“If it burns, it’s living…” John Kuyumdjian

This article is our fellow Poland-based Armenian John Kuyumdjian’s “monologue” about a beautiful event that we hope all Armenians who still feel sorrow for the Armenian Genocide and have the burning wrath to struggle will participate in.
And here it is…
Story of a symbolic torch or the Beginning…
I have always been interested in the Armenian Genocide, regardless of the nature of my work, and I have been making plans for the past couple of years.
I’m also a big movie fan, and taking into consideration the fact that we Armenians will be “experiencing” the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide in two years from now, I have prepared a script, the first one that I have written and the last one that I will write in my life.
I have also come up with an idea with a symbol, and what made a great impact on me were the symbols of the pagan times (sun, flame, fire) that symbolize continuity, meaning if it burns, it’s living…
In the beginning, my goal was to create a candle that would represent and symbolize the dome of the Armenian Church, but after thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that the candle would burn and that would be the end. That was when I came up with the idea of preparing a torch.
My goal is to see spiritual unity and to see Armenians everywhere light that torch, and not to cry (we’ve been crying for the past century), but to struggle.
We’re the last Mohicans who can transmit something. If we don’t transmit the torch, the fire will start fading away.
This symbolic torch is made from crystal in China.
The purpose is not to do business, but to introduce the film devoted to the Armenian Genocide.
The script for the film is written in nine languages. Each character will talk in the hero’s language-Armenians will speak Armenian, Turks will speak Turkish, etc.
If we want to have a high-quality film, we have to have popular and high-quality actors. But we all know the efforts and resources that are required, and it’s also very important for those actors to be non-Armenians.
The individual or organization that will make an investment for the film, be it Armenian or not, must have a business purpose and call the shots.
To avoid any intervention, the idea is to create the film with the help of symbolic torches.
There will be a fund that will sell the torches. Of course, selling is a little relative because the price will be symbolic.
We want to present this torch as a brick, just like the brick that is used to start building something (bricks that gradually turn into a house). These symbolic torches will be called Tricolor Bricks, and proceeds from sales will go to the film’s budget.
The activities of the fund that will sell the torches must be transparent so that everyone knows where the money is going.
This project (torch sale) will last until 2022. The proceeds from torch sales will be distributed.
Some of the proceeds will go to Armenian orphanages in Lebanon, another part will go to orphanages in Armenia, and the relatively small parts will go to the Armenian communities in Lebanon and the countries that participate in this initiative.
We’ve already prepared 300,000 torches costing 4.5 million Euros. Those wishing to buy the torches will be able to purchase them at Armenian churches and from Armenian companies in different countries around the world soon.
The torch also has a symbol. Keeping it lit means commemorating the innocent martyrs.
We’re pursuing our interests. Our goal is to create an independent film about the Armenian Genocide, which will be released in two years.
Our goal is to create an independent film that can be shown wherever we want to show it and donate it to any country that we want.
If there were organizations that would provide funding (and there were many organizations with the desire to do so), we would pay heed to them and follow their rules.
But we don’t want to turn the Armenian Genocide Centennial into a subject to bargain.
We have reached an initial agreement with several actors who will star in the film. Of course, we haven’t signed contracts yet, but they’re interested in the idea.
Some of the actors are Charles Aznavour, Omar Sharif, Monica Bellucci and others.
We were considering different directors, but we finally chose Vigen Chaldranyan.
Hovsep Seferyan introduced us to him last year.
I sent Vigen the script, and he replied that it was close to his heart.
A 100-year road that has turned into a film
The message of the film is to remember the genocides of the Armenians, the Greeks of Pontos and the Assyrians.
The initial version was entitled “Red Cross”, but later we decided to call it Epigedeon (special songs for heroes, including Song of heroes and an Epic Song).
Let’s discuss the script a little in order not to let everyone in on the entire project.
