PROGRAM SCHEDULE (subject to last minute changes)

Friday, April 16th

7:00pm

The Song of Stones: Nika Shek, Armenia, 13 min, video, 2002, Armenian with English subtitles - This beautifully shot film portrays the story of a family of outcasts in the Armenian village of Saghmosavank who live in a cattle shed without light and often without food or water. The oldest son is deaf and mute, and through his gestures expresses his love for the stones. NY premiere. Life is Sweet: Diane Hakobyan, Armenia, 13 min, video, 2003, no language - A methodical performance piece exploring womanhood, time, and moments of silence between ordinary activities. NY premiere. NY premiere. Our House: Sevan Matossian, USA, 84 min, video, 2002, English - This feature-length film offers an intimate and original view of human struggle told through the lives of three developmentally disabled individuals living at a California supported living home. Filmed over the course of one year by Sevan Matossian, who lived and worked at their home, this award-winning documentary strings together a mosaic of humor and pain all taking place under one roof. This film has won several awards including Grand Jury Award for the Best Documentary at the Nodance Film Festival in 2003. NY premiere.

9:30pm

Oral Hysteria: David Kareyan, Armenia, 5 min, video, 2002, no language - A performance piece on the fear emanating from transformation of social systems in post-Soviet countries, simultaneously critiquing post-Cold war nationalism, chauvinism and power structures. NY premiere. Open House: Atom Egoyan, Canada, 26 min, video, 1982, English - A couple is shown a run-down home by a man posing as a real estate agent. The man's pretense is shown to be a way of trying to validate the worth of his own family, which shared happier times earlier in the house's history. This film was Atom's first to receive assistance from the Ontario Arts Council. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation bought the rights to Open House, and then aired it as part of a series entitled Canadian Perspectives, giving Egoyan his first taste of recognition as a filmmaker. Pink Elephant: Ara Madzounian, USA, 30 min, video, 1987, Armenian with English subtitles - A theatrical company rehearses a play in the midst of the Lebanese civil war. As the bombing intensifies, the actors are forced to take refuge in the basement, thereby unleashing their differences about art and reality. NY premiere. Istanbul 1999: Linda Ganjian, Turkey/USA, 2 min - An experimental short that juxtaposes images of speed and time, interweaving three visual motifs to highlight the spirit of a few older Armenians living in Turkey. NY premiere. Yerevan Conversations: Andrew Demirjian, Armenia/USA, 4 min, video, 2003, English - An essay/collage on the notion of “home” and the city of Yerevan. The Naming: Eileen Claveloux, USA, 28 min, video, 2000, English - A moving autobiographical work that calls on the silences that bring the Armenian genocide into contemporary life. Using archival footage, the filmmaker links the realm of personal and cultural memory with history and repercussions of cultural trauma. NY premiere.

