Komitas, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007

Leaving my apartment this afternoon I feared the worst when I saw an overturned truck by my local kiosk with policemen and a crowd standing around it. As I got closer I took out my mobile phone to take a picture while first checking to see if there were any injured. Concern for casualties has to come first although I figured that as there appeared to be e a TV crew was on the scene, police had lightened up a bit and the accident wasn’t as serious as it at first looked.

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Infant House, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia © EveryChild / Onnik Krikorian 2005

Just as I was starting to wonder what I’d be doing before the parliamentary elections are upon us, some good news. It might be that I’ll be returning to Georgia in the near future to do more work on social vulnerability there. Last time I was in Tbilisi I was looking at the Yezidi community, and in the autumn of 2005, photographing in Tbilisi, Kaspi and Rustavi for the London-based international children’s charity, EveryChild.

EveryChild is an international development charity, fighting to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable children.

We work with children who are separated from their family or community, and with those who are at risk of separation. We believe all children have the right to grow up in a safe and loving family environment, with a secure future.

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Blogian carries news that the BBC Russian site says Borat’s Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan will not be shown in Russia. Unfortunately, Simon thinks Armenia will follow suit and I guess he’s right. However, I live in hope that it will at least make it here on DVD and earn itself an underground following like South Park.

The decision comes after Kazakhstani, Jewish, Muslim (Azerbaijanis too?) and Gypsy groups and officials have talked against the movie. At least Armenians are not against, according to the report (since there is no mention of them).

I assume they will not show “Borat” in Armenia either. If they do, they will most likely (and I think they should) mute some Armenian words (at least one phrase) that are really offensive in the Armenian culture.

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With the Armenian President scheduled to make an official visit to Kazakhstan tomorrow, PanArmenian.net says that it will coincide with the second meeting of the Kazakh-Armenian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. However, Artyom at iArarat jokes that all might not be as it seems.

And so the rumor has it, that after meeting Premier George Walter Bush and complaining about the Borat phenomenon and the adverse effects thereof, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev is planning a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Robot Robert Kocharyan to raise the issue of Azamat Bagatov’s Armenian background and find out whether they can jointly execute the guy.

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Now that Artyom is back from Armenia and Karabakh, he’s posted news of an Armenian connection in the controversy that is Borat. The U.K.’s Guardian newspaper reports that as everyone’s favourite Kazakh journalist made his way around the U.S. for the mockumentry, Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, his sidekick, Azamat, was played by ethnic Armenian actor Ken Davitian.

The film involves Borat leaving his home in Kazakhstan to come to the United States and record a documentary at the behest of the Kazakh Ministry of Information. He leaves behind his mother, wife and the town rapist, bringing along his obese producer Azamat. While in America he watches an episode of Baywatch and falls in love with Pamela Anderson, so he buys a dilapidated ice cream truck and drives from New York to Los Angeles to have her vagin and make her his wife. Through the course of his trip he interviews people from across the country. Most of the movie is not staged; rather, Cohen, in character as Borat, interviews and interacts with people who do not know they are being filmed for a movie (they later sign releases allowing the footage to be used). In one scene, which rather worryingly is not staged, Borat goes into a gun shop and asks the man behind the counter: “Which gun would be best to shoot the Jews?” The man recommends to Borat a 9mm handgun without flinching. Some other comedic highlights include a naked wrestling match between Borat and Azamat which spills over into a crowded business seminar, and Borat’s appearance on a crowded beach wearing only a tiny green wrestling thong which stretches from his crotch over his shoulders. Also throwing a decorative bag over Pamela Anderson’s head to try to capture her to marry her. For the movie, Borat made a song called “You, Be My Wife” with spectacular and bizarre Croatian keytar player Belinda.

According to Wikipedia, while Borat, played by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen from Da Ali G Show speaks Hebrew, Polish and Czech to Americans who can’t differentiate it from Kazakh, Davitian speaks Armenian. Anyway, as a big Ali G and Borat fan, I’m really looking forwards to seeing this film if it ever makes it to Armenia. The film’s official site here.

