Marlene Edoyan and her parents were born in Lebanon, but they’ve never abandoned their Armenian heritage.
In this documentary, Edoyan visits the homeland that she’s never seen, and nearby countries with substantial Armenian communities. The people who talk to her are friendly and welcoming.
Life is difficult for many, and unemployment is high. Many people have bad teeth, presumably because they can’t afford to fix them.
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Older people say that their children are in Russia, Georgia, or even the U.S.
Better to earn bread abroad than to die of hunger in your own country, they say.
A young man says “We have projects, but it hard to realize them here. The place is going backwards. Leaving is the only way to get ahead.”
But a man with a small farm says that he does not want to live anywhere else, Russia is not for him.
Lose/lose situation: A town has a copper mine and smelter that used to employ 6,000 people. It used to have acid rain so strong that it burned holes in umbrellas and stockings. Now the acid rain is gone, but so are the jobs.
There are some interesting musical interludes in Figure d’Armen, including one where a man sings with a razor blade held between his lips.
Figure d’Armen will be shown on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012, at 4:15 p.m. in Salle Fellini at Excentris, 3536 St. Laurent Blvd., as part of Montreal’s documentary film festival, RIDM, which ends Nov. 18. Visit www.ridm.qc.ca for more information.
