The Stop Movie Festival planned to be held in Gyumri on April 12 was boycotted and the author of the initiative, the head of the Center of Peacemaking Initiatives, Georgi Vanyan, was beaten up and was declared a traitor. All videos about him on the internet are with cursing comments. www.aravot.am asked culture workers to explain the fuss about the festival.
“One cannot imagine more stupid thing than chauvinist longings,” director Ruben Babayan, the director of the Puppet Theater, said. “When our MPs left for Baku recently, it aroused some hopes in me, because they behaved very well, we didn’t stoop to their level, we didn’t respond to Aliyev in the same manner. After coming here, many smart things were said that one shouldn’t confuse the people with the official leader. However, what happened the other day just erased all that, we proved that we didn’t differ from our neighbors in any way. I don’t accept patriotism directed against movies. I watched something on YouTube the other day, in which we sang what lions we were, along with tearing apart a flag and beating up people. I perceive the idea of lion in a bit different way and I don’t think that there is much courage in that. In the end, it is not always right for an intellectual to follow the people’s mood. In a nutshell, this whole story, the patriotism directed against movies made an unpleasant impression on me and if our opponents were, for example, the French, would we ban French movies, wouldn’t we read the French literature?”
Armen Elbakyan, a beloved director and actor, who was not much aware of the festival and what happened with its organizer, said, “It is not good that they beat Vanyan up and it is not good that they organize a festival of Azerbaijani movies. Have we seen all movies in the world and only the Azerbaijani movies are left? I am against violence and beating, an Armenian shouldn’t beat an Armenian up, at the end of the day, we are Christians, but what does it mean a festival of Azerbaijani movies, not to mention in April? And the peacemaking mission is not that we have to watch Azerbaijani movies, not to mention, in my opinion, they will not improve our artistic taste. Generally, when a festival is organized, we must understand how useful it is for us and whether it is not premature. And the festival of Azerbaijani movies is premature; our wound has not healed… If a festival of French or Italian movies was organized, I would understand that they wanted to solve artistic problems and to show some new things to these degraded people, I don’t think the Azerbaijani one will solve that problem. Perhaps we should organize a festival of god-forsaken movies too.”
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Famous actor Artashes Alexanyan who is known to TV audience as “Lord” in a TV series, said in regard to Vanyan and the festival of Azerbaijani movies, “Maybe it wasn’t worth to initiate a festival of Azerbaijani movies in Armenia, who are they doing it for? It is right that they beat him up, what was he (Georgi Vanyan) thinking, when he wanted to organize such a festival in Armenia? One can just grant him the title of people’s artist of Azerbaijan and snatch him bald-headed.”
Gohar HAKOBYAN
P.S. According to the Azerbaijani press, Azerbaijani political scientist Zardusht Alizade intends to organize a festival of Armenian movies in their country. Does it mean that they have a Georgi Vanyan too?