The script is the story of my family to a certain extent. It’s not a matter of egoism, but a film that will set an example.
My great-grandfather was one of the 50 wealthy people in the Ottoman Empire. He was a famous jeweler and had six brothers and two sisters. He lived in Adiamatsots (Cilicia) and had a jewelry production unit in the 1880s with 60 employees. They even had their own stamp and would sell hand-made works in Europe.
Ninety percent of the events are real, and the other ten percent make the plot more artistic.
I present various cases of different families with my family’s history. This is the reason why the characters only have names.
The story consists of three parts that run like a thread.
The first part is called Prayer.
I actually have a little different approach to faith and Christianity.
I stayed at the monastery on St. Lazar Island in Venice for five years. I was ten years old when I first set foot on the island, and it had a great impact on me.
For me, faith and theology are not what the clergy presents.
Throughout my life, especially in the last 50-60 years, I have come to the conclusion that we Armenians have an exceptional faith since we have had great legends that were much more humane and less aggressive than the legends of the Greeks.
All that existed in our legends throughout the past 200 years very smoothly became part of the Christian faith.
And so, the film starts with a prayer.
The second part is called Path of the Prayer, that is, the path that the heroes of the film take.
The third part is called Survival. We are not Christ. We weren’t resurrected and never will be resurrected. We’re born again from the ashes and have never died, just like Aznavour sings in his song.
I am the child of a nation that does not know how to die…
I continue this way:
I am the Christ of a nation that does not know how to be crucified,
I am the revenge of a nation that will never forget…
Characters in the film
Now, let’s discuss the characters.
First, I’ll try to introduce readers to my grandfather’s family.
His elder brother, Martiros, was a doctor and studied in Lausanne.
Ruben, his second brother, was a very brilliant and handsome man. They say women immediately fell in love with him whenever they saw him.
The third brother was my great-grandfather, whose name was Ohannes.
Ruben often took business trips to Italy. One time, he brought an Italian woman named Francesca with him. They got married and had a daughter named Astghik, whom they also called Stella.
When Stella was 5, her mother, Francesca, died from tuberculosis. This had a great impact on the girl, and she didn’t speak a word until the day she died.
She died in Lebanon at the age of 82.
Stella will be played by Monica Bellucci.
We had other actresses in mind for this character, but I have seen films with Bellucci playing the role of a mute person, and she’s perfect.
In one day, my grandfather’s family was massacred.
Stella was the only one who survived. She was 32 years old.
She was a very smart woman. When they are sent to exile, she bribes the gendarmerie, and the latter didn’t kill her elder son’s wife, Maral, who was pregnant, and her 6-year old son Hrach.
There were 7,700 people on the road to exile from Adiaman, and only 103 women and children stayed alive.
All this is told through memories that Stella writes “with my hand”. She dies at the age of 82.
An important point in the film is that Stella recalls a melody during the entire film, but doesn’t remember what the name of the song is.
In the end, Stella opens a door and sees a 5-year old child who sings the Armenian song “Yes lsetsi, mi anush dzayn, im tseratsats mor mot er…baits apsos vor, yeraz er…” (I heard a sweet voice, it was the voice of my old mother…but it’s a pity that it was a dream…)
The child sees the mother, Francesca laying in the garden and screaming ��?no, this is not a dream, all this happened, it happened…’
So, what is the message? The message is that in spite of all kinds of tortures, massacres and sacrifices, life is beautiful. This is a message to live and not cry.
Shootings for the film will start in 2014. We don’t know where the venue will be, but we’ll probably shoot the film in Bulgaria.
In closing, I would like to say that life is composed of small things, and the participation of every Armenian will be a great contribution to the solution to the Armenian Cause.
As Russian poet Yevtushenko said once, ��?The streamliner of justice might arrive late, but it will arrive’.
The Armenians’ “streamliner of justice” is already on the road, and it only depends on us when it will “arrive”…
Lusine Abrahamyan