Saturday, April 17th

12:00pm	For You, My Beloved Grandparents: Christopher Atamian, USA, 3 minutes - Using an old picture of his grandparents, whom he had never met, the director creates a short experiment in memory and narration. In a one-shot, uninterrupted zoom, he attempts to recapture the lives and history of these two Genocide survivors. Original score by Michelle Ekezian. 20 Ans Apres (20 Years Later): Jacques Kebadian, France, 71 min, video, 2002, Armenian - The Hovanessian family immigrated to the United States in winter of 1994. Vartan and Anahid shared their last days in Armenia with the filmmaker, who interweaves this footage with a reunion of friends twenty years later. NY premiere. Aram: Robert Kechichian, France, 87 min, 35mm, 2002, French & Armenian with English subtitles - This first feature-fiction film by Kechichian considers the complexity of Armenian political violence in France and Karabagh and its consequences for one family. The film contains violence and may not be suitable for children. NY premiere.
3:30pm	Mark Set Burn: Christine Khalafian, USA, 8 min, 16mm, 2002, no language - Getting rid of hair is a learned behavior for women in order to be generally accepted as feminine/sexual/dainty beings. Ironically, the more we take off our bodies, the more we resemble the frail little girls we have already outgrown. "Mark Set Burn" comments on the behavior of waxing in an abstract and experimental form. This film premiered in Paris, France at the Georges Pompidou Centre in October 2002 and was one of the experimental documentaries that screened in the Frontier Shorts Program at the Sundance Film Festival in 2003. NY premiere. Hamburger and Dolma: Caroline Babayan, USA, 49 min, video, 1999, English - In this documentary, five Armenian-American women come together to prepare a meal and talk about their lives and identities as feminists and Armenian-Americans. Includes discussions on collective trauma, effects of contemporary erasure, biculturalism, gender, race and ethnicity. NY premiere. Music is the Air I Breathe: Carrie de Swaan, Netherlands, 70 min, video, 1994, English This fascinating work chronicles the life and work of Cathy Berberian, who was the premier vocalist of mid-twentieth century experimental composition. The film showcases musical excerpts of Berberian’s talents to the fullest, demonstrating the singer’s unparalled vocal control and range. Includes interviews with colleagues, friends and family such as Luciano Berio and Berberian’s and Berio’s daughter, Cristina Berio. NY premiere.
6:30pm	The Song of Stones: Nika Shek, Armenia, 13 min, video, 2002, Armenian with English subtitles - This beautifully shot film portrays the story of a family of outcasts in the Armenian village of Saghmosavank who live in a cattle shed without light and often without food or water. The oldest son is deaf and mute, and through his gestures expresses his love for the stones. NY premiere. Life is Sweet: Diane Hakobyan, Armenia, 13 min, video, 2003, no language - A methodical performance piece exploring womanhood, time, and moments of silence between ordinary activities. NY premiere. NY premiere. Our House: Sevan Matossian, USA, 84 min, video, 2002, English - This feature-length film offers an intimate and original view of human struggle told through the lives of three developmentally disabled individuals living at a California supported living home. Filmed over the course of one year by Sevan Matossian, who lived and worked at their home, this award-winning documentary strings together a mosaic of humor and pain all taking place under one roof. This film has won several awards including Grand Jury Award for the Best Documentary at the Nodance Film Festival in 2003. NY premiere.
9:00pm	Bleached Blood: Nishan Kazazian, USA, 3 min, 2002 - Running colors; Babel tower; Ziggurat of flags; Anthems of babel; Bleached white; White bleached white. NY premiere. Roads Full of Apricots: Nigol Bezjian, Lebanon, 35 min, video, 2001, English - A poetic meditation on home, distant and recent memory. Using archival images, the filmmaker takes the viewer to an inner experience of Beirut, the hometown of the filmmaker. NY premiere. (Translated) Tebi Gyank: Hrayr Anmahouni, USA, 25 min, video, 1995, Armenian (no subtitles) - A complex study in layering and media forms, this work "translates" into visual images a piece of sound art by Ovannes Salibian that is based on a poem by Vahe Oshagan, read by Oshagan himself. NY premiere. Garden Dwelling: Tina Bastajian, Turkey/USA, 25 min, 2004 - Garden Dwelling is a shot-from-the-hip video essay, which juxtaposes absurd and sobering encounters of a trip by four Diasporan Armenians to their historic homeland (now Eastern Turkey). Their anticipation upon visiting this complex place, where they feel both at home and estranged, collides and colludes with the “realities” they encounter. In English, Armenian, Turkish, Arabic and French w/English subtitles. World premiere. Duduk: Vardan Hakopian, Armenia/Russia, 50 min, video, 2002, Armenian with English subtitles - Blending a gorgeous overlay of the sounds of the duduk (a wind instrument), this lovely feature-length documentary brings us into the world of the instrument and a community of musicians who play it, including renowned artist Djivan Gasparyan. The work explores the daily and difficult lives of musicians working in funerals in Armenia. NY premiere.

