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Watch ARPA International Film Festival 20th Closing Night Special Awards Gala Banquet 2017 Video

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By Wally Sarkeesian

Special Awards Gala Banquet to mark Arpa International Film Festival’s 20th Anniversary, it was extraordinary evening in celebration of Arpa International Film Festival’s milestone 20th anniversary.

The Closing Night Awards Gala Banquet,  held at the Loews Hollywood Hotel on November 5, 2017,  weekend-long film festival with a bang!

The Awards Gala Banquet included a red carpet and cocktail reception starting at 6:00 PM. An exclusive silent auction also took place during the cocktail hour, just before the evening’s dinner and awards ceremony.

Closing Night Awards Gala Honorees

This year’s special honorees include Oscar-winning Irish screenwriter and director Terry George, music icon Chris Cornell (in memoriam), acclaimed actor Carl Weathers, and Oscar-winning screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris. Awards  also be presented to winning filmmakers for their films in the best feature, best documentary, and best short categories.

Carl Weathers, the beloved actor best known for his portrayal of Apollo Creed in the Rocky series, The recipient of Arpa’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also starred in films such as Predator, Action Jackson, Hurricane Smith, Happy Gilmore and Little Nicky. The former professional football player’s most recent project was directing John Patrick Stanley’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.

www.gagrule.net have posted the videos on both Facebook and YouTube However YouTube Has much better high quality. To watch videos on Facebook visit Facebook.com/gagrulepage

YouTube Video Unforgettable 20th Closing Night Special Awards Gala Arpa Film Festival INTRO 2017

YouTube Video Full Coverage Arpa International Film Festival 20th Special Awards Gala Banquet Part 1

YouTube Video Full Coverage Arpa International Film Festival 20th Special Awards Gala Banquet Part 2

Video Full Coverage Arpa International Film Festival 20th Special Awards Gala Banquet Part 3

The Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award, named after the German soldier/medic who was stationed in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, where he witnessed the onslaught of the Armenian Genocide. The photographs he took documenting the plight of the Armenians, today comprises the core of witness images of the Genocide. In the years following the end of World War I, Wegner also voiced his opposition against the anti-Semitic policies of the Nazis, who later persecuted him.

Arpa’s coveted Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award, presented each year to a filmmaker whose work contributes toward the struggle for social consciousness and human rights, Terry George this year recipient (In the name of the Father, Some Mother’s Son, Hotel Rwanda, The Shore, The Promise) in recognition of his extensive body of films that have shed light on the situation in his native Northern Ireland, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Armenian Genocide.

Arpa International Film Festival  presenting this year’s Lifetime Legacy Award to music icon Chris Cornell, whose life came to a tragic end early this year.
Chris Cornell, best known as the lead vocalist for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, as well as the founder and frontman of Temple of the Dog, was also a human rights activist committed to the world refugee crisis and the despair of vulnerable children. The Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter’s last solo release was the charity single “The Promise” written for the motion picture of the same name. Cornell Family, along with special friends, present to accept the Award.

Tom Hanks invites you to join Children of Armenia Fund Gala

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tom-hanks-invitesAmerican actor, comedian and filmmaker Tom Hanks has made a special video for inviting everyone to join Children of Armenia Fund Gala. The charity event will take place on December 9 in Cipriani 42nd Street, New York. 60-year-old artist calls to be part of COAF 13th annual Holiday Gala and support children of Armenia.

“I am inviting you to join Children of Armenia Fund Gala, which will be held in Cipriani on December 9. I can’t be there which makes me a fool. Please join, please help out, explore your Armenian roots. And if you are not Armenian, just enjoy night in Cipriani. God bless and thank you”,- Hanks says in the one-minute-video.

California Golden State Warriors Coach Steve Kerr, His Family to Be Honored ANCA-WR Gala

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steve-lerrThe Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) announced that Golden State Warriors head coach and six time NBA champion Steve Kerr and the Kerr family will be honored with the 2016 ANCA-WR Humanitarian Award in recognition of their exemplary work through three generations, starting with the Near East Relief during and after the Armenian Genocide and continuing through the present time.

