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#41 Yervant1

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Posted 29 March 2017 - 09:42 AM

A ‘Promise’ Delivered

Mirror Spectator
Editorial 4-1 April 2017


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By Edmond Y. Azadian

While discussing the Armenian Genocide with a close associate of Kirk Kerkorian a few years before the magnate’s death, I was told that he is not a person who deals with the past; instead, he is a man of the future. I was saddened to hear that comment, because I knew that only someone like Kerkorian could deliver our message to the world in a monumental way. It turned out, however, that the storm inherited from his ancestors was fermenting in his brain and eventually he was planning to bring a project to fruition about the subject.

The movie “The Promise” seems to be that message delivered into the future by Kerkorian posthumously.

While there is an overwhelming deluge of documents, films and scholarly books on the Jewish Holocaust, Armenians have to struggle for a sliver of news about the Genocide to catch world attention.

One reason, of course, is the fact that Hitler is not alive to deny the grisly crimes he committed against the Jewish people and the other is that the Jews did due diligence to get the message out to the world. The German state freely acknowledges its sins and has actively atoned for it since its defeat at the end of World War II.

In the Armenian case, Talaat Pasha may be dead, but his legacy is still alive in Turkey. The blow that he dealt to the Armenians was so devastating that they were not able to arise for 50 years after the Genocide to fully put into perspective what had happened to them and to tell their story to the world.

According to the Genocide scholar Taner Akçam, the Kemalists who came together to build the modern Republic of Turkey were the same Ittihadists that had organized and carried out the plan of genocide. Therefore, while enjoying the loot left behind by the deportations and mass murder, they realized it was an existential cause to deny the Genocide.

Even in the 1930s, when Turkey had not yet attained its international clout, the government was able to ban the movie version based on Franz Werfel’s book, Forty Days of Musa Dagh, that was going to be made in Hollywood, because Turkish leaders realized the propaganda value of the venture. Already, the novel itself had stirred so much awareness in the world public opinion since its publication in Austria. And ever since then, they have been vigilant about preventing any documentary or artistic representation of the Armenian Genocide in its proper context.

The 1978 movie “Midnight Express,” helmed by British filmmaker Robert Parker, had nothing to do with the Genocide or for that matter with Armenians, but it brought unfavorable international attention on modern Turkey’s medieval judicial system with horrifying jails and jailers.

Even today the issue of the Armenian Genocide has moved out of its historic venue into the public domain where the truth is tortured and denialism continues with a vengeance.

The fanfare around the anniversary of the Gallipoli defeat in 2015 was an effort to soften the blow of intense publicity regarding the centennial of the Armenian Genocide the Turkish government dreaded through commemorations.

As well, Pope Francis’s visit to Armenia and his pronouncement recognizing the events for what they were at the Vatican were muted in the world press, not necessarily because of neglect but certainly by design.

The parallel context that the Turks have been weaving is revealed vividly when the movie “The Promise” is released next month, simultaneously with a Turkish-funded movie called “The Ottoman Lieutenant.” In the latter film, within the context of a palpable romance, a subtle Turkish narrative is promoted in which yes, Armenians were slaughtered but because there was an insurrection in Van. No one will be sitting in the movie theaters to explain to the viewers that the insurrection was a result of the Genocide, not the cause, and that it was triggered by a need for self-defense.

The Turks realize that they cannot cover up the truth, because the documents are so overwhelming. But it is to their advantage to turn the issue into a controversy, planting a seed of doubt, to promote the presumption that there is “another side of the story.” That is the intent of the “Lieutenant.”

It is an enigma why Kerkorian did not produce the movie in his lifetime. Perhaps he was working behind the scenes to line up support. Even his towering munificence manifested in untraditional way while he was alive.

The achievement of this film is also a sad commentary about an oft-asked question: Why is it that “The Promise,” the Dilijan International College, Tumo Center and IDeA Project are all achieved by visionary individuals and not by traditional organizations? The answer is that the framework of diasporan organizations is outmoded and they are not able to conceptualize such projects, let alone to achieve them. That is why they are being bypassed.

 “The Promise,” with a stellar cast and helmed by Terry George who directed “Hotel Rwanda,” opens nationwide on April 21. Armenians in general and friends of truth and justice around the world are urged to support this movie. All proceeds from the box office are going to charity, to help Armenian causes around the world.

Survival Pictures, the studio releasing “The Promise,” realized Kerkorian’s dream in a monumental way, having no shortage of resources and in the process people heretofore unknown have become true heroes.

Dr. Eric Esrailian, previously a relatively unknown public figure in the Armenian community, has helped guide the film through its successful completion, with a true Armenian heart and a broad world view, and epic connections to Hollywood and beyond.

“’The Promise’ means so much personally,” Esrailian has said. “The promise was from us to complete the film. The promise is for us to never forget and the promise is for us also a vow to do something so that it never happens again.”

This message evolves from the specific to resonate universal truths.

It may well apply to the message of the movie delivered from the beyond to living humanity by Kerkorian himself.


#42 Yervant1

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Posted 30 March 2017 - 10:38 AM

Huffington Post
March 3 2017
 
 
Hate for Hire
03/03/2017 04:03 am ET | Updated Mar 09, 2017
by Mary Wald, Contributor 
 
 
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Russia is not alone in flooding the Internet with fake news and “comments.” Post something on any reasonably large site saying “You know the Falun Gong isn’t all that bad…” and watch the flood of hate unleashed from China on your comments. It won’t look Chinese. But it is. Governments who are accustomed to controlling the media have put considerable energy into working out how the supposedly open and objective Internet can surreptitiously be harnessed to enforce a political agenda.  

The newest wave of fake isn’t in the news arena but is no less coordinated. Terry George (Hotel Rwanda, In the Name of the Father, Some Mother’s Son) has a new film coming out in April, The Promise, with Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale. The film is on the Armenian genocide. In his usual form, George brings the events to us at bone level by weaving them into a personal love story (see trailer).

The problem with the film is that Turkey doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact that in a few years, between 1915 and 1922, they killed somewhere around 1.5 million Armenians; 80% of the Armenian population. Some were killed by outright slaughter, some by starvation, some by forcible displacement, including long marches through the Syrian desert without food or water, their own version of the Trail of Tears.

Yes, it was a genocide. And despite it being well documented, even in the American press at the time, few government leaders today will acknowledge it as such. (Obama did before he was elected. He even used the word genocide. Once he was elected he stopped. Someone must have shown him the map of NATO countries). It has been denied, played down, brushed off. Very deliberately.

In the 1930s, MGM tried to make “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh,” a novel by Franz Werfel about a lone group of Armenians defending one of their last territories against the Turkish onslaught. It was set to star Clark Gable. After pressure from the Turkish government, MGM ditched it. Like the existence of Taiwan, no one wants to get stomped by the elephant in that room.

No one except Terry George, who pretty much makes what he wants, and Kirk Kerkorian, who created Survival Pictures to get the story told after decades of denial and cover up. Kerkorian died just before principal photography. But even if he was alive, independent movie producers today don’t have to take calls from governments who don’t like their content. 