Nothing to do with Armenia yet again, but as with music I like pointing local Armenians in the direction of those things that have defined my life entertainment wise. So, after being pleasantly surprised at the albeit small underground popularity of Da Ali G Show, and especially Kazakh journalist Borat, as well as the highly controversial and totally wicked South Park, now comes the turn of English comedy veterans Monty Python.

Monty Python casts a considerable shadow over modern comedy. As such, the term ‘pythonesque’ has become a byword in surreal humour. However, this is perhaps somewhat misleading, since the humour of Monty Python, whilst certainly nonsensical and surreal, is still strongly characterised by a preoccupation with the British social class system — most notably with British working class stereotypes. These themes cannot be said to be essential to surrealist comedy as a whole.

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Wow, one of the greatest films ever made has been translated and dubbed into Armenian. Apocalypse Now is showing on Armenian Public TV as I type this post. Given Armenian TV’s obsession with garbage, who’d have thunk it?

Apocalypse Now is a thematically rich film. The primary motif is the same as in Heart of Darkness, i.e., an Odyssey in the epic tradition of Homer and the Orpheus myth into the dark side of the human soul. The secondary motif of the duality of man is illustrated by the conflict between Kurtz and Willard, and is made explicit in the Redux cut through the added line “You are both: one that kills and one that loves.”

[…]

Today, the film is regarded by many as a masterpiece of the New Hollywood era. It is on the AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies list at number 28. Kilgore’s quote “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” was number 12 on the AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes list. In 2002, Sight and Sound magazine polled several critics to name the best film of the last 25 years and Apocalypse Now was named number 1. The film is also ranked number 37 on imdb.com’s Top 250 movies list, with an overall rating of 8.4 out of 10.

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As 24 April, the date when Armenians worldwide remember the 1915-1917 Genocide, approaches, some startling news. A film by Canadian-Armenian Atom Egoyan based around the massacre and deportation of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire has been broadcast in Turkey. The English-language Turkish Daily News has more and says in particular that the taboo placed upon discussion of this event in Armenia’s estranged neighbor has now been broken.

In my view, Tuncay Özkan’s Kanal Türk brought down a taboo on Thursday night. It aired ‘Ararat,’ the best-known propaganda film promoting the Armenian genocide allegations at the level of international public opinion.

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A1 Plus Anniversary Protest Rally, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2004

Today marks the fourth anniversary of the closure of the independent TV station A1 Plus. On 2 April the station was deprived of its frequency in a deeply flawed tender, the loss of A1 Plus marked the start of the presidential election campaign the following year. Armenia has been suffering ever since. Last December, the BBC reported on the case before the European Court of Human Rights.

The European Court of Human Rights is studying an appeal by an Armenian TV station against a government decision to close it down.

The court’s judgement could have far-reaching implications for freedom of expression and human rights in Armenia and across the southern Caucasus.

In April 2002, the Armenian government took A1+ off the air.

The TV station, which was the most popular independent news channel at the time, has since reapplied ten times for a licence to broadcast. Each time it has been refused.

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Psychiatric Institution, Vardenis, Gegharkunik Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia

While interviewing Asbed Kotchikian last week and speaking about the likelihood of Armenians from the Diaspora being able to integrate into local society as well as Armenians from the republic who have left coming back, the film, Symphony of Silence, was mentioned. As I had only seen some of the film but never the beginning or the end, Asbed Kotchikian recommended I watched it all. As a result, I bought the film on DVD yesterday.

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RFE/RL reports that ArmenTel, the dreaded telecommunications monopoly, has promised to resolve the problem that makes ringing any of its mobile phone subscribers a nightmare by the end of the month.

Making or receiving phone calls has been extremely difficult and at times impossible for ArmenTel service users ever since the second operator, the Lebanese-owned VivaCell, launched its network on July 1. ArmenTel has still not provided a clear explanation of the causes of the breakdown. But many believe that its network was not prepared for increased phone traffic and a massive influx of new subscribers that has resulted from a drastic reduction in ArmenTel’s wireless tariffs.

Even though the Armenian government is partly responsible for the situation (Kocharian signed the agreement giving ArmenTel a 15-year monopoly in July 1997 when he was Prime Minister), officials are also reportedly unhappy with the situation. ArmenTel faces huge fines of up to $500,000 for the breakdown.

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