Arpa Film Festival in Hollywood

A Film Festival Not to be Missed

Halloween, pumpkin patches, and fallen leaves are images that come to mind when I think of autumn. The assortment of festivals are events associated with that time of the year. Among all Fall Festivals – from October Fest to Harvest Fest – there is one that I don't want to miss: that’s the Arpa International Film Festival.

Yes, I'm a diehard fan of that Festival.  Over the course of many years I've followed Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art events. Through watching many documentaries at its festival I've gained insight into the dynamic of global issues.

This proved true again last week, when the Arpa International Film Festival opened its doors on Thursday evening (September 26) to its faithful audience at the Egyptian Theatre in the heart of Hollywood.

At the festival, each year I try to watch as many films as possible. There are always at least one or two films that stand out. This year the opening night kicked off with "Lady Urmia," a 30-minute environmental documentary by Mohammad Ehsani, an Iranian filmmaker, about a dying lake in Iran called Urmia.

The subject of the documentary was close to my heart, because my mother grew up in Tabriz where the lake is. Like every Persian work I encounter, its artistic rendition accents the message. The film is narrated in poetic words by the lake itself. The lake tells us about its glorious past. Today, Urmia, the third world's largest salt-water lake, has lost 70% of its waters and is dying.

I went to Urmia once for a family vacation, fifty years ago. At that time, we enjoyed its beauty and swam in its salty waters. You could float in the water even if you didn't know how to swim. But God forbid if a drop of water touched your eyes!

The film shows boats, now abandoned and rusted, that we rode to travel from one end of the lake to the other. The trip took a whole day because the boats moved quite slowly. My two grandmothers were with us. We made them comfortable by giving them the seats on covered inside benches, while we rode outside under the scorching sun. Today, there are no more boat trips, and the water is too salty for swimmers.

Another notable documentary at the festival was "Heal America" by Yervand Kochar. It features advocate Ted Hayes, a black guy, who has dedicated his life to increasing sympathy and support for homeless people, and to making their voices heard. In 1985, Hayes left the comfort of his home and joined the homeless population in Los Angeles.  The film portrays his plucky and eccentric character, and shows him dressed in his signature white clothing and the flowing white robe. The audience pursues the discussion of Hayes and Alec, an Armenian cynical writer.  We learn Ted’s views of life through the dialog between him and Alec.

After the screening of the film, I had the chance to talk to Hayes.  He said that God and Scriptures motivated him to address the abject poverty of the homeless population. He said, "I may have a controversial personality, but what I say is the simple truth. We are connected to the pain of everyone in the world."  The self-proclaimed American "Gandhi" has high hopes that he will heal America from the wounds of slavery.

The film festival ended with a documentary about orphans of the Armenian Genocide.  It was an emotional visual portrayal of the subsequent lives of orphans who lost their parents during the death marches.  The children were housed in schools and orphanages of countries bordering Turkey. The never-seen pictures of orphanages put me in awe.

All in all, this year's full schedule of films once again encompassed the festival's core mission, which is cultural understanding and global empathy.  Kudos to Sylvia Minassian for having a vision to hold a festival where emerging filmmakers can screen their creative expressions. The Arpa International Film Festival audience is lucky to enjoy and learn from a variety of new works.

I cannot finish my review of the festival without mentioning the wonderful hospitality we received every night – a spread of delicious food. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Aram Khachaturian Film Screened at Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood

Last week on Sunday July 14, I attended the screening of Khachaturian's documentary at Egyptian theatre.  Arpa film festival had organized the event. After the screening there was a wonderful reception with, plenty of food and drinks. It was beyond my expectation. And all that pleasure for only 11 dollars.   

KhachaturianScreening of Khachaturian's documentary

HOLLYWOOD—A two-hour-long documentary about Aram Khachaturian was screened at the hall of the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on the occasion of the composer’s 110th birthday. The documentary traces the tumultuous career of the great composer, while also exposing the harsh realities of the Soviet regime for artists. The screening was organized by joint efforts of the Armenian Diplomatic Representation in Los Angeles and the ARPA Film Festival.

Aram Khachaturian’s career and life were presented through his and his friends’ memories: his passion for classical music, his first achievements and first failures, betrayal of friends and struggle against the vicious environment. The authors of the film, Dora and Robert Kuhn, present all this with details that had been unknown up until now.