Enter the Internet. The Promise has been screened exactly three times. Let’s be generous and say somewhere between 4000-5000 people have seen it.

Yet the DAY AFTER the movie screened at the Toronto Film Festival, a torrent of reviews for the film started appearing on IMDB, culminating in somewhere around 85,000 reviews for The Promise — 80,000 more than could have possibly attended the screenings. Overwhelmingly, they were horrible reviews, 1 star, calling it garbage and worse. And overwhelmingly, they betrayed a complete lack of knowledge or any specifics about the film. Well of course. Because the people writing them hadn’t seen the film.

Sure there are Turks in the US who will object to this movie on principal, just as there are some snipers in the reviews too quick to point out that it was “the Muslims” who slaughtered the Armenians. But 85,000 is not a few irate people. It is an organized mob. Or more likely a small network on laptops or in a boiler room working to make it look like a mob. Either way it is coordinated. And to coordinate something of this magnitude, you pay for it.  

Some alert readers seem to have tipped off IMDB as the tens of thousands of generic “this movie bad” reviews were pulled down, leaving a more honest mix of 32 reviews by people who seem to have actually seen the movie in place.

http://www.huffingto...4b02b8b584dfa64



#43 Yervant1

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Posted 30 March 2017 - 10:46 AM

Huffington Post
March 21 2017
 
 
THE STORYTELLERS: PROTECTING THE TRUTH
03/21/2017 04:45 pm ET
 
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by Mary Wald

A neighbor once asked me how I knew that the Holocaust actually happened. I was able to point out that a mutual friend of ours, Irene, had lived as a child under Nazi occupation in Amsterdam. Her father died in a concentration camp for harboring Jews. She had carried messages for the resistance in the handlebars of her bicycle to other resistance fighters in town. She was there when the survivors of the camps arrived back in Amsterdam on buses, walking skeletons still in their striped uniforms. 

But Irene was 11 years old when the Nazis invaded Amsterdam. Today she is 83. The men and women who stumbled off those buses have passed now. Meanwhile, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers have started running campaigns of anti-Semitic fliers, rallies and even speaking engagements on 63 college campuses in the United States. As time marches on, it becomes easier to forget; easier to ignore the lessons of history. Easier to deny. 

It would be easier to forget, that is, if it weren’t for the storytellers; the filmmakers and novelists who weave the facts of something as horrific as a genocide into a tapestry of experience, humanity, courage and love. A good story makes you more than a reader. It makes you a participant in an episode of history. It spurs you to love, to fear, to lose and to win along with its characters. And once immersed, the experience never leaves you. 

Elie Wiesel was the Holocaust’s master storyteller. It is why the neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers expend considerable energy to discredit him. But they can’t. La Nuit, or Night in English, just one of his 137 books, has been translated into 30 languages. It has sold more than 8 million copies in the US alone. No matter who, no matter where, when you open the first chapter, you are riveted. The book’s impact will never be able to be dampened. 

It’s not just stories about the Holocaust. If you are old enough, you certainly learned more about the American Indians and their treatment at the hands of the white man from Little Big Man than you ever learned in school. If you’re not old enough for that one, you may have had the “white man tames savages” bubble shattered by Dancing with Wolves. Those lucky enough to have seen Phillip Noyce’s Rabbit Proof Fence, which unearths the story of Australia’s “lost generation,” know more about the treatment of the Aborigines in Australia than most Australians. And once you learn about the lost generation from the faces of young children being torn from their parents (a scene that reportedly had even the camera crew sobbing), it doesn’t go away.

Armenians know all about rewriting history and denial. Many Armenians in the US today have grown up wondering why they have no grandparents, or very few aunts and uncles. They heard stories. First-hand stories. Stories of how, between 1915 and 1922, 80% of the Armenians in their homeland were slaughtered. They sat in the safety of their living rooms in the West and talked to their relatives about rivers full of bodies, about mass starvation, about marches with no food and no clothes, through the desert with no water. Those who had grandparents heard how many of them arrived in the US as children, survivors of atrocity. They know. 

There is a reason why more than 100,000 Armenians marched to the Turkish consulate in Los Angeles  to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the genocide of the Armenian people two years ago. Turkey, and many powerful Western governments, have yet to acknowledge that it even happened. 

Enter the storytellers. The first and most prominent was Franz Werfel, an Austrian novelist and son of a Jewish merchant in Prague. In 1933 Werfel’s novels were burned in Germany by the Nazis. That same year he completed The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, a story of 5000 Armenians in what is now Southern Turkey, defending themselves against the onslaught of Turkish troops. Basing the story on the horrors he had witnessed while serving in the Austro-Hungarian Army in Damascus, in an almost eerie foreshadowing, Werfel was putting deportations, concentration camps and massacres of the Armenians to paper just as Nazi troops were approaching his homeland.

MGM bought the production rights to The Forty Days of Musa Dagh and went into preproduction in 1934, casting Clark Gable to star. The Turkish government launched a press attack with anti-Semitic overtones. They threatened a boycott of not only American films in Turkey but of all Jewish products. MGM caved and stopped production. 

But a good story is hard to kill. Today we are still talking about the book. I ordered my copy yesterday from Amazon. Eighty years after it was written. 

Filmmaker Terry George probably leads the pack today in bringing atrocity home through film. It’s hard to think of the Rwanda genocide today without remembering Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda. If you’ve ever seen In the Name of the Father, just try thinking about the Troubles in Northern Ireland without remembering Daniel Day-Lewis seeing his father arrive in prison. 

George is taking on the Armenian genocide with a new film, The Promise, starring Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac. From the trailer it promises to be another Terry George story that will leave the story of the Armenian genocide imprinted in your heart.

Denial, or even the more subtle version of “planting doubts,” whether about Armenian, Jewish or other genocides, is a perpetuation of the kind of racism and hatred used to foment the genocide in the first place. As the South Africans taught us so brilliantly with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, fully closing the chapter and walking forward into a new more humane day requires first acknowledging what was in that chapter, even staring it in the face. Thankfully, when governments fail to do so, the storytellers keep the truth and the lessons of history alive for us to do so. 

http://www.huffingto...4b062043ad4ad90



#44 Yervant1

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Posted 08 April 2017 - 12:25 PM

Hollywood Reporter

April 6 2017
 
 
Armenian Genocide Drama 'The Promise' Screens at the Vatican

10:15 AM PDT 4/6/2017 by Mia Galuppo

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Courtesy of TIFF
'The Promise'
 
The Survival Films feature has been on a world tour.

The Promise, the historical drama that stars Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac and tells the story of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey at the outset of World War I, is the latest film to screen at the Vatican.

Director Terry George was on hand in Rome for the screening, along with castmembers Shohreh Aghdashloo and James Cromwell.

The Survival Films feature has been on a world tour, of sorts.

The London premiere was attended by international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and her husband, George, who has been an outspoken advocate of the movie, which seeks to educate audiences about human atrocities and the dangers of denialist narratives.

All the proceeds from The Promise's theatrical run will be given to nonprofit organizations, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation and other human rights and humanitarian groups. 

