Tribute to Dr. Vartkes Broussalian to include screening of "The River Ran Red"

Published: Thursday November 12, 2009

Vartkes Broussalian.

Michael Hagopian .

Glendale, Calif. - The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and the UCLA Friends of Armenian Studies will present a special evening in tribute to the late Dr. Vartkes Broussalian, featuring a free showing of Dr. J. Michael Hagopian's documentary The River Ran Red, on Saturday, November 21, at 7:00 p.m., at the Glendale Central Library Auditorium, 222 E. Harvard Street (2nd floor), Glendale, Calif.

About Dr. Vartkes Broussalian

Dr. Vartkes Broussalian (1928–2009) was a brilliant economist trained at the London School of Economics and UCLA whose career spanned more than half a century. He held senior-level positions in various branches of the United States government including the Executive Office of the President; he taught at several major universities including Duke and UCLA; and he served as an advisor to the newly formed democratic governments of Armenia and Moldova in the early 1990s.

Dr. Broussalian served on the NAASR Board of Directors from 1991 until 2003 and was actively involved in the UCLA Friends of Armenian Studies, serving as chairperson of the board from 2001 to 2003.

About The River Ran Red and Dr. J. Michael Hagopian

Culminating more than forty years of interviews with more than 400 eyewitnesses to the Armenian Genocide of 1915, The River Ran Red is the final film of documentarian Dr. J. Michael Hagopian's trilogy "The Witnesses." The film was awarded first prize at the 2009 New York International Film & Video Festival for Best International Historical Documentary.

The River Ran Red is about Hagopian's epic search for survivors of the Genocide who were sent to their fate along the Euphrates River to the Syrian Desert and Der Zor.  Footage from many interviews with survivors carried out over several decades gives the film tremendous power and immediacy.

The evening will include a conversation with Dr. Hagopian about the film and he will offer his personal reflections on Dr. Vartkes Broussalian.  UCLA doctoral candidate Ara Soghomonian will conduct a question-and-answer session with Dr. Hagopian.

Dr. J. Michael Hagopian pioneered the effort to document the Armenian Genocide through films such as: Where Are My People, The Forgotten Genocide, The Armenian Case, The Armenian Genocide, Voices from the Lake and Germany and the Secret Genocide.  He holds a doctorate in International Relations from Harvard University.

Refreshments will be served prior to the 7:30 screening of The River Ran Red.

connect:
UCLA Friends of Armenian Studies 310-275-2767 or
NAASR 617-489-1610