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New University, CA
May 27 2014
Former BBC Anchor Documents Armenian Genocide
Joyce Chu | May 27, 2014 |
Carla Garapedian, former anchor at BBC World News who directed
"Screamers," a documentary about the Armenian genocide, came to UCI on
Thursday, May 22, to share the effects the movie had on the Armenian
community and the world after the film was released in 2006. There was
a small group of 24 people gathered to hear Garapedian speak in
Humanities Gateway.
She began her talk by explaining how she first got interested in
making this film and how she got the commission from BBC to do it.
"The last film that I wanted to make was one about the Armenian
genocide," Garapedian stated. "I didn't think I had anything that I
could add to other films that were being made. What changed was at
that time in 2004, there were things in the news that were bringing
the history back into contemporary topics, contemporary discussion."
During the time that Garapedian became interested in making a
documentary about the genocide, Turkey was petitioning to be part of
the European Union. Due to this petitioning, Turkey's history and
human rights violations were coming back into European politics.
At the same time, Garapedian explained that there was more talk about
the genocide due to Samantha Power's newly released and successful
book "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide." This book
addressed America's unresponsiveness to the genocides of the 20th
century. In addition to all the political and social stirrings,
Garapedian noted that a popular band called System of a Down was
singing songs that expressed outrage towards society's ails, including
the Armenian genocide.
"In this mix was this heavy metal rock band who had 16 million people
following them. These people (the fans) knew about the Armenian
genocide and they were not Armenian, and that surprised me because
most of my adult life I would meet people who never heard about [the
genocide. And here were these 16-year-olds who knew about this chapter
in history ... because they followed this band. So I went back to
Britain and made a case to BBC and said, 'Look, wouldn't it be
interesting if we could make a film about this?'"
After getting the commission from BBC and making the film, "Screamers"
was released in theaters in 2006. Garapedian's documentary followed
System of a Down on tour and showed how the band raised the
consciousness of the younger generation through their music. The film
also weaved in testimonies from survivors, and mentioned other
genocides of the 20th century such as the Holocaust and the Bosnia,
Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur genocides.
Following the release of the movie, there was an explosion of
discussion about the documentary and the genocide.
"What started to happen was the Armenian genocide as an issue started
to circulate in national and political discussion here in America,"
Garapedian said.
"And to be completely honest, a lot of it happened because of this
band--they were so popular. When you have young people talking about it
and creating excitement, there was a sort of flurry of discussion and
blogs and social media that started to happen."
With all the conversations people were having about the documentary,
Garapedian noted three things that happened as an after-effect. The
first was the broadening of genocide awareness. No longer was it just
Armenians talking amongst each other, but young teens who were not
Armenian as well.
Garapedian also saw a linkage between all the genocides that occurred
in the 20th century.
"You might not know about what happened 100 years ago, but you know
what's happening now in Darfur and they're all connected," she stated.
"So the message became wider, it became different, and I think it was
able to appeal to a lot more people because it was about human
rights."
Garapedian believed a third after-effect of the documentary was the
impact on Turkey. After the premier of the movie, then-foreign
minister and current president of Turkey Abdullah Gul made a statement
denying the Armenian genocide.
"What they said was there was new lies coming out of the Armenian
diaspora and every Turkish citizen must combat these lies," Garapedian
said.
Shortly after this statement released by the Turkish government, the
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated on Jan. 19,
2007. Dink was a major proponent of human and minority rights in
Turkey and had also made an appearance in the "Screamers" documentary.
"[Dink] came to the movie premier [in] 2006," Garapedian recalled. "I
have a very wonderful memory of him being at the premier. He's a big
guy and he grabbed me, lifted me off my feet, gave me a big bear hug
and said, 'Carla what a wonderful day this is!' Less than two months
later he was gone."
Following Dink's assassination, Garapedian recalled a lot of outrage
in Turkey as thousands of people protested in Istanbul shouting, "We
are all Armenians, we are all Hrant Dink," according to BBC news.
"It was part of the beginning of the civil rights movement in Turkey,"
Garapedian said. "The stirrings of people simply wanting to know their
own history. Nothing to do with what Turks thought about Armenians.