The Promise hits theaters in the U.S. on April 21.

http://www.hollywood...-vatican-991716



#45 Yervant1

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Posted 10 April 2017 - 10:19 AM

The National Student, UK

April 9 2017
 
 
Film Review: The Promise
 
 
The Promise is the harrowing story of the Armenian Genocide disguised as a love story.

 

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The Promise focuses on the character of Mikael Pogosian, from a small town in the Turkish mountains, who wishes to study medicine in Constantinople. He accepts a betrothal so he can use the dowry to pay his way. Once in the city, living with family, he encounters his little cousins’ tutor, Ana, and finds himself falling in love, despite the promise that he has made.

 

Oscar Isaac plays the role of Mikael brilliantly. He puts so much raw emotion and energy into all of his performances that it’s hard to be anything but enraptured by his presence on the screen. Charlotte Le Bon, who plays Ana, encompasses a lot of strength of will and emotion into the typical love interest that makes her just enchanting to watch on screen.

 

Christian Bale’s character of Chris Myers is not as endearing but just as engaging. This has to do with the importance of his role within the story – the reporter who is sending information about what the Turkish government is doing to the Armenian people. It is through the eyes of Chris Myers that you, as an audience, get a glimpse at some of the atrocities that took place during that time period that don’t touch Mikael or Ana. He is the outsider, someone who is experiencing it through human empathy only, and that is something that most audiences will understand as they watch this film.

 

On the surface, this is a very simple and sweet story about honour and love and vows sworn but, because of the backdrop of history, this story becomes so much more. It speaks of true horrors that are rarely spoken about, due to the denial that has set in internationally.

 

Director Terry George spoke about how he wished for this film to be accessible to everyone, so it can be “a tool of education as well as entertainment”. This is something that he has succeeded on.

 

The romance is believable and sweet and the conflict comes from the promises made, the relationships broken and the idea that falling in love has no sense of right or wrong. The devastation of human life is shown so honestly, and for those who watch and have prior knowledge of the Armenian genocide, can't help but feel gratitude that George handled this subject with such care.

 

The only issue I had with the movie was to do with whitewashing. Whilst there were Armenian actors in this movie, the main characters are all played by non-Armenian actors and it would have been nice to have that representation right there.

 

The Promise is an emotional experience about a truly horrific time, and the hope and love that can be found there. And, as Terry George wished, there is something for everyone.

 

The Promise is due to be released on 28th April through Entertainment One.

http://www.thenation...he_promise.html



#46 Yervant1

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Posted 11 April 2017 - 03:19 PM

News Busters

April 10 2017
 
 
These Ten Stars Are Promoting Armenian Genocide Film 'The Promise'
By Sarah Stites | April 10, 2017
 
 
 

 

 

Sarah Stites

Stars Pledge to #KeepThePromise

After surviving a targeted effort by Turkish lobbies to derail its success, the Armenian Genocide film The Promise will open in American theaters next week. And Hollywood celebs are getting the word out. 

After surviving a targeted effort by Turkish lobbies to derail its success, the Armenian Genocide film The Promise will open in American theaters next week. And Hollywood celebs are getting the word out.
 

Because the Turkish government still denies waging genocide against Armenians a century later, films about the conflict have encountered resistance. The most recent movie to tackle the topic – The Promise – stars A-lister Christian Bale, yet even that did not preclude pushback.  

However, two months after the film’s Toronto Film Festival debut, Open Road Films obtained distribution rights, celebrities joined in promotional efforts and the producers announced that all of the film’s proceeds would go toward charities. After screenings in London and the Vatican last month, The Promise will open April 21 in theaters across America.

Here are the big name stars who have joined in the effort to #keepthepromise.

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Cher

Cher, born Cherilyn Sarkisian, is part Armenian herself. After screening The Promise, the “goddess of pop” tweeted: “This film broke my heart, & NOT JUST 4 ARMENIANS, BUT 4 ALL PPL WHO'VE SUFFERED & LOST LOVED ONES. We’re all beautiful flowers We look best in a bouquet.” 

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George & Amal Clooney

Hollywood actor George Clooney and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, attended the London screening of the film. Mrs. Clooney represented the country before the European Court of Human Rights in a 2015 case against a denialist Turkish politician. 

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Leonardo DiCaprio

“Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale and Charlotte Le Bon, under the direction of Terry George, provide extraordinary performances in the upcoming film The Promise,” actor DiCaprio wrote on his Facebook page. “I applaud the entire team, together with my good friend the legendary producer Mike Medavoy, whose enduring talent, dedication and commitment brought this important project and subject to life.”

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Dean Cain

In March, actor/director Dean Cain traveled to Yerevan, Armenia to speak with the Syrian refugees of Armenian heritage who are currently living there. “Armenians have been persecuted for centuries, they were the first bastion of Christianity,” he told Fox & Friends on March 21. “And they are the only bastion of Christianity in the Middle East, in that area.”

Naturally, Cain has also supported The Promise. “In college I studied history, I learned about genocides, like the Armenian Genocide, and the Holocaust,” the actor commented in a video posted on Twitter. “There’s genocides going on right now, here, today. I’m talking about Syria, Iraq, Sudan. I vow to keep the promise to relegate Genocide to the history books.” 

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Barbra Streisand

“I am joining @esrailian & @thepromisefilm to #KeepThePromise to never forget,” the singing star posted to her Instagram account.

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Elton John

“I am thrilled to announce @thepromisefilm's release, a story about the Armenian Genocide, on Apr. 21. In the spirit of this film, I join the movement to #KeepThePromise to champion human rights, dignity & equality & an end to #AIDS through @ejafdn,” the self-titled “flamboyant superstar” wrote on Instagram. “In a wonderful display of the human spirit, all of the film’s proceeds will be donated to charity because, in a belief that I share, no one should be left behind. Thank you to @esrailian & everyone for your support throughout the years!”

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Sylvester Stallone

“This extraordinary film is opening April 21,” Stallone wrote of The Promise. “It is a subject that I have been fascinated with for decades and it has taken many years for someone to finally have the guts to make it and finally bring it to the screen for all to see…” The actor continued, “It is true and incredibly important historical drama That has all the extraordinary ingredients that can make a movie Oscar quality. It's amazing lead actors Christian Bale, and Oscar Isaac, Play their parts to perfection! And a special shout out to it's a legendary producer, Mike Medavoy, Who finally brought this epic story to the screen.”

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Don Cheadle

“Hi, I’m Don Cheadle and I’ve seen the effects of genocide up close and personal in Darfur,” the comedian announced in a Twitter video. “I vow to keep the promise, and raise awareness and fight genocide around the world wherever it may occur.” 

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Andre Agassi

Famed Armenian-American tennis champ Andre Agassi also publicized his support. “Hi, I’m Andre Agassi and I’m so proud to see that Kirk Kerkorian’s vision has become a reality,” the sports star commented over Twitter. “Help me keep Kirk’s promise.”

