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Apo Torosyan spreads an abiding message of hope

by Kay Mouradian

Published: Saturday January 31, 2009

Apo Torosyan and Henry Morgenthau III.

Henry Morgenthau with refugee orphans, at Zapion, Athens, 1923.

Burbank, Calif. - On January 25, Apo Torosyan's documentary The Morgenthau Story was screened at the Western Diocese in Burbank. The extensively researched film, which premiered in Athens last year, tells the story of U.S. ambassador Henry Morgenthau. While serving as U.S. envoy in Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1913-16, Morgenthau issued thousands of documents chronicling the Armenian Genocide, and worked tirelessly to assist Armenian and Greek victims of ethnic cleansing.

Torosyan, who lives in Boston, is a passionate advocate of human rights and conflict resolution. He was born the son of an Armenian father and a Greek mother (both genocide survivors) in Istanbul in 1942, and moved to the United States in 1968. A multimedia artist, filmmaker, and lecturer, Torosyan has several documentary movies to his credit, and his artworks, some of which are in permanent collections such as the Florida Holocaust Museum, have been exhibited throughout the world.

While a number of Torosyan's films (Witnesses, Voices, Discovering My Father's Village: Edincik) explore the plight of Armenian and Greek survivors of genocide, two of his short movies - The Gates and Water - are poetic meditations on art and nature.

I caught up with Torosyan at the Armenian Reporter office in Burbank.

Kay Mouradian: Why did you decide to become a filmmaker?

Apo Torosyan: It started in 2003, when the Forum on Tolerance at the North Shore Community College [Boston] asked me to make a presentation on the Armenian Genocide. I was honored and traveled to Turkey to make a documentary exploring my roots. The result was the film My Father's Village: Edincik, which I completed in October 2003 and presented it for the first time at the Forum on Tolerance, in November of the same year.

KM: How did the idea of making a film on Ambassador Morgenthau come about?

AT: A Greek professor from Athens, Nikolaos Ouzounoglu, saw My Father's Village: Edincik in Yerevan. His parents were refugees transferred from Turkey after the burning of Smyrna in 1922. Ouzounoglu emailed me and asked if I would do a film on Morgenthau [with support from a number of Greek organizations]. Once we agreed on the length of the documentary [about one hour], it took more than a year to tape the interviews and produce the film.

KM: How did you manage to get the Morgenthau descendants to agree to the interviews?

AT: It wasn't easy. It started with Pam Steiner, a great granddaughter of Henry Sr. She wasn't anxious to meet me, but finally agreed to after Marc Mamigonian of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research informed her of my credentials. She asked me to submit 40 questions, which meant I needed to read and research more about Ambassador Morgenthau. Interestingly, this also forced her to start studying about her great grandfather.

Next I needed to find a way to connect to Robert Morgenthau, the district attorney of New York and grandson of Ambassador Morgenthau. The Armenian grapevine led me to an Armenian New York deputy district attorney, who, after reading my proposal, arranged for me a meeting with Robert Morgenthau.

After that successful interview and knowing that Robert's 90-year-old brother, Henry Morgenthau III, was not in good health, I asked Steiner about the possibility of interviewing him as well. Steiner arranged the meeting, and, after this final interview, the hard job of creating a story board, splicing, and editing began. Currently there is a possibility of distributing the film in Europe, with Greek financing. The Greeks also funded this film because of their remembrance and appreciation of Ambassador Morgenthau, who helped organize and fund the relocation of 1.6 million refugees from Turkey to Greece in 1923.

The most exciting and gratifying part was when I went to Athens for the premiere of My Father's Village: Edincik. After it was screened and I gave a speech, people came up to me speaking in five different languages: Greek, Armenian, Turkish, French, and English. I've never had a challenge like that in my life.

The film was also shown in Nikaia, a town just outside of Athens, whose population comprises Armenians and Greeks alike. While there, I was taken to a school that was built and funded by Ambassador Morgenthau. It is still functioning today. And in Athens there is a street named after Morgenthau.

KM: What's next on your agenda?

AT: The International Association of Genocide Scholars will be showing two of my films, Voices [2007] and Witnesses [2005], at its conference in June in Arlington, Virginia.

KM: What do you hope to accomplish through screenings of your documentaries?

AT: My goal is to reach students to talk about human rights and genocide. My view of history is that we keep making the same mistakes over and over. My own solution is one of hope, not hate. We need that message because we are living in a repetitious and vicious circle.

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