“My wife is a pianist and she presented Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto in about 40 countries from Chile to China. The Saber Dance is probably his best known work, and our wish was to make him better known in a wider aspect. Director Peter Rosen realized our initiative in a political context by presenting a story about Kkhachaturian’s Armenian spirit, his great creative potential and the cruel Soviet reality,” Robert Kuhn said.

Exceptional archive materials have been used in the film, part of which had never been screened before. There are also memories of Aram Khachaturian’s contemporaries and interviews with those who later betrayed the composer.

“I’m in love with Khachaturian’s music forever. His Violin Concerto has been my visiting card all over the world. I wanted everyone to get to know him deeper, to know that he is Armenian and has always been close to his roots. I think he would like the film,” Dora Kuhn said.

The film about Khachaturian has been presented at tens of festivals and won the first prize at the Hollywood Film Festival. It will be screened in a number of countries in the future, Dora Kuhn said. According to her, the film is a great story about a great man, which lives its own life.

2011 ARPA FILM FESTIVAL (October 22-24/ Hollywood California)

Today is the First Day of October.  Here in Glendale it is still summer. Last week I attended the ARPA FILM FESTIVAL in Hollywood.  Here is my impression of the festival.

I enjoy the gratification that comes from watching movies at film festivals.  They open up new windows and allow us to see new perspectives. This proved true again last week (Sep. 22-24) at the 14th annual Arpa International Film Festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.  Each year I attend the festival and try to watch as many films as possible.  And each year, there are at least one or two standout films.

Last year, as a retrospective, Arpa screened the newly restored version of "Namus," a film produced in 1926 by the iconic filmmaker Hamo Beknazarian.  "Namus" is an adaptation from a play with the same title written by the Armenian playwright Alexander Shirvanzadeh.  I remember hearing about "Namus" and "Pepo" while growing up - two films by the same filmmaker, but I had never had an opportunity to see the films.  Thanks to Arpa film festival I finally had the opportunity to watch the film which left an indelible mark on me just as it had dazzled my mother when she first saw it 80 years ago as a young girl in Tabriz.  I was marveled by the cinematography techniques used during those early years of filmmaking and I enjoyed watching the lifestyle of the era. I loved the scene that showed a couple getting married at night in a church followed by a procession from the church to the restaurant by lit torches. And of course the dancing scenes in the restaurant just melted my heart.

Besides "Namus," the films that I've often enjoyed have been documentaries or short films.  This year, however, there was an exception once again.  Among my favorites was a feature film "Three Veils" written and directed by the Arab American filmmaker, Rolla Selbak.  The film was very well executed and portrayed the inner struggles of three Middle Eastern women living in the U.S.  It won the Best Feature Film Award at the Festival.

Among other films that impacted me last week at the festival were three documentaries, the first one was: The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia.  The title says it all.  This documentary is about two of the most celebrated master tightrope acrobats, that in their heydays were treated like kings, but today they don't even have enough money to put gasoline in their car.  They used archived film strips from the past and followed their lives in more recent years. It was a phenomenal movie. It depicted the sad reality of our homeland.  I watched it with wet eyes.  

Children of War: The title of this documentary also says what the movie is all about. It depicts war-torn Uganda, where boys are abducted from their homes and their schools and are forced to become soldiers and fight. The documentary follows a group of former child soldiers that have escaped and have returned to their homes, only to fight with the demons of their memories.  It is a powerful movie.  Following the film screening I asked Bryan Single, the producer and the director, about the years and money he had put into this extraordinary documentary.  Single, in his late 30's, had dedicated 6 years to bring this movie to life. I was in awe, inspired by the whole process of making the film, and how a young man could put so much heart into a project with a minimal source of income. The film won the Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award at the Festival.

The last of my favorites was "MARION STODDART: THE WORK OF 1000," a documentary about an American woman, Marion Stoddart, who in 1965 headed a group from her hometown to clean up the Nashua river in Massachusetts. It is a tale of an extraordinary woman who dedicated her life by transforming herself from a housewife into a staunch advocate for the environment. The movie chronicles her work, her life and her family by using archived interviews with government officials, combining the point of view of her children and her husband into one perspective. It was another extraordinary and inspirational film. It won the Arpa/AT&T Award for Environmental Conservation and Stewardship.

I salute the organizers of Arpa International Film Festival who strive to enhance our community's cultural values and bridge gaps between different cultures.  Year after year, they give us the opportunity to witness new horizons and point of views. We need to support this important endeavor.