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Tony Goldwyn

Scandal star Tony Goldwyn posted a video on Twitter with the comment: "@MPTF we #KeepThePromise every day to take care of our own. @thepromisefilm opening April 21 with ALL proceeds going to charities."

https://www.newsbust...de-film-promise



#47 Yervant1

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Posted 12 April 2017 - 11:45 AM


Human Rights Watch thanks creators of The Promise movie
14:04, 12.04.2017
Region:World NewsArmenia
Theme: Society
 
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Human Rights Watch thanked the creators of the Promise movie for supporting their work.

The Promise will be released in U.S. on April 21. The movie directed by Terry George and starring Oscar IsaacCharlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale tells the story of the Armenian Genocide. Eric Esrailian is one of the producers. 

https://news.am/eng/news/384190.html



#48 Yervant1

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Posted 13 April 2017 - 09:38 AM

#KeepThePromise: Cher joins anti-genocide call to action
Cher-620x300.jpg
 

Cher has joined the anti-genocide call to action connected to “The Promise” film.

“Hitler said if they don’t remember the Armenias, they will not remember the Jews. We cannot let this happen to another group of people. I vow to keep the promise,” Cher said in a video posted  on Twitter.

Armenian Genocide film The Promise will be released in mainstream theaters across the United States and Canada on April 21.

Produced by the legendary Kirk Kerkorian’s Survival Pictures and directed by Academy Award winner Terry George (Hotel Rwanda), The Promise features an outstanding international cast, including Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Angela Sarafyan, and many more.

All proceeds from the film will be donated to non-profit organizations, the first time for a film of this scale.

http://www.armradio....call-to-action/



#49 Yervant1

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Posted 13 April 2017 - 09:54 AM

Cher criticises UK and US refusal to recognize Armenian Genocide
Cher-620x300.jpg
 

Cher has called on the UK Government to recognize as genocide the mass killing of Armenians during the First World War.

The 70-year-old star, whose father was Armenian-American, criticized Britain’s refusal to use the term to describe the 1915 atrocities when she attended the Los Angeles premiere of The Promise.

Cher said she believed the UK and US governments had not recognized the deaths as genocide because Armenia has “nothing to give them”.

She told the Press Association: “We’re small. Armenia is landlocked. We have no oil. We have nothing to give them.

“How much would it take (to recognize the genocide)?

“Armenians are a small group of people and we have nothing that they’re interested in.

“You’d think they’d do it out of the goodness of their hearts.”

Asked if she was hopeful President Donald Trump would recognize the killings as genocide, Cher replied: “No!”

The US singer was joined at the premiere by Kim Kardashian, who also has Armernian heritage and has previously called for the US to use the term to describe the mass killings.

http://www.armradio....enian-genocide/



#50 Yervant1

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Posted 14 April 2017 - 10:12 AM

Fox News
April 13 2017
 
 
Dean Cain: People are being taught to hate

By Blanche Johnson 

 

LOS ANGELES –  Dean Cain, a self-proclaimed history buff, thinks there is too much ignorance in the world today.

 

“...The truth of the matter is, this is not the most violent time we have ever lived in.” he told Fox News. “Because of technology now, if something happens in Syria today, we know about it five minutes later, so it feels like it’s everywhere.”

Still, he is very disturbed by all of the international conflicts going on right now. 

“Why people can't get along?... I think most of that is based on ignorance and being taught the wrong things. There is a lot of things going on in schooling throughout the world where they are teaching the wrong things. They are teaching hate. People don't come out hating or understanding color, race or religion; they don’t get that at all, it’s all taught. If we start teaching them differently that will make a big difference.”

Cain walked the red carpet at the premiere of the “The Promise" starring Christian Bale and Oscar Issac. The film tells the story of an Armenian medical student during the final days of the Ottoman Empire.

The 50-year-old actor is proud to support the movie.

 

“I was in Armenia six weeks ago and I was producing a documentary about the Armenian genocide and doing another television show about the current refugees from Syria— the Syrian Armenians,” he said. “It’s a big part of my recent life. Friends of mine made this film, and I have had a lot of Armenian friends my whole life. We have been discussing the genocide and such, and for me to be here it’s a no brainer... Hopefully a film like this will shine a large enough light that people will be forced to act.”

Cher, Sylvester Stallone, Kourtney and Kim Kardashian also attended the premiere.

 

"The Promise" hits theaters April 21st.

Watch the video of the interview about the Syrian-Armenian refugees at http://www.foxnews.c...ht-to-hate.html



#51 Yervant1

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Posted 14 April 2017 - 10:26 AM

‘The Promise’ Star James Cromwell says Armenian Genocide may get recognition under Trump
The-Promise-LA-620x300.jpg
 
PHOTO: ERIC CHARBONNEAU/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

 

‘The Promise’ Star James Cromwell says the Armenian Genocide may get recognition under Trump, Variety reports.

Attending the Los Angeles prmiere of the Armenian Genocide epic The Promise, James  Cromwell said “Hollywood has been hesitant to tackle the politically fraught subject for more than 100 years.”

“There was an extraordinary man, Kirk Kerkorian, who knew this industry and who knew that a film about the Armenian Genocide would never be made,” he said. “Finally at the end of his life, he said, ‘I will pony up $100 million, we will make this film.’ And even with Terry George as director, $100 million, and a script, they still could not sell this picture to Hollywood. Mike Medavoy stepped up, but for the rest of Hollywood, ‘no,’ because they didn’t want to be associated with something they thought was going to go in the toilet or cause a lot of ire with any other project they had that might go Turkey, might be denied the Turkish market,” he said.

The veteran actor also said the United States’ refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide reflects a systematic problem.

“For whatever reason, this community flinched. This country flinches in its responsibility for the devastation of Syria and Yemen and Libya and Iraq and Afghanistan and Somalia and the Sudan and everywhere,” he added. “If we do not acknowledge our responsibility for events like this, our history, then we are doomed to repeat them, which is what we’re doing.”

President Barack Obama reneged on his 2008 campaign pledge that said, “As President, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, “The Promise’s” executive music consultant, who has long advocated for genocide recognition, said Obama’s broken promise was “extremely disappointing.”

“It was very disappointing that he would cow to political capital like that having to do with Turkey’s pressure being a NATO ally,” he said. “As we can see, [Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan is a madman and Turkey needs the U.S. more than the U.S. needs Turkey.”

Cromwell said there’s a higher chance of recognition under President Donald Trump “because he’s insane.”

“We have elected an insane man as president of the United States and he has appointed people who are, in my mind, spiritually dead to run the country, so now the American people can look at their government and say it does not work,” he said. “We must take it back. It’s called we the people, it’s not called we the 1%. It’s not we industrialists. It’s we the people.”

According to Cromwell, Americans will be moved to take to the streets to demand justice and picket the Turkish embassy until the genocide is recognized and restitutions are paid.

“The Promise” has already been forced to surmount several obstacles. When the film world-premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last September, its IMDb page received a flood of negative ratings.

