Armenian Reporter Alexanian genocide film project pushes forward by Tom Vartabedian Published: Monday April 07, 2014 Nubar Alexanian and his daughter Abby. Gloucester, Mass. - Nubar Alexanian is getting rave notice in his quest to produce a genocide film by 2015. The 63-year-old historian has spent the past 2 ½ years full-time compiling a documentary with his daughter Abby that has turned into a subject of attention by Armenians and non-Armenians alike. Scars of Silence reflects upon their personal and family connections to the 1915 genocide as it continues gaining inroads around these parts. The Cape Ann Forum recently premiered a 15-minute screening at the Cape Ann Community Cinema in Gloucester that filled the theater and sent 50 others home. The full 60-minute film should be released next spring, culminating a whirlwind experience by the two that involved vast research, family interviews, grant proposals, promotions and preliminary filming, even some Turkish resistance. The Alexanians are planning to take a second trip to Eastern Turkey to gather final footage for the third act of the film. However, financial constraints have been their biggest roadblock. The plan is to hopefully purchase a piece of land in Eastern Turkey to commemorate the centennial and create not just a rite of return --- but a site of return. Think of it, he says. It doesnt matter if Armenians buy a 4-foot square piece of land. It will be Armenian again. Their personal documentary reveals the powerful legacy genocide has had upon a contemporary Armenian family and how a father-daughter transcends a century of silence and denial to make peace with their tragic past. Its all about the financing right now, said Abby. The movie would definitely change if we dont get to go back. We have a deadline and want to meet it, no matter what. Were in a position to educate people. I see the film as being a step toward genocide prevention. I dont want anybody to go through what my family and so many others went through. The Alexanian family has lived on Cape Ann since 1971 but Nubar grew up in an Armenian community in Worcester. After a prolific career as a journalist, he transitioned into documentary film-making six years ago, eventually starting his own production company called Walker Creek Media, specifically for the creation of this film. Abby, 25, works as a childrens advocate for abused women and children in Ann Arbor, Mich. She will be pursuing a graduate degree in Public Policy this fall at Brandeis University. The Alexanians made their first pilgrimage to Historic Armenia two years ago. They traveled more than 2,600 miles in three weeks. Taking the trip and making this film was one of the biggest things to happen in my life, Nubar said. Doing it with my daughter was incredible. Abby continues to inspire new ways of looking at the cinematic challenges we face. This journey was about filling in the hole that was inside me. Their story has occupied prominent exposure in The Gloucester Times as well as local chat in coffee shops around town. A casual saunter downtown could easily be turned into discussion about the documentary from some non-Armenian sympathetic to the genocide. What makes it so enticing --- other than the footage --- is the father-daughter collaboration. One feeds off the other and age is no restraint when it comes to promoting a heritage. They have felt each others pain and ecstasy throughout the ordeal. Nubar emphatically calls it a work in progress. The receptions from these screenings have been overwhelmingly positive, he points out. Weve got some others lined up this April. People are quite enamored by it. Once finished, the Alexanians plan to enter it into film festivals and other broadcast outlets worldwide. Schools are a very vital consideration as well. Its an international story, he confirms. At a time when people are writing books and planning movies on the centennial, how is this any different? The film incorporates DV home footage of Armenians visiting their ancestral homeland, shown over the past decade by Armen Aroyan, whos been guiding tour groups over the past 20 years. Nubars grandmother was among the few survivors of the longest death march in the genocide era. After witnessing the massacre of her parents, husband and three daughters, she was forced to walk over 800 kilometers across the scorching desert from Yalova, Turkey, to Aleppo, Syria. Along with the film have come some death threats from Turkish lobbyists. It only heightens the desire to proceed with it, he maintains. otherwise using this email or its contents in any way.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 14:57:37 +0000
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