Your Namak for Sunday, March 5
Azerbaijani subversive group ambushes Nagorno-Karabakh police van, German chancellor backs Nagorno-Karabakh’s right to self-determination, and Nagorno-Karabakh president introduces new state minister.
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With gratitude,
Astrig and Maral
Azerbaijani Subversive Group Ambushes Police Van in Nagorno-Karabakh, Killing Three Officers
On March 5, Azerbaijani soldiers attacked an Armenian police van in Nagorno-Karabakh, fatally shooting three officers and wounding one. According to the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Ministry of Internal Affairs, officers of the Passport and Visa Department of the Nagorno-Karabakh Police were ambushed while traveling from the regional capital Stepanakert to their post in the village of Lisagor.
In a statement, the Human Rights Ombudsman of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Gegham Stepanyan said, “The actions of Azerbaijan, the crimes against the physical and psychological integrity of the people of Artsakh, and the gross violations of human rights prove that Azerbaijan continues to adhere to a policy of genocide against the people of Artsakh.” The attack comes amid the ongoing blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan, which has stretched into its third month.
German Chancellor Backs Nagorno-Karabakh’s Right to Self-Determination
On March 2, at a joint press conference in Berlin with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh have a right to self-determination. “It is necessary to reach a peaceful settlement from the point of view of the territorial integrity of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the self-determination of the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh. Moreover, all these principles are equal,” Scholz said. The German chancellor also said that he supports the European Council’s efforts to mediate the conflict, and has dispatched German personnel to participate in the newly launched EU border observation mission.
Nagorno-Karabakh President Introduces New State Minister
At a cabinet meeting in Stepanakert on March 1, Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan introduced the region’s newly appointed State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan. Nersisyan will oversee the work of all government ministries, excluding the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Internal Affairs. The announcement came following the dismissal on February 23 of the former state minister, Russian-Armenian businessman Ruben Vardanyan. In his short tenure, Vardanyan became a vocal advocate for the unrecognized state’s independence, prompting some observers to suggest that he had eclipsed Harutyunyan’s role as Nagorno-Karabakh’s official spokesperson.
Christine Haroutounian: Meet an Armenian-American filmmaker distilling the human experience on screen
“Something that I’ve noticed in a lot of Armenian cinema is that there’s this desperation to share our story with people. It’s such a current existential response. You feel like the more you educate people, the less likely we are to face extinction. But at the cost of that is our own humanity.”
An interview with Christine Haroutounian will leave you reflecting long after it ends. That is perhaps fitting for the 32-year-old filmmaker, whose work interrogates the complexities of human nature, and encourages open-ended contemplation among viewers rather than closure.
Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles to Iranian-Armenian parents, Christine felt both immersed in and separate from the community she grew up in. She always viewed herself as an artist, and her creative pursuits deviated from the conventional career paths often imposed on first-generation youth.
Christine attended the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park before continuing her education at UCLA, where she studied art with an emphasis in photography. It was during those exploratory student years that she first developed an interest in cinema, thanks to a quirky spot on Santa Monica Boulevard called “A Video Store Named Desire.”
“It was this hole in the wall, really grimy, nothing special about it. But in a way, it was my most treasured place because I could go in and all the rentals were 99 cents,” Christine recalls. “I was just watching as many films as possible and developing this deep appreciation for the medium without these pressures of ‘Okay I’m going to pursue this now and make it this career.’”
She names Sergei Parajanov, Akira Kurosawa and Pedro Almodovar among the filmmakers she watched most during that time. Christine’s admiration for the artform, and her interest in distilling the “raw material of life” on screen, led her to consider filmmaking as a profession a few years after graduation.
She returned to her alma mater in 2017 for a three-year Master of Fine Arts in Production, with a focus on directing. Christine says film school equipped her with the technical knowledge and community to hone her skills as a director.
“Film school gave me that structure to really pay attention to this and only this for a few years. And that was very helpful in drawing out my voice,” Christine says.
Christine is incredibly thoughtful and observant, and her keen interest in the seemingly mundane aspects of everyday life shine through in her work. Rather than approaching projects with a pre-determined narrative or vision in mind, she lets her imagination guide her.
“My process is definitely much more intuitive. It comes from this almost willful self-repression,” Christine says. “It’s about immersing myself in this world and creating something that is self contained, and really paying attention to life and its textures and the presence of everyone and everything in it, to create something that’s as honest as possible.”
Set in an Armenian village, her 2020 short film “World” follows an Armenian woman who wrestles with her own desires while caring for her ailing mother. While casting for the film, which offers a window into the protagonist’s relationship with her sexuality, Christine was told that the character she created does not exist in Armenia. Yet, she remained steadfast in bringing this person to life.
“I was interested in letting this character unfurl in her complete honesty,” Christine says. “I was very surprised by her potency and how this person had just arrived in my imagination.”
Despite its focus on subjects often considered taboo in Armenian society –– sexuality, desire and the familial burdens carried by women –– “World” won the top prize at the 2021 Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan. One of the film’s most notable qualities is its absence of a clear message –– rather, the viewer feels momentarily immersed in the main character’s reality, and is left contemplating what it all means.
“The films that stay with me are the ones I can’t really get out of my head. It’s not there to satisfy or entertain. It’s not coming from this place of story, it’s more about an experience,” Christine says.
Christine resists attaching any interpretations to her films, preferring to allow her audience to view them through the unique lens of their own life experiences.
“I don’t really have any messages in my films,” Christine says. “If there’s a proclamation or some overarching message to my work, then it’s just going to become almost like a form of propaganda.”
This same mentality extends to Christine’s perspective on representation as an Armenian filmmaker. She aims to create work that captures the human experience, liberating herself from the burdens of educating others about Armenian culture and history. Her production company, Mankazar, named after her great grandfather, focuses on independent cinema in Armenia and beyond.
“Something that I’ve noticed in a lot of Armenian cinema is that there’s this desperation to share our story with people,” Christine says. “It’s such a current existential response. You feel like the more you educate people, the less likely we are to face extinction. But at the cost of that is our own humanity.”
Christine draws immense inspiration from places, Armenia being among the most important. Raised in the diaspora during the early years of Armenian independence, she could not escape the feeling of dislocation and that she was “growing up alongside the new republic.”
“Armenia is one of the most important characters in my work as a physical location,” Chirstine says. “It’s this love for the place that makes me really want to communicate its beauty and sometimes its ugliness too, and all the feelings that come along with that experience of being in this place that I have such a complicated relationship to.”
She is most interested in the small, ordinary aspects of life in the country, not “the big blockbuster sites or moments that tell me wow this is Armenia.”
Christine also says the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War completely transformed her outlook as a filmmaker and an Armenian, freeing her to pursue creative work unmoored from others’ perceptions.
“The biggest thing it’s done is given me this total freedom,” Christine says of the war. “Sometimes grief and suffering are the greatest liberators. Who is there to impress? Who is there to please?”.
To attend: Crossroads, a photo exhibition in Paris exploring French-Armenian diaspora identity through a series of intimate portraits and personal narratives. Opening night will be held on Monday, March 6 at the Centre Victor Gelez.
To listen: Hye-Fi, a playlist of contemporary Armenian music featuring independent artists from around the world. Curated by indie label Discotchari, this experimental, genre-bending lineup challenges our notions of what Armenian music can be.
To read: We Are All Armenian, a newly published anthology about the many facets of the diaspora Armenian experience. The book features essays from leading Armenian authors and activists, highlighting diverse voices within a community whose stories have often been erased.
That’s it for today, see you next week!
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