“When we were at the Toronto International Film Festival at its original premiere, this is the L.A. premiere, but that was the first time it was seen and only a theater full of people saw it,” Tankian said. “We had tens of thousands of 0 votes stemming from Turkey on IMDb so there was a campaign to try to discredit the film. I thought ‘that’s really ridiculous.’ This is a film — it’s media, it’s cultural. To use it as a political weapon in that sense is unfair. But that’s good, that means the denialists are afraid and we want them to be afraid.”

“The Promise” centers on a love triangle between an Armenian medical student (Isaac), a renowned American journalist (Bale), and an Armenian woman (Charlotte Le Bon).

Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, who wrote a song for the film, said being swept away by the drama will help audiences grasp the powerful message.

“I went to school in the U.S. and I wasn’t taught about the Armenian or Greek genocide in history class,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s due in part to the denial of it or what it is. It’s one of those things where it’s a story that needs to be told. And I think it needs to be told and retold. … We need to at some point as human beings preempt this from happening. Genocide is occurring right now on this planet. It’s not something of the past, it’s something unfortunately of now, and unfortunately probably will be of the future.”

The late businessman Kirk Kerkorianwho died in 2015, invested $100 million to bring the Armenian Genocide epic to the big screen after other productions weren’t able to escape what’s been dubbed the “denialist lobby.”

Open Road’s “The Promise” hits theaters on April 2.

http://www.armradio....on-under-trump/



#52 Yervant1

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Posted 14 April 2017 - 10:28 AM

Sorry you lost credibility, you had the chance and you blew it!

 

 
Samantha Power joins #KeepThePromise campaign

 

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Former US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power has joined the #KeepThePromise campaign and vowed to be an upstander for human rights.

Survival Pictures has launched the #KeepThePromise social impact campaign connected to the Armenian Genocide film The Promise.

A number of celebrities and human rights defenders have joined the #KeepThePromise to speak out against injustice like genocide and other human rights violations.

http://www.armradio....omise-campaign/

 

 


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#53 Yervant1

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Posted 15 April 2017 - 07:16 AM

Hollywood Reporter
April 14 2017
 
 
'The Promise': Can Armenian Genocide Drama Bring Charity Success?
 
The $100 million, independently-produced movie, starring Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac, was backed in full by the late billionaire businessman Kirk Kerkorian.

The Promise is a star-studded period drama produced on a $100-million budget, a massive figure for an independently-produced film. It's launching April 21 with an ambitious promotional campaign that has included a Vatican screening. And the producers of the film insist they won’t be keeping any of the film’s profits for themselves.

The film, directed by Terry George, boasts a starry cast headed by Oscar Isaac, as an Armenian medical student, Christian Bale, as an American journalist and Charlotte Le Bon, as the Armenian woman both men come to love, and is set against the Armenian Genocide in Turkey at the outset of World War I.

It would probably have never made its way to screen if it were not for one man: Kirk Kerkorian, the late billionaire businessman and former owner of MGM who died in 2015 a month before the production began. He decided to fully finance The Promise — the first mainstream, American film to depict the Armenian Genocide — because he had become a lifelong passion project for him. His own parents left the Ottoman Empire at the start of the genocide, during which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians died.

“The actual truth is so much worse than what we show onscreen, but he didn’t want it to be a preachy history lesson or a gory blood bath,” says Eric Esrailian, a producer on The Promise who worked closely with Kerkorian and runs his production banner Survival Pictures. “He wanted a love story, an epic in the same vein as some of the films that he remembered as great films from his era — Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor ZhivagoCasablanca.”

Kerkorian also wanted big stars, says Esrailian. And so George, who also directed another movie about a genocide, 2004’s historical drama Hotel Rwanda, was tasked with rewriting Robin Swicord’s screenplay, adding Bale’s character to not only create a love triangle for added drama, but also to further depict various key events with what he calls that “old-fashioned historical epic” feel. Though the main cast's only actor of Armenian descent is Westworld's Angela Sarafyan, George says that the production employed a diverse crew.

 

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Courtesy of Open Road Films
Christian Bale and Charlotte Le Bon in The Promise.

 

“There were so many elements to get into this — the love story, the conflict between these people and the political characters, and the scope of the genocide — so it was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle,” says George, who never got to meet Kerkorian because the late businessman was ailing as the project got underway. The shoot spanned 72 days across 20 locations throughout Spain, Malta, Portugal and New York, and adds George, “We stayed on schedule. We had no choice. There was no end to the movie otherwise.”

While the film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival to mixed reviews, the biggest challenge it faced in finding a distributor was the fact that the genocide remains controversial. While 28 countries — as well as 45 of America's fifty states — Turkey and Azerbaijan refused to do so and have made economic and diplomat threats against those who do. In part because of those political pressures, Esrailian says, "It became clear that the government of Turkey was going to have an influence on this movie. One of the most insidious realities of our existence in the United States is that foreign governments can control art. I would say at the highest levels from different studios, we were just basically told that no matter how good the film would be, it was never going be released by certain companies. I think that that’s truly shameful, but it’s just a reality that we had to deal with.”

In December, domestic rights to the film landed at Open Road Films, which will release it wide in the U.S. on 2,000 screens on April 21 — the week of the April 24 anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In advance of its U.S. opening, the movie has also screened internationally for Armenian, Greek and Assyrian community groups — “These were the three communities who were repressed during this time, and they’ve been waiting almost 100 years for this film to be made,” says George — as well as for members of Congress in Washington D.C. who have repeatedly pushed a bill asking the U.S. government to recognize the genocide. On Tuesday, its New York screening will be presented in partnership with ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, permanent representative of Armenia to the United Nations. The filmmakers also decided a PG-13 rating was crucial for its release, and so after it initially was rated R, they submitted a slightly less-violent cut, which resulted in a PG-13. 

“The Armenians were killed by their own government, not by the enemy, and they were killed in this systematic way that became the legal definition of the word ‘genocide,’” says George.“But this story says that a man or a woman, as small as they are in the scope of the world, can confront and overcome evil and survive and lead a better life for others to follow. I want this to be used as an educational tool as well as a piece of entertainment. It should be shown in schools.”

 

thepromise-tp_09363_rgb_-_h_2017.jpg
Courtesy of Open Road Films
Oscar Isaac (middle) in The Promise.

 

The film recently screened at the Vatican. Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and her husband, George Clooney — whose non-profit group The Sentry will receive a donation from Survival Pictures’ ticket sales — attended the London premiere. The film's ambitious promotional efforts also have included a celebrity-heavy social campaign called #KeepThePromise which recruited Barbara StreisandCherSylvester Stallone and Andre Agassi to tweet about an issue they pledge to support.

Survival Pictures’ main goal is not earning back the movie's budget, the producers say, but ensuring that all proceeds from the theatrical run go to nonprofits, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation and other human rights and humanitarian groups. Kerkorian set the example by being a generous philanthropist, who donated more than $1 billion to charity, according to Esrailian. The cast was informed of this plan before signing on for the movie, and Survival is financially backing the marketing efforts along with Open Road.

That initiative has put added pressure on the success of the movie, says George: “The money is going somewhere good, not into the stock of a big corporation or whatever.”

