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.