Genocide Documentary has East Coast premiere on June 23 at 6 pm
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—“Voyage to Amasia,” a new documentary film by Randy Bell and Eric V. Hachikian, will have its East Coast premiere at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festivalon Sat., June 23, at 6 p.m., at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia Parrish Room, 2125 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. The film had its world premiere at the Pomegranate Film Festival in Toronto in December, where it won the prize for Best Documentary. It has also screened at the Minneapolis International Film Festival, and in July will screen at the Golden Apricot Film Festival in Yerevan.
“Voyage to Amasia” documents composer Eric Hachikian’s return to his ancestral home—Amasia, Turkey—nearly 100 years after Ottoman soldiers deported his grandmother, Helen Shushan, during the Armenian Genocide. The film is set to Hachikian’s piano trio of the same name, which provided the initial inspiration for the documentary. “Voyage to Amasia” traces a path through the past, honoring Hachikian’s relationship with his grandmother and uncovering what her family’s life in Turkey might have been like. It also explores how the events of nearly a century ago continue to strain the relationship between Armenians and Turks today. Inspired by one family’s story, the filmmakers embark on their own journey in the hopes of finding a greater understanding between two peoples still at odds.
The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival was founded to enable an environment for its participants to encourage, engage, and network in a diverse and growing film market. In its fifth year, the festival is committed to discovering and showcasing a unique cinematic experience unrestrained by conventional boundaries. The full schedule can be found on the festival blog, http://philadelphiaindependentfilmfestival.blogspot.com. Advance tickets are available at www.philadelphiaindependentfilmfestival.com/box-office or by calling (215) 592-1242.
Randy Bell is a Washington, D.C.-based independent filmmaker. His documentary films, which explore subjects as diverse as American popular music, mid-century European modernist architecture, and the AIDS orphan crisis in Kenya, have won awards from the Cleveland International Film Festival, the New England Film and Video Festival, and the Ivy Film Festival. He received his BA from Harvard University in 2000, and his master in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2010.
Eric V. Hachikian is an Armenian American composer whose music has been hailed by the New York Times as “lovely and original.” His compositions and orchestrations can be heard in a variety of major motion pictures, network television shows, and national and international ad campaigns. They have been performed Off-Broadway, at Carnegie Hall, at Boston’s Symphony Hall, and at the Getty in Los Angeles. A classically trained composer, as well as self-taught DJ and perpetual student of world music, Hachikian’s musical style has no boundaries, and his multi-genre interests result in a unique and personal sound.
Be the first to comment