“We’re not against profit — the way I look at is, the more money that comes back to Survival, the more we can help others and get more out to the world, so we certainly want it to be successful from a financial standpoint,” adds Esrailian, who cites Kerkorian’s initial vision. “Many times we talked about the film — obviously the process of developing a film like this takes a long time, and with every passing month, I’d say to him, ‘Are you sure you still want to do this? Because we could just donate the money to charity — that’s what you’ve always done.’ And he said, ‘No. We can make the movie and donate to charity. We want to do both.’”

http://www.hollywood...-charity-993244


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#54 Yervant1

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Posted 17 April 2017 - 08:48 AM

Las Vegas Sun

April 16 2017
 
 
Kerkorian’s ‘Promise’: Making sure truth will endure

By Brian Greenspun (contact)

Sunday, April 16, 2017 | 2 a.m.

 

“Sean Spicer didn’t serve the president well.”

 

That summation from pundits earlier this week was a response to Spicer’s ridiculous, stupid, ignorant, callous (you can add your own adjectives at this point) answer in a media conference at which he claimed that Adolph Hitler never gassed his own citizens. Really?

By making that statement, Spicer also did not serve humanity well.

Spicer fell on his sword and took all the heat — as well he should have — for his out-of-mind experience the following day in a full-throated interview and unequivocal apology on CNN. What else could he or should he have done? Especially right in the middle of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which celebrates the Jews’ freedom from bondage under the pharaoh of Egypt. Remember the story of Moses, the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea?

The story of the Jewish people over the last 5,000 years or so is replete with murderous tragedies and oppression but none so horrific as the Holocaust, in which Nazi Germany under Hitler did its best to eradicate the Jewish people in the gas chambers of places called Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor and others. Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis!

Who doesn’t know that? Well, besides Sean Spicer, there is a lunatic fringe in this world called Holocaust deniers, who claim that it didn’t happen and countless others who, as hard as it is to believe, just don’t know or never did know or don’t want to know. Of course, there are also the haters who believe it in their interests to deny no matter how much the facts prove the lie. Until recently, those folks were kept at the margins of responsible society so that their poisonous rhetoric couldn’t and wouldn’t infect decent human beings.

Unfortunately, those haters were given new life by people in and around the Trump campaign this past year, and the result of their lies being “mainstreamed” is exactly what we witnessed this past week. I have no reason to believe Spicer is one of them or even believes what they espouse, but the effect of the constant barrage of anti-Semitic remarks that swirl around the Trump orbit have had the desired effect. Thank goodness that the media and all those folks on Twitter did not let Spicer further those hateful and harmful lies.

I am especially mindful of this subject — man’s inhumanity to man — because today is Easter and if Christianity around the world is celebrating anything it is the magnificence of the human spirit coupled with a sincere faith that man can be better, do better and act better toward his fellow man.

The world witnessed incredible acts of bravery during World War II when Christians came to the aid of Jews trying to escape Hitler’s ovens. Thousands of innocent lives were spared because people who believed in God did their best to save the lives of their fellow human beings. We call those very special people the “Righteous Ones.”

I am also mindful of the way some people would rewrite the history of the Holocaust to serve their own needs after recently watching the movie premiere of “The Promise,” which takes place in World War I. It is all about the Armenian genocide.

The movie could be the greatest legacy Las Vegas’ friend and benefactor, Kirk Kerkorian, ever gave to the world. Kerkorian is the executive producer of the film, which tells a love story set in the middle of the murder of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Turks. Theirs was a vile and vicious effort to wipe an entire country off the face of the Earth years before Hitler moved forward on his genocidal plans for the Jews.

It should not come as a surprise to most people, but probably does, that there was an Armenian genocide and that Germany — which was allied with Turkey at the time — was a prime architect in 1914. Or that there is even a place called Armenia. That is how quiet this monstrous act has been kept for over 100 years. But thanks to Mr. Kerkorian and some very able filmmakers and actors, the story has been told for all to see — and learn.

I suppose what I am trying to say on this Easter Day is that history, unfortunately, is replete with stories of murder and genocide which define the utter depravity of man. And our only chance of avoiding similar atrocities in the future is to acknowledge these murderous events — even a century after the fact — and learn from them. To ignore them, or to deny them, or to lie about them in the face of facts to the contrary is to further man’s ability to destroy innocent lives.

Kirk Kerkorian’s last testament, if you will, was to tell the Armenian history for all to know. In our company’s weekly news magazine, The Sunday, available all around town today, we tell the story of how Kirk’s lifelong dream came to pass.

“The Promise” goes a long way to educate the world about what really happened to the Armenian people. I urge every Las Vegan to see this movie — without your children — so you cannot be swayed away from the truth by anyone, no matter whom they serve.

The Holocaust did happen. And so did the Armenian genocide. Period.

Happy Easter to our Christian friends. We would all do well to heed their faith’s message of peace.

Brian Greenspun is editor, publisher and owner of the Sun.

https://lasvegassun....th-will-endure/


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#55 Yervant1

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 08:43 AM

UCLA Newsroom - University of California, Los Angeles
April 17 2017
 
 
$20 million gift creates Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law Bill Kisliuk |  April 17, 2017
 
Esrailian+and+Mnookin_mid.jpg
Todd Cheney/UCLA School of Law

Dr. Eric Esrailian, professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and UCLA School of Law Dean Jennifer Mnookin.

The UCLA School of Law has received a $20 million gift to launch a new institute that will serve as a national hub for human rights education and advocacy. The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law will be generously supported by proceeds from the feature film “The Promise,” as well as other donations and university resources. The donation is the largest gift to launch a new institute in the history of UCLA Law.

“The Promise,” which is set during the Armenian genocide that began in 1915, opens in theaters on April 21.

“In so many corners of the campus, our faculty and students are focused on identifying and addressing the conditions that create social unrest, displacement and injustice,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. “The Promise Institute will become UCLA’s center for collaboration in this area and will greatly enhance our ability to serve a global leadership role.”

The institute will advance the law school’s already-extensive work in the field of human rights. Law school faculty and students will collaborate with scholars in other disciplines from across the UCLA campus, and the institute will train the next generation of human rights leaders and develop strategies to address crises around the globe.

Dr. Eric Esrailian, the lead producer of “The Promise” and a faculty member at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, spearheaded the effort to establish the institute.

“The Armenian genocide must never be forgotten, and this need was one reason why we made ‘The Promise,’” Esrailian said. “However, human rights tragedies — in Syria, the Congo and South Sudan and a global refugee crisis — continue to unfold today.

“The Promise Institute is so named because UCLA and the UCLA School of Law are making a commitment to keep the promise to the victims of human rights abuses — that we will create the tools and train people of integrity and talent to address these crises. Out of the darkness of the Armenian genocide and our film, we will bring light into the world to help people who need it today.”

The institute will expand UCLA Law’s course offerings in human rights studies, enhance hands-on programs in human rights law and policy, publish research and policy assessments, bring experienced human rights scholars and practitioners to UCLA Law as faculty members and guest speakers, support students through fellowships and scholarships, and host symposia and related events.

UCLA Law students and faculty currently work with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the Right to Food and on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance; and with human rights organizations in countries including Bangladesh, Honduras, India and South Africa.

