“Orphans of the Genocide,” a documentary chronicling the plight of the Armenian orphans of the Armenian Genocide won the Silver Telly Award, which is the competition’s highest honor.
The production team, known as the Armenoid Team, includes Paul Andonian, Bedo Der-Bedrossian and Bared Maronian (founder), who are multi-Emmy Award-winning professionals who produce documentaries about untold stories. The production of the film was made possible by a grant from the Bezigian Family.
The same version is already a Regional Emmy nominee.
Maronian told Asbarez Friday that the film was picked by the 2011 New York City Filmmaker’s Festival, which will run from August 27 to 28 at the Anthology Film Archives in New York.
“Orphans of the Genocide” is a short film produced by the Armenoid Team. This short documentary includes a feature interview by Maurice Missak Kelechian, whose findings unveiled the secrets of an orphanage in Antoura near Beirut, Lebanon, where 1,000 Armenian Genocide Orphans were being turkified.
By the end of WWI more than 150,000 Armenian children were left parentless as a direct result of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Authorities. Near East Relief commissioned by the US Congress catered to over 132,000 Armenian orphans alone.
Kelechian’s research prompted an article by award winning journalist Robert Fisk of The Independent magazine. This short documentary also includes testimonials from children of Armenian Genocide orphans. This 18 minute documentary debuted on April 24, 2010 at the commemoration of the 95th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Hollywood Florida. The one hour version of Orphans of the Genocide will include a feature interview by award winning journalist Robert Fisk.
The Armenoid Team is currently working on expanding “Orphans of the Genocide” to a one hour film.
On April 24, 2011 tens of thousands of Armenians marched to Dzidzernagapert Monument in memory of 1,500,000 Armenian genocide slain victims
A skeleton crew of the Armenoid Team recently visited Armenia as a part of its final phase of production and filmed one of the largest Armenian Genocide Commemorations in the World at the Dzidzernagapert Monument, where tens of thousands of Armenians gathered to pay their respects to the souls of the Armenian Genocide victims o f 1915 , perpetrated b y the Ottoman authorities.
April 24, 2011 marked the 96th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide which created over 150,000 Armenian genocide orphans scattered around Historical Armenia.
Orphans of the Genocide, a one hour documentary tells the compelling story of these orphans. Their plight, their fear, their survival…
Another stop for the Armenoid Team was Gyumri, formerly known as Alexandrapol situated 75 miles North West of Yerevan. Gyumri was often referred to as the Orphan City.
Gyumri (Alexandrapole) Orphanages
The Gyumri, orphanages were run by Near East Relief and they housed more than 20,000 Armenian Genocide Orphans. Gyumri had several orphan stations scattered around the city. Hence the name, Orphan City. According to an article published in 1922 written by Minna McEun Meyer Alexandrapole had the World’s largest Orphanage.
Etchmiadzin Orphan Camps
Holy Etchmiadzin Served as a Transition Point for Tens of Thousands of Genocide Orphans and Refugees During the Genocide.
Orphans gathered at Etchmiadzin for humanitarian aid provided by Armenian and non-Armenian organizations. At Etchmiadzin medical and nutritional necessities were scarce while the threats of Cholera and Typhus were eminent.
At Etchmiadzin the Armenoid Team interviewed Father Asoghik Karapetian, Holy Etchmiadzin Archives Director. Father Asoghik took us back in time and drew a clear image of what went on at Holy Ectchmiadzin where tens of thousands of Armenian Genocide deportees and orphans found refuge in and around the Holy Church.
On April 29, 2011 The Armenoid Team was invited for a presentation at the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute located in Yerevan. The presentation took place at the Komitas Hall of the Institute, where the Director of the museum, Hayk Demoyan introduced Bared Maronian, the founder of the Armenoid Team, who delivered an audiovisual presentation of the team’s Orphans of the Genocide , a one hour documentary.
The Armenoid Team also interviewed Norwegian Jussi Flemming Bioern, the grandson of Bodil katharin Bioern, who settled in Mush and as a missionary, where she witnessed the massacres of Mush and rescued hundreds of genocide widows and orphans and eventually started her own orphanage.
In Yerevan, the Armenoid Team also met and interviewed Professor Bruce Boghosian, the president of the American University of Armenia, who happens to be the grandson of a 103 year old genocide orphan, Almas Boghosian of Witensville Massachusetts.
The team also interviewed Levon Chookaszian, Yerevan State University Unesco chair of Armenian Art History. Prof. Chookaszian briefed us about the impact of the Genocide on Armenian Artists. Dr. Verjine Svazlian, a leading researcher of at the National Academy of Sciences, talked about the impact of the Genocide on Armenian Ethnography.
The founder of the Armenoid Team, Bared Maronian, a four time Regional Emmy Award Winner, gave a presentation at the Gomidas Hall of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Armenia about the different projects of the Armenoid Team
Maronian gave another presentation at the Haigazian University of Beirut Lebanon. This event was sponsored by the Heritage Club of the University.
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Bravo to the film makers and bringing this story to the public.
Is the phrase “This short documentary includes a feature interview by Maurice Missak Kelechian, whose findings unveiled the secrets of an orphanage in Antoura near Beirut, Lebanon, …” intentionally using the wrong vocabulary with the word “secrets”? There was no secret to discover since the Aintoura orphanage was described in the book “Papa Kuntzler” by Alameddine … However, we do appreciate Mr. Kelechian’s bringing this forgotten part of our history to the limelight.
Thank you
How Many Souls Can Humans Mourn?
Innocent orphans were singing
Just a few days before, for Pashas to live long
(Yasha, Yasha our dears, our Pashas)
Pashas: Butchers: Saffahs as Arabs say…
Pashas lived to slash innocent singers’ throats;
My mother, Viva* sang in tears,
I learned Turkish from her indoors.
Today I’m poeting insightfully
Easing her bitterness . . . her seared vocal cords.
Ottoman pashas dispatched letters.
All letters were ordered to be opened at the same time.
In every city, village, town . . . The slaughter started . . .
From that unlucky day . . . diabolic spring timed-era . . .
So no-one can tell one another to flee even naked . . .
Yet to kiss . . . hug . . . wave farewell . . .
Commands were given to slay
Each Armenian who stared…
In wombs…Young…Old
All Armenians should be humiliated . . . annihilated . . .
In only one day, from dawn to dusk.
No time for prayer, even for Turks,
Who must pray five times each day.
___________________________________
*Victoria Dabbagian-Portoian (1910-2002):
She was only five years old during genocide,
She kept saying, I had a great luck to survive!
She wished always to be wealthy
Not for her self, but to care for orphans.
Sylva-MD-Poetry
The team has done a fantastic job. I would like to see a documentary film on the armenian solders who died in World War I. Armenians must erect a manument for those Armenian solders who died in World ! and II.
I have not yet seen the documentarty and I think they have done a verry good job. Please ask them if they have included the Orphans of Jerusalem (Palestine ,British Mandate Period )
Bravo to the family that donate the $$ to the team so that they could do this! Beautiful. God Bless. We need more of this-otherwise we get swept under the rug- Love it
Thank you for a great story, this documentary needs to be shown across the world and how a whole generation of Armenians was destroyed and from the ashes of 150,000 orphans people such as me and my community in Fresno were born and thrived.