unable to afford the more expensive airfare. If the border
between Armenia and Turkey was open, this same trip would be reduced
by 2.5 times.
`Bus: A Mobility Reporting Project' was produced through the
USAID-funded Support to Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement project
implemented by the Consortium, which includes Eurasia Partnership
Foundation, Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia,
International Center for Human Development and Yerevan Press Club.
From: Baghdasarian
03.07.2012 09:37 epress.am
`44 passengers, 36 hours, one big family... Turkey and Armenia... Two
closed countries. Two distant neighbors. Throughout history, those two
nations have shared the same land. Nowadays, those two nations, though
living side by side, ignore each other,' said Aris Nalci, the
filmmaker and project coordinator of a new documentary project that
traces the lives and stories of the passengers and drivers of buses
that travel between Yerevan and Istanbul each week. Because of the
closed border between the two countries, a one-way trip takes 36 hours
and goes through Georgia.
`The main objective of the project is to shed some light on the
challenges faced by the Armenian immigrants that come to Turkey
through Georgia and to raise awareness about the problems related
specifically to the journey between Turkey and Armenia,' said the
filmmaker.
The film, `Bus: A Mobility Reporting Project,' will be screened in
Istanbul, Yerevan, Belgium and perhaps also in France. The team behind
the project has also submitted the film to several festivals with the
aim of attracting a broader audience. After it does the film festival
circuit, the film will be broadcast on Turkish television. There are
also plans to organize photography exhibits in Istanbul and Gyumri of
the photos taken on the trip.
Speaking to Epress.am, Nalci describes the story of one couple on the
bus and in the film: `A nurse originally from Armenia, Anahid, and an
Iranian labourer, Halil, met two years ago in Turkey. Anahid migrated
to Turkey to look for work, and it's been 6 years that she's been
living in Turkey and working as a nurse, so that her children can
study in Armenia. She takes care of the elderly by staying with them
overnight and helping them the best way she can. As a cheap labourer,
she does the work that others refuse to do, but she doesn't complain.
Her daughter is now expecting a child, which is why Anahid was coming
to Armenia, to see her daughter.
`Halil's story is totally different. He is Christian Iranian. He was
the first one to get on the bus. He took seat No. 19 and each
passenger that passed him looked closely at what he was reading. We
too were dumbstruck. We thought he was reading the Koran in a bus
going to Armenia. But no, actually he was reading the Bible in Farsi.
`Halil wanted to tell us his story but was afraid. Being Christian in
Iran, he tells us that he ran away from Ahmadinejad's regime.
`'To be Christian in Iran is only official for one minority group: the
Armenians. If you are Iranian and not Muslim you are more mistreated
than the member of a minority group,' he told us. By fleeing the
regime in Iran, he left his children behind him. They became Muslim
but Halil couldn't convert. He didn't want to convert. During the
entire trip he didn't put down his Bible.'
Described in the film are the stories of other passengers, mainly
people who are forced to take the long and tedious trip by bus since
they are unable to afford the more expensive airfare. If the border
between Armenia and Turkey was open, this same trip would be reduced
by 2.5 times.
`Bus: A Mobility Reporting Project' was produced through the
USAID-funded Support to Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement project
implemented by the Consortium, which includes Eurasia Partnership
Foundation, Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia,
International Center for Human Development and Yerevan Press Club.
From: Baghdasarian