“This visionary gift is a giant step toward making UCLA Law the premier center for human rights in Southern California,” said UCLA Law Dean Jennifer Mnookin. “While the school already has a strong record of human rights scholarship and activity, the Promise Institute will greatly enhance our program and have an impact felt around the world. Dr. Esrailian and the makers of ‘The Promise’ have shown extraordinary leadership, and we are thrilled that their commitment permits us to launch an institute that promises to grow into a major academic crossroads for human rights.”

The gift announcement is being made on the same day that UCLA Law is hosting a conference on contemporary challenges to human rights, and just four days before the film opens on screens across the U.S. “The Promise” is set during the Armenian genocide, which began in 1915, when more than 1.5 million people perished in an atrocity driven by ethnic and religious intolerance. It is directed by Terry George (director and co-writer of “Hotel Rwanda”) and stars Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale, Shohreh Aghdashloo and an international cast.

Esrailian produced “The Promise” with Phoenix Pictures chairman and fellow UCLA alumnus Mike Medavoy and veteran film producer William Horberg.

Esrailian and Anthony Mandekic, president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, are also the co-managers of Survival Pictures, which was founded by the late Los Angeles businessman and legendary philanthropist Kirk Kerkorian. Survival Pictures was established to tell this story of perseverance and human endurance, and it has begun a campaign to teach the public about the genocides and mass atrocities of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Support for the Promise Institute is part of the $4.2 billion Centennial Campaign for UCLA, which is scheduled to conclude in December 2019 during UCLA’s 100th anniversary year.

http://newsroom.ucla...a-school-of-law


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#56 Yervant1

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 08:48 AM

$20 Million Gift Creates Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law
  • 18/04/17
UCLAPromiseInstitute.jpg
Eric Esrailian, the lead producer of “The Promise”
 
 
Asli Bâli, the inaugural faculty director of the new institute and Professor of Law and Director of UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies

LOS ANGELES—The UCLA School of Law has received a $20 million gift to launch a new institute that will serve as a national hub for human rights education and advocacy. The Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law will be generously supported by proceeds from the feature film “The Promise,” as well as other donations and university resources. The donation is the largest gift to launch a new institute in the history of UCLA Law.

“The Promise,” which is set during the Armenian genocide that began in 1915, opens in theaters on April 21.

“In so many corners of the campus, our faculty and students are focused on identifying and addressing the conditions that create social unrest, displacement and injustice,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. “The Promise Institute will become UCLA’s center for collaboration in this area and will greatly enhance our ability to serve a global leadership role.”

The institute will advance the law school’s already-extensive work in the field of human rights. Law school faculty and students will collaborate with scholars in other disciplines from across the UCLA campus, and the institute will train the next generation of human rights leaders and develop strategies to address crises around the globe.

Dr. Eric Esrailian, the lead producer of “The Promise” and a faculty member at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, spearheaded the effort to establish the institute.

“The Armenian genocide must never be forgotten, and this need was one reason why we made ‘The Promise,’” Esrailian said. “However, human rights tragedies — in Syria, the Congo and South Sudan and a global refugee crisis — continue to unfold today.

“The Promise Institute is so named because UCLA and the UCLA School of Law are making a commitment to keep the promise to the victims of human rights abuses — that we will create the tools and train people of integrity and talent to address these crises. Out of the darkness of the Armenian genocide and our film, we will bring light into the world to help people who need it today.”

The institute will expand UCLA Law’s course offerings in human rights studies, enhance hands-on programs in human rights law and policy, publish research and policy assessments, bring experienced human rights scholars and practitioners to UCLA Law as faculty members and guest speakers, support students through fellowships and scholarships, and host symposia and related events.

UCLA Law students and faculty currently work with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the Right to Food and on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance; and with human rights organizations in countries including Bangladesh, Honduras, India and South Africa.

“This visionary gift is a giant step toward making UCLA Law the premier center for human rights in Southern California,” said UCLA Law Dean Jennifer Mnookin. “While the school already has a strong record of human rights scholarship and activity, the Promise Institute will greatly enhance our program and have an impact felt around the world. Dr. Esrailian and the makers of ‘The Promise’ have shown extraordinary leadership, and we are thrilled that their commitment permits us to launch an institute that promises to grow into a major academic crossroads for human rights.”

The gift announcement is being made on the same day that UCLA Law is hosting a conference on contemporary challenges to human rights, and just four days before the film opens on screens across the U.S. “The Promise” is set during the Armenian genocide, which began in 1915, when more than 1.5 million people perished in an atrocity driven by ethnic and religious intolerance. It is directed by Terry George (director and co-writer of “Hotel Rwanda”) and stars Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale, Shohreh Aghdashloo and an international cast.

Esrailian produced “The Promise” with Phoenix Pictures chairman and fellow UCLA alumnus Mike Medavoy and veteran film producer William Horberg.

Esrailian and Anthony Mandekic, president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, are also the co-managers of Survival Pictures, which was founded by the late Los Angeles businessman and legendary philanthropist Kirk Kerkorian. Survival Pictures was established to tell this story of perseverance and human endurance, and it has begun a campaign to teach the public about the genocides and mass atrocities of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Support for the Promise Institute is part of the $4.2 billion Centennial Campaign for UCLA, which is scheduled to conclude in December 2019 during UCLA’s 100th anniversary year.

Contact: Bill Kisliuk, kisliuk@law.ucla.edu or 310.206.2611

http://asbarez.com/1...-school-of-law/


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#57 Yervant1

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Posted 22 April 2017 - 08:19 AM

Christian Bale historic romance The Promise is targeted by Turkish online trolls who deny the Armenian genocide
 
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Christian Bale stars in The Promise and has spoken out against denial of the Armenian genocide CREDIT: JOSE HARO/OPEN ROAD FILMS VIA AP

 Raf Sanchez

21 APRIL 2017 • 7:19PM

The makers of The Promise, a Hollywood film about the Armenian genocide, knew their movie would not go down well in Turkey, where acknowledging the mass slaughter is illegal.

What they didn’t expect was tens of thousands of negative reviews from people claiming to have seen the film - before it was even released.

The Christian Bale picture appears to be the target of a concerted campaign by Turkish cyber trolls who hope to destroy it before it is widely released in cinemas.

The film currently has more than 120,000 reviews on IMDB.com, the online movie ranking website. That is almost double the number of reviews for Beauty and the Beast, which was released last month and seen by millions around the world.

The online onslaught appears to have been directed partly from places like Incisozluk, an anarchic Turkish forum where digital trolling campaigns are often marshaled.  

Several pages urged their followers to head to IMDB and give The Promise one star out of ten, the lowest rating possible.  

“This a lesson that you don't f***  with Turks. We'll kick your a****! This is just a start,” wrote one user.

“F****** liars made a movie about so-called Armenian genocide,” wrote another. “Please if you have a membership vote one star.”

Mike Medavoy, producer of The Promise, said those complaining about the film should "move on" and accept historical fact.

"I couldn't understand why this film hadn't been made before," he told The Telegraph. "Now I know."

