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USC Student Syuzanna Petrosyan Shares Top Prize in Shoah Foundation
Film Competition
By MassisPost
Updated: March 14, 2014
LOS ANGELES -- A student from the University of Southern California who
describes herself as a descendant of survivor's of the Armenian
Genocide shared the top prize at this year's Student Voices Short Film
Contest sponsored by USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual
Learning and Education.
Syuzanna Petrosyan and fellow student Greg Irwin won the award March 6
for their short film "Play for your Life," which looks at the
orchestras organized by the Nazis in German concentration camps during
World War II.
Petrosyan said the film was inspired by Alice Herz-Somner, a pianist
who, until her death at 110 in February, was the oldest living
Holocaust survivor. Music factors heavily in Herz-Somner's testimony
in the Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive, which contains
nearly 52,000 recorded testimonies of survivors and other witnesses of
the Holocaust and other genocides.
In April 2010, The Institute signed a historic agreement with the
Armenian Film Foundation and the late filmmaker Dr. J. Michael
Hagopian to incorporate 400 testimonies of survivors of the Armenian
Genocide. The interviews, which are set to come out in April 2015,
will be used for educational purposes through the Visual History
Archive, where they will be stored in perpetuity.
Petrosyan said her interest in entering Student Voices comes from her
own Armenian background and interest in exploring the various
dimensions of genocides. As a public diplomacy master's candidate, she
said, "it is important to understand not only the big picture and
history of genocides, but also to observe the smaller and personal
stories of survivor's of the biggest crimes in history."
The film was the second movie featuring Herz-Somner to win an award in
one week. She is also the subject of the Academy Award-winning
documentary The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved my Life.
Student Voices is a chance for all USC graduate and undergraduate
students, regardless of major, to create short films that incorporate
survivor's testimony from the Visual History Archive.
Shirin Raban won the Viewer's Choice Award for her film "There is No
Other Way." Rebecca Baugh received an honorable mention for "Love,
Noemi."
Photo: Top prize winners Syuzanna Petrosyan and Greg Irwin with USC
Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen D. Smith
http://massispost.com/2014/03/usc-student-syuzanna-petrosyan-shares-top-prize-in-shoah-foundation-film-competition/
Film Competition
By MassisPost
Updated: March 14, 2014
LOS ANGELES -- A student from the University of Southern California who
describes herself as a descendant of survivor's of the Armenian
Genocide shared the top prize at this year's Student Voices Short Film
Contest sponsored by USC Shoah Foundation - The Institute for Visual
Learning and Education.
Syuzanna Petrosyan and fellow student Greg Irwin won the award March 6
for their short film "Play for your Life," which looks at the
orchestras organized by the Nazis in German concentration camps during
World War II.
Petrosyan said the film was inspired by Alice Herz-Somner, a pianist
who, until her death at 110 in February, was the oldest living
Holocaust survivor. Music factors heavily in Herz-Somner's testimony
in the Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive, which contains
nearly 52,000 recorded testimonies of survivors and other witnesses of
the Holocaust and other genocides.
In April 2010, The Institute signed a historic agreement with the
Armenian Film Foundation and the late filmmaker Dr. J. Michael
Hagopian to incorporate 400 testimonies of survivors of the Armenian
Genocide. The interviews, which are set to come out in April 2015,
will be used for educational purposes through the Visual History
Archive, where they will be stored in perpetuity.
Petrosyan said her interest in entering Student Voices comes from her
own Armenian background and interest in exploring the various
dimensions of genocides. As a public diplomacy master's candidate, she
said, "it is important to understand not only the big picture and
history of genocides, but also to observe the smaller and personal
stories of survivor's of the biggest crimes in history."
The film was the second movie featuring Herz-Somner to win an award in
one week. She is also the subject of the Academy Award-winning
documentary The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved my Life.
Student Voices is a chance for all USC graduate and undergraduate
students, regardless of major, to create short films that incorporate
survivor's testimony from the Visual History Archive.
Shirin Raban won the Viewer's Choice Award for her film "There is No
Other Way." Rebecca Baugh received an honorable mention for "Love,
Noemi."
Photo: Top prize winners Syuzanna Petrosyan and Greg Irwin with USC
Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen D. Smith
http://massispost.com/2014/03/usc-student-syuzanna-petrosyan-shares-top-prize-in-shoah-foundation-film-competition/