Yolun Başinda/Beginnings
(Dir. Somnur Vardar, 2013, 86 mins, in Armenian/English/Turkish)
Beginnings follows a group of youths from Armenia and Turkey who meet in two cities on either side of the divide to reconcile the past, present and future of their perpetual conflict stemming from the Armenian genocide. First in Mush, then in Gyumri, their explorations of conflicting memories open up an intense dialogue about the nature of preserving history as a means of evaluating modernity and educating people to learn from historical error. While close relationships develop, these youth must question notions of friendship and trust within a quest to face issues of memory, history, genocide, denial and the demand for the truth.
We had a pretty full house (16 people) for this film which explored a group of young people from Armenia and Turkey discovering facts about the Armenians in Turkey and later those who moved to Armenia. It was a group that formed hoping to develop a dialog between Armenians and Turks about the Genocide of 1915. Refreshments were available throught out the evening.
