Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Staff Writer
Fresno State’s weekly Cineculture Film Series spotlighted films with an Armenian theme on Friday, October 20. In addition, four panelists were invited to comment on the films shown and to answer questions raised by the audience.
Special guest speaker Vickie Smith-Foston of Sacramento joined Dr. Matthew Jendian (Sociology), Barlow Der Mugrdechian (Armenian Studies), and Fresno State graduate Bernadette Moordigian, to discuss and comment on the two featured films.
Araz Artinian’s The Genocide in Me, and J. Michael Hagopian’s California Armenians: The First Generation, were screened, with a question and answer period immediately following.
Dr. Jendian opened the evening with a power-point presentation, serving as an introduction to the films. He covered some early Armenian history, before focusing on the reasons why Armenians immigrated in great numbers to the United States, especially beginning in the late nineteenth century.
Vickie Smith-Foston is the author of Victoria’s Secret: A Conspiracy of Silence, which documents her discovery of her grandmother’s apparent identity crisis that led to her tragic suicide in the 1950s. Smith-Foston discussed the concept of identity and how being part Armenian had affected her own life.
Moordigian commented on her mixed Armenian and Mexican roots, and how ethnic identity had become a way for her to explore both sides of her heritage.
Der Mugrdechian responded to questions with comments on the Turkish government denial of the Armenian Genocide and how that denial had become part of Turkey’s international foreign policy.
Many of the questions from the audience were about the current situation in Armenia, while others were about the Armenian Genocide and the current efforts to pass Genocide resolutions in various countries.
Denise Blum (Curriculum and Instruction) is the coordinator for the Cineculture Film Series, whose purpose is to promote cultural awareness and address diversity issues through film and post-screening discussions.