Sunday, April 18th

12:00pm	Bleached Blood: Nishan Kazazian, USA, 3 min, 2002 - Running colors; Babel tower; Ziggurat of flags; Anthems of babel; Bleached white; White bleached white. NY premiere. Roads Full of Apricots: Nigol Bezjian, Lebanon, 35 min, video, 2001, English - A poetic meditation on home, distant and recent memory. Using archival images, the filmmaker takes the viewer to an inner experience of Beirut, the hometown of the filmmaker. NY premiere. (Translated) Tebi Gyank: Hrayr Anmahouni, USA, 25 min, video, 1995, Armenian (no subtitles) - A complex study in layering and media forms, this work "translates" into visual images a piece of sound art by Ovannes Salibian that is based on a poem by Vahe Oshagan, read by Oshagan himself. NY premiere. Garden Dwelling: Tina Bastajian, Turkey/USA, 25 min, 2004 - Garden Dwelling is a shot-from-the-hip video essay, which juxtaposes absurd and sobering encounters of a trip by four Diasporan Armenians to their historic homeland (now Eastern Turkey). Their anticipation upon visiting this complex place, where they feel both at home and estranged, collides and colludes with the “realities” they encounter. In English, Armenian, Turkish, Arabic and French w/English subtitles. World premiere. Duduk: Vardan Hakopian, Armenia/Russia, 50 min, video, 2002, Armenian with English subtitles - Blending a gorgeous overlay of the sounds of the duduk (a wind instrument), this lovely feature-length documentary brings us into the world of the instrument and a community of musicians who play it, including renowned artist Djivan Gasparyan. The work explores the daily and difficult lives of musicians working in funerals in Armenia. NY premiere.
3:00pm	Oral Hysteria: David Kareyan, Armenia, 5 min, video, 2002, no language - A performance piece on the fear emanating from transformation of social systems in post-Soviet countries, simultaneously critiquing post-Cold war nationalism, chauvinism and power structures. NY premiere. Open House: Atom Egoyan, Canada, 26 min, video, 1982, English - A couple is shown a run-down home by a man posing as a real estate agent. The man's pretense is shown to be a way of trying to validate the worth of his own family, which shared happier times earlier in the house's history. This film was Atom's first to receive assistance from the Ontario Arts Council. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation bought the rights to Open House, and then aired it as part of a series entitled Canadian Perspectives, giving Egoyan his first taste of recognition as a filmmaker. Pink Elephant: Ara Madzounian, USA, 30 min, video, 1987, Armenian with English subtitles - A theatrical company rehearses a play in the midst of the Lebanese civil war. As the bombing intensifies, the actors are forced to take refuge in the basement, thereby unleashing their differences about art and reality. NY premiere. Istanbul 1999: Linda Ganjian, Turkey/USA, 2 min - An experimental short that juxtaposes images of speed and time, interweaving three visual motifs to highlight the spirit of a few older Armenians living in Turkey. NY premiere. Yerevan Conversations: Andrew Demirjian, Armenia/USA, 4 min, video, 2003, English - An essay/collage on the notion of “home” and the city of Yerevan. The Naming: Eileen Claveloux, USA, 28 min, video, 2000, English - A moving autobiographical work that calls on the silences that bring the Armenian genocide into contemporary life. Using archival footage, the filmmaker links the realm of personal and cultural memory with history and repercussions of cultural trauma. NY premiere.
5:30pm	Sirvart: Kardash Onnig, USA, 24 min, 1991 - "Armenian tradition demands from its poets that they dedicate a book to their mothers; this is my poem." The filmmaker, staying with his mother during her recuperation from an illness, decides to film her story. World premiere. The Land of Holy Rites: Edgar Baghdasaryan, Armenia, 62 min, 35mm, 2002, no language - A lyrical journey into the Early Christian Era, this film follows the birth of Christianity through a spiritual meditation from the famous acropolis in Athens to the majestic ruins of the Roman Empire to the sandstone churches of Cappadocia and the ancient cathedrals of the Near East (Jerusalem, Turkey, Iran and Armenia). Fire and water weave through the narrative, as representatives of greater power and wisdom, and reveal the mysteries, tragedies and discoveries that are bound together in the history of the Early Christian era.
8:00pm	Mark Set Burn: Christine Khalafian, USA, 8 min, 16mm, 2002, no language - Getting rid of hair is a learned behavior for women in order to be generally accepted as feminine/sexual/dainty beings. Ironically, the more we take off our bodies, the more we resemble the frail little girls we have already outgrown. "Mark Set Burn" comments on the behavior of waxing in an abstract and experimental form. This film premiered in Paris, France at the Georges Pompidou Centre in October 2002 and was one of the experimental documentaries that screened in the Frontier Shorts Program at the Sundance Film Festival in 2003. NY premiere. Hamburger and Dolma: Caroline Babayan, USA, 49 min, video, 1999, English - In this documentary, five Armenian-American women come together to prepare a meal and talk about their lives and identities as feminists and Armenian-Americans. Includes discussions on collective trauma, effects of contemporary erasure, biculturalism, gender, race and ethnicity. NY premiere. Music is the Air I Breathe: Carrie de Swaan, Netherlands, 70 min, video, 1994, English This fascinating work chronicles the life and work of Cathy Berberian, who was the premier vocalist of mid-twentieth century experimental composition. The film showcases musical excerpts of Berberian’s talents to the fullest, demonstrating the singer’s unparalled vocal control and range. Includes interviews with colleagues, friends and family such as Luciano Berio and Berberian’s and Berio’s daughter, Cristina Berio. NY premiere.