This was about Turks having the freedom to know their own history
without being persecuted. 'Our issue' became a civil rights issue in
Turkey. It was never something I thought would happen out of making
this film."
http://www.newuniversity.org/2014/05/news/former-bbc-anchor-documents-armenian-genocide/
May 27 2014
Former BBC Anchor Documents Armenian Genocide
Joyce Chu | May 27, 2014 |
Carla Garapedian, former anchor at BBC World News who directed
"Screamers," a documentary about the Armenian genocide, came to UCI on
Thursday, May 22, to share the effects the movie had on the Armenian
community and the world after the film was released in 2006. There was
a small group of 24 people gathered to hear Garapedian speak in
Humanities Gateway.
She began her talk by explaining how she first got interested in
making this film and how she got the commission from BBC to do it.
"The last film that I wanted to make was one about the Armenian
genocide," Garapedian stated. "I didn't think I had anything that I
could add to other films that were being made. What changed was at
that time in 2004, there were things in the news that were bringing
the history back into contemporary topics, contemporary discussion."
During the time that Garapedian became interested in making a
documentary about the genocide, Turkey was petitioning to be part of
the European Union. Due to this petitioning, Turkey's history and
human rights violations were coming back into European politics.
At the same time, Garapedian explained that there was more talk about
the genocide due to Samantha Power's newly released and successful
book "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide." This book
addressed America's unresponsiveness to the genocides of the 20th
century. In addition to all the political and social stirrings,
Garapedian noted that a popular band called System of a Down was
singing songs that expressed outrage towards society's ails, including
the Armenian genocide.
"In this mix was this heavy metal rock band who had 16 million people
following them. These people (the fans) knew about the Armenian
genocide and they were not Armenian, and that surprised me because
most of my adult life I would meet people who never heard about [the
genocide. And here were these 16-year-olds who knew about this chapter
in history ... because they followed this band. So I went back to
Britain and made a case to BBC and said, 'Look, wouldn't it be
interesting if we could make a film about this?'"
After getting the commission from BBC and making the film, "Screamers"
was released in theaters in 2006. Garapedian's documentary followed
System of a Down on tour and showed how the band raised the
consciousness of the younger generation through their music. The film
also weaved in testimonies from survivors, and mentioned other
genocides of the 20th century such as the Holocaust and the Bosnia,
Cambodia, Rwanda and Darfur genocides.
Following the release of the movie, there was an explosion of
discussion about the documentary and the genocide.
"What started to happen was the Armenian genocide as an issue started
to circulate in national and political discussion here in America,"
Garapedian said.
"And to be completely honest, a lot of it happened because of this
band--they were so popular. When you have young people talking about it
and creating excitement, there was a sort of flurry of discussion and
blogs and social media that started to happen."
With all the conversations people were having about the documentary,
Garapedian noted three things that happened as an after-effect. The
first was the broadening of genocide awareness. No longer was it just
Armenians talking amongst each other, but young teens who were not
Armenian as well.
Garapedian also saw a linkage between all the genocides that occurred
in the 20th century.
"You might not know about what happened 100 years ago, but you know
what's happening now in Darfur and they're all connected," she stated.
"So the message became wider, it became different, and I think it was
able to appeal to a lot more people because it was about human
rights."
Garapedian believed a third after-effect of the documentary was the
impact on Turkey. After the premier of the movie, then-foreign
minister and current president of Turkey Abdullah Gul made a statement
denying the Armenian genocide.
"What they said was there was new lies coming out of the Armenian
diaspora and every Turkish citizen must combat these lies," Garapedian
said.
Shortly after this statement released by the Turkish government, the
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated on Jan. 19,
2007. Dink was a major proponent of human and minority rights in
Turkey and had also made an appearance in the "Screamers" documentary.
"[Dink] came to the movie premier [in] 2006," Garapedian recalled. "I
have a very wonderful memory of him being at the premier. He's a big
guy and he grabbed me, lifted me off my feet, gave me a big bear hug
and said, 'Carla what a wonderful day this is!' Less than two months
later he was gone."
Following Dink's assassination, Garapedian recalled a lot of outrage
in Turkey as thousands of people protested in Istanbul shouting, "We
are all Armenians, we are all Hrant Dink," according to BBC news.
"It was part of the beginning of the civil rights movement in Turkey,"
Garapedian said. "The stirrings of people simply wanting to know their
own history. Nothing to do with what Turks thought about Armenians.
This was about Turks having the freedom to know their own history
without being persecuted. 'Our issue' became a civil rights issue in
Turkey. It was never something I thought would happen out of making
this film."
http://www.newuniversity.org/2014/05/news/former-bbc-anchor-documents-armenian-genocide/