Armenians and Turkey: A Day of Documentary and Short Films

In collaboration with Life100, an exhibition at the Glendale Brand Library, in honor of the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the USC Institute of Armenian Studies will present an afternoon of short films produced by filmmakers from Armenia and Turkey on Sunday, March 22, 2015, 2-7 p.m. at Brand Library (1601 W. Mountain Street) in Glendale. The same program will be repeated at USC Campus on April 23, 2015.

Many of the films are award-winning and all focus on the complex relations between Armenians and the Turks in the century after the genocide.  All films are subtitled in English.

Refreshments will be available throughout the afternoon and visitors are welcome to come and stay as long or as short as possible.

Schedule:

2:00 PM          Saroyanland by Lusin Dink                                                  72’

Saroyanland is a docu-drama focusing on the journey of famous writer William Saroyan to the birthplace of his Armenian family Bitlis, in Turkey in 1964

3:15 PM          Barking Island by Serge Avedikian                                      15’

Winner of Palme d’Or Cannes 2010, Barking Island, an animated film, is set in Constantinople in 1910 and follows 30,000 dogs forced into exile, abandonment and death.

3:30 PM          Neighbors by Gor Baghdasaryan                                          52’

The Armenian village Bagaran and the Turkish village Khalikishlak, on opposite sides of the Armenian-Turkish border, within eyesight and earshot of each other, are in fact neighbors.

4:20 PM          Break                                                                                     10’

4:30 PM          A Rainy Day in April by Umit Kivanç                                  10’

An Armenian folk song arranged and performed by Turkish musicians, in Memoriam April 24.

4:40 PM          The Son of the Olive Merchant by Mathieu Zeitindjioglou            77’

Anna married Mathieu and they traveled to Turkey to find and understand the roots of his family and his long last name.

6:00 PM          My Bolis: Yasar Kurt by CivilNet                                          9’        

One in a series of views of today’s Istanbul, the old Bolis, through the eyes of artist Yasar Kurt.

6:10 PM          An Armenian Journey by Ted Boghosian                            58’

The first film to appear on American public television on the Armenian Genocide, the film traces the memories of Mariam Davis, a child survivor adopted by an American family, 70 years earlier.

Please call 213.821.3943 with questions regarding the event, including parking and directions.

About the Institute

Established in 2005, the USC Institute of Armenian Studies supports multidisciplinary scholarship to re-define, explore and study the complex issues that make up the contemporary Armenian experience — from post-Genocide to the developing Republic of Armenia to the evolving Diaspora. The institute encourages research, publications and public service, and benefits from communication technologies that link together the global academic and Armenian communities.