Internationally acclaimed celebrity activists Dean Cain and Montel Williams – executive producers of the powerful anti-genocide documentary “Architects of Denial” – joined the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) on Capitol Hill last week in calling on U.S. legislators to reject Turkey’s gag-rule and adopt legislation (H.Res.220 and S.Res.136) applying the lessons of the Armenian Genocide to the prevention of future atrocities.
The meetings with over a dozen senior legislators, Republican and Democrat, took place around the September 26th Washington DC premiere of Architects of Denial, held at the U.S. Naval Memorial before a capacity crowd of policymakers, diplomats, and DC influencers.
“We were honored to be joined on Capitol Hill by Dean Cain and Montel Williams, two of America’s most eloquent and effective human rights advocates, in challenging U.S. legislators to – at long last – reject Turkey’s gag-rule against honest U.S. remembrance of the Armenian Genocide,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “As they made so very clear – in their film and across the Hill – no nation – especially as one as hostile as Turkey – deserves a veto over U.S. human rights policy.”
Cain and Williams reminded legislators that genocide denial leads to it perpetuation, connecting the Armenian Genocide with ongoing official Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia and Artsakh. Among the legislators who took the opportunity to discuss the legacy of the Armenian Genocide and Turkey’s denial on the geopolitical realities of today were, House Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-SC), House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY), and Representatives from throughout the U.S. including Reps. Kevin Kramer (R-ND), Dan Donovan (R-NY), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Louis Gohmert (R-TX), Jody Hice (R-GA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Juan Vargas (D-CA), among others.
Photos from the meetings are available at:
Cain and Williams also discussed efforts to secure passage of the Armenian Genocide legislation with Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Jackie Speier (D-CA), Dave Trott (R-MI) and David Valadao (R-CA) and Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA), several of whom recently returned from a trip to Armenia and Artsakh.
On September 27th, Cain talked to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson regarding ongoing efforts to suppress broad-based distribution of Architects of Denial, including the since-resolved advertisement controversy at Glendale, California’s Americana Shopping center. Watch the Fox News interview here: https://youtu.be/kwjHshm1I9M
Earlier, on September 26th, Williams was a guest on the CBS program Great Day Washington, where he discussed the very real ongoing impact of genocide denial. “The Armenian people have been the subject of persecution now for close to a hundred years and no one wants to recognize it,” stated Williams. “So this movie is about the Genocide and the Armenian people, but it’s also about the bigger discussion about what’s going on in this world.” Watch excerpts of Great Day Washington here:
‘Architects of Denial’ Available On-Demand and Opening in Over 10 Cities October 6th
Cain and Williams’ Architects of Denial will be holding its Los Angeles premiere on Friday October 6th to a sold-out audience, as the ANCA Western Region kicks off its Grassroots Conference.
With powerful footage from the Armenian Genocide and ongoing attacks against Armenia and Artsakh by Azerbaijan, the documentary includes testimonials from Wikileak’s Julian Assange, historians Dr. Greg Stanton, Dr. Taner Akcam and Dr. Ugur Ungor, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, publisher Harut Sassounian, and eye-witness accounts by Aregak Bagirian, Movses Anehyan and Yepraksi Gevorgyan.
The film will be premiering on October 6th and playing through October 12th in the following cities and venues. To reach the maximum audience, producers have opted to make the film available on demand at the same time on national cable outlets, iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Fandango Now. For more information, email: [email protected]
To view the Architects of Denial Trailer and for more information, visit: architectsofdenial.com