El Paso Public Library to host Armenian Film Festival 2010

April 18, 2010 - 15:56 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - El Paso Public Library, Texas, USA, will host Armenian Film Festival 2010 from April 22 to 24.

The program includes the following films: Germany and the Secret Genocide (Set against the backdrop of World War II, the film chronicles the involvement of Turkey’s ally, Germany, in the first genocide of the 20th Century. German documents attest to Turkish culpability and to German complicity and cover-up. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times has declared the film a “…rigorously researched ....a notable and persuasive film…a warm-up to the Holocaust) on April 22.

Voices from the Lake (This feature-length documentary film on the Armenian genocide focuses on the day-to-day tragedy that unfolded in Kharpert-Mezreh, one among 4,000 towns and villages of the former Ottoman empire in 1915, where monumental forces were unleashed by a policy of annihilation. The story is captured through eyewitness accounts by American and European officials, missionaries, educators, and Armenian survivors, as well as by little-known documents and diaries. This film is very useful in creating an understanding of the impact of the genocide on individuals and on a particular community) on April 23

The River Ran Red (The epic search for survivors of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 along the Euphrates River. From his archives of 400 testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses, award-winning filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian weaves a compelling story of terrifying intensity, taking the viewer from the highland waters of the river to the burning deserts of Syria... and to the final resting place of those whose blood ran red in the waters of the Euphrates. Winner of the Best International Historical Documentary of the New York International Film and Video Festival and Second Place (History and Biography) of the U.S. International Film and Video) on April 24.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.