Screening of American documentaries is being held till the end of November in Yerevan. This program is part of an international tour organized by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. As a result of a thorough selection 29 documentaries produced between 2004 and 2008 have been selected out of 300 films. They are devoted to the issues of democracy, ecology, migration, health, ethnic diversity, innovation, education and family.
As stated in the speech of the US Ambassador to Armenia Mary Jovanovich the film show will promote deepening of mutual understanding and relations between two countries with rich tradition in the field of cinematography. According to the assistant of Public Relations Department of the US Embassy Susan Brendson the US Embassy has been organizing cultural programs for already 10 years in Armenia, however earlier they applied just to the music and choreography.
Screening of American documentaries is being held till the end of November in Yerevan. This program is part of an international tour organized by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. As a result of a thorough selection 29 documentaries produced between 2004 and 2008 have been selected out of 300 films. They are devoted to the issues of democracy, ecology, migration, health, ethnic diversity, innovation, education and family.
As stated in the speech of the US Ambassador to Armenia Mary Jovanovich the film show will promote deepening of mutual understanding and relations between two countries with rich tradition in the field of cinematography. According to the assistant of Public Relations Department of the US Embassy Susan Brendson the US Embassy has been organizing cultural programs for already 10 years in Armenia, however earlier they applied just to the music and choreography.
“For the first time we are representing a program of documentary films and I consider this to be a remarkable opportunity to get acquainted with the society and culture of American people,” she said. Authors of the films are independent directors. Yerevan citizens could personally get introduced with one of them – David Hoffman, a prize-winner of Cannes film festival. Together with film critic Sandra Ruch they conducted seminars and master classes for students and professionals.
Within the scales of the showcase Hoffman has personally presented his film “Sputnik Mania” which is about the panic in the USA caused by launching of the first artificial satellite in the USSR promoting however further development of education and science in America. “I was 14 when we together with my parents were following the Sputnik flight to Long Island. People were crying, praying and were seized with horror, but couldn’t see the Sputnik in the sky,” tells the director.
The film “Sputnik Mania” is based on Paul Dickson’s bestseller “Sputnik: The Shock of the Century”. Hoffman noted also about the sound track produced by an Armenian. “I use the music by Armenian composers in all my films, because it contains necessary dramatic effects,” confessed Hoffman. The showcase is conducted in collaboration with the National Gallery of Armenia which did it best for 7 films to be subtitled in Armenian.
“We know American cinematography well, but American documentation is not so famous in Armenia. The American documentary beginning from Robert Flaherty till nowadays became an interesting evidence of our life. These are just facts, but lifeless, until not presented with eyes of a human being, the way they are seen by people,” at the showcase opening ceremony said the deputy minister of Culture of Armenia David Muradyan.
Source: JNews.am