Mr Medavoy, who as vice president of production for Universal was responsible for films such as Rocky, Terminator and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, said he did not anticipate so strong a backlash against this film.

Charlie Chaplin was once in talks to tell the story, he later found out, but the film was dropped under Turkish pressure.

"And nowadays it's perhaps even more relevant - with what's going on in Syria. There are people who still deny the Holocaust, too."

The 67-year-old producer, whose films with his own company include Black Swan, Shutter Island and The Thin Red Line, said he was not aware of the sensitivities before he embarked on the film, but "knew there would be some issues" when the film team came to him with the idea.

He was not warned off the film, though.

"If they did, they'd have gotten to the wrong guy," he said.

The campaign seems to have worked but also triggered an equal and opposite backlash from Armenians and other supporters of the film. Out of the 126,000 ratings on the site 63,000 of them are ten stars and 61,000 are one star. There are barely any rankings inbetween.

“Very proud there is a movie coming out about the Armenian genocide,” wrote one user who gave it a ten-star rating. “My great grandparents survived this genocide and went through hell.”

The £78 million movie was bankrolled by Kerkor Kerkorian, an Armenian-American businessman who was determined to spread awareness of the genocide even if the film did not make profit. It is directed by Terry George, an Irish filmmaker who also directed Hotel Rwanda, about the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

The Promise stars Bale as an American reporter who covers the killing and Oscar Isaac as a young Armenian medical student who gets caught up in the slaughter.

Around 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by Turkish soldiers and mobs in the final days of the Ottoman empire. In 1914 there were around two million Armenians living in Ottoman-controlled territory. By 1922, after years of killings and displacement, there were fewer than 400,000.

Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale are part of a love triangle in the film CREDIT: JOSE HARO/OPEN ROAD FILMS VIA AP

Turkish citizens can be prosecuted for talking about the genocide and no US president has ever formally acknowledged the slaughter out of fear of angering Turkey, a Nato ally. Barack Obama promised he would recognise the genocide when he was a candidate but backtracked on the promise once he was elected.

A Turkish-funded film called The Ottoman Lieutenant was released several weeks ago and appears to be an effort to counterbalance The Promise.

Both films feature are set in the same period and centre around a love triangle but the Ottoman Lieutenant, which features Ben Kingsley, portrays the genocide as a series of sporadic killings rather than an organised campaign by the Ottoman government.  

Mr George, the director of The Promise, called The Ottoman Lieutenant "an alternative fact-type smokescreen".  

“It’s not hard to see the motivation. Clearly, they had to have gotten wind of us making this film,” he told Hollywood Reporter.

Bale has been outspoken about the genocide since becoming involved in the film and said it was “tragically relevant” at a time when the Islamic State (Isil) is trying to wipe out Yazidis, Christians and other minorities.

Asked what he would say to Turks who denied that the genocide ever took place, Bale told MovieWeb: “There's a false debate that's been created, like climate change. As though there's strong evidence on one side, as on the other. There isn't. There isn't just as strong an argument. The evidence backs up the fact that it was a genocide.”

http://www.telegraph...turkish-online/


#58 Yervant1

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Posted 22 April 2017 - 08:40 AM

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Society 11:54 22/04/2017 World
Jennifer Lopez joins #KeepThePromise campaign

World-famous singer and actress Jennifer Lopez has joined the #KeepThePromise campaign.

“We should all care about the human rights, helping the refuges and children. My name is Jennifer Lopez and I vow to keep the promise to never forget,” the singer says at a video released on the social networks.

“The Promise” has also received the support of Elton John, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sylvester Stallone, Don Cheadle, Barbra Streisand, Cher, George and Amal Clooney, and other world-famous stars.

The director of “The Promise” is Oscar-winning director Terry George. The film stars Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac. It tells about the deportations and massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the period of the First World War.

“The Promise” follows a love triangle between Michael, a brilliant medical student, the beautiful and sophisticated Ana, and Chris - a renowned American journalist based in Paris.

http://www.panorama....Promise/1765523



#59 Yervant1

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Posted 22 April 2017 - 08:43 AM

American TV host speaks about Turkish lobby efforts to silence Armenian Genocide
15:55, 22.04.2017
Region:World NewsArmeniaTurkey
Theme: Politics
 
default.jpgAmerican political commentator and MSNBC host Chris Matthews revealed Turkish lobby's efforts to silence the Armenian Genocide.

During an interview with Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, the actors of the Promise – a movie about the Armenian Genocide – he spoke about lobbying in Congress.

 “I know it [the Armenian Genocide] was a big issue in Congress when I worked there. The lobbyists worked like hell for the Turkish government to keep this quiet!” he said. 

https://news.am/eng/news/385989.html



#60 Yervant1

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Posted 23 April 2017 - 08:52 AM

The Student Life: Pomona College
April 21, 2017 Friday


"The Promise" Misrepresents Armenian Genocide

by Victoria Anders



The Armenian Genocide-one of the many complex chapters of World War I,
when the Ottoman Empire killed an estimated 1.5 million Armenians-has
seemingly been forgotten, or at least untouched, by Hollywood. "The
Promise" sought to change this pattern through a war-torn love
triangle storyline, but missed the mark on capturing the gravity and
delirium of the atrocity.

The fictional love story ties Paris-educated tutor Ana (Charlotte Le
Bon) with Armenian medical student Mikael (Oscar Isaac) and Associated
Press war reporter Chris (Christian Bale), and witnesses them from the
glamour of pre-war Constantinople (now Istanbul) to Ottoman work camps
and round-ups of Armenian villages.

Mikael, unwilling to settle for his innocent small-town fiancée
(Angela Sarafyan), leaves her for the big city and medical school,
promising to return soon (this isn't the namesake promise, however).
Falling for the first city girl he sees, also Armenian, he faces his
first hardship in discovering she is in a long-term relationship with
Chris.

But, as this is 1914, the world is seeing worse than Mikael's pining
heart. The flirting, lusting, and city life continues on until
Constantinople's Armenian intellectuals start disappearing. The film,
as the war, then devolves into an expository battle of prisoners,
executions, and desperation. However, the film's laser focus on the
love triangle only becomes more and more unsympathetic and
meaningless.

The film is a sincere attempt at humanizing and personalizing events
that are too complex and devastating to portray as a whole by focusing
on the individual lives affected rather than the 1.5 million persons
affected, but gets lost in its attempts to do both. Solid acting,
beautiful scenery, and compelling action almost gives the film a shot
at being successful, but not quite.

The problem does not seem to be wholly the director: Terry George also
directed "Hotel Rwanda," with much more depth and conviction. Nor is
it money, as the film reportedly cost almost $100 million to produce,
including support from Armenian-American billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.
As Peter Travers of the Rolling Stone put it, "it's distressing to see
a great subject go wrong in the right hands."

"The Promise" may inspire a viewer to read up a bit more on one of the
world's first modern genocides, but the film itself will not leave you
with an accurate enough understanding of this chapter of history.

https://urldefense.p...goebM8AYyOuQ&e=
 






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