The Kerr family will accept the award at the Gala Banquet on Sunday, October 16, 2016 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles and a special video presentation by Coach Kerr will be shared with attendees, Asbarez reports.
Kerr’s grandparents, the late Dr. Stanley E. Kerr and his wife Elsa Reckman Kerr, were instrumental in establishing the Near East Relief, the unprecedented American campaign of international humanitarian assistance which saved and sustained hundreds of thousands of Armenian Genocide survivors from 1915 to 1930.
In 1919, Stanley Kerr, who was a junior officer with the US Medical Corps, transferred to Marash, in central Anatolia, where he headed the American relief operations and assisted thousands of Armenians left behind by the French. In 1922, he met his wife Elsa in Marash, where she worked as a schoolteacher. They later married in Beirut, where they ran a Near East Relief orphanage for Armenian children at Nahr Ibrahim, Lebanon.
In 1925, Stanley Kerr earned a PhD in Biochemistry, a field where he distinguished himself, and returned to Lebanon to chair the Department of Biochemistry of the American University of Beirut. In 1965, while Elsa served as dean of women. Stanley retired in 1965 with the rank of Distinguished Professor and was awarded the Order of Merit from the Republic of Lebanon.
Dr Stanley Kerr passed away in December 1976 and left as part of his legacy, The Lions of Marash: Personal Experiences with American Near East Relief, 1919-1922 (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1973), a memoir documenting his eye-witness accounts of the Armenian Genocide.
“I was aware of my grandparents running an orphanage in Marash and eventually finding Beirut through their travels. I have a great deal of pride in knowing how much they helped,” explained Coach Kerr in a recent interview published on Uproxx.
The legacy of Dr Stanley and Elsa Kerr was passed down to their children and grandchildren, who have continued to live by the humanitarian values of their parents and grandparents. Their oldest son was the late Malcolm H Kerr, who was born in Lebanon in 1931 and married his wife Ann Zwicker Kerr there, becoming parents to four children of their own, including Coach Steve Kerr and his older brother John Kerr, who continues his grandparents’ mission by serving on the current board of the Near East Foundation. Their daughter Susan van de Ven used letters from her grandparents as the basis of her thesis at Oberlin College, later presenting it at the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem on the occasion of the 1986 commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.
Many in our local community are familiar with Professor Malcolm Kerr, a renowned scholar of Middle Eastern Studies who served as President of the American University of Beirut and became an expert on the Lebanese Civil War and regional issues with which the Armenian community is well familiar. Professor Kerr was tragically assassinated in Beirut in 1984. His wife Ann returned to the United States and is currently the coordinator of the Fulbright Program at UCLA.
Growing up in Beirut surrounded by Armenian friends and colleagues of his grandparents and great-grandparents and becoming intimately familiar with the consequences of the Armenian Genocide have shaped Coach Kerr’s perspective. As he describes his strong connection toward Armenians and lamenting that not many people know about the Armenian Genocide, Kerr says, “I feel like an honorary member of the Armenian community through my family.”
“The Kerr family’s altruism, sacrifice and activism with the Near East Relief exemplifies the relentless work of the American people and the United States to save the Armenians from annihilation during the Armenian Genocide,” said ANCA-WR Board Member Raffi Kassabian.

The ANCA Western Region launched the “America We Thank You: An Armenian Tribute to Near East Relief” campaign in March, 2014, to recognize the outpouring of generosity by the American people in the immediate aftermath of the Armenian Genocide and to highlight the efforts of Near East Relief in rescuing and providing assistance to hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who were victims of the Genocide.

In the last month, the organization also announced that it will honor California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson with the Man of the Year Award, Varoujan Koundkajian posthumously with the Legacy Award, and Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian with the Legislator of the Year Award.
The 2016 ANCA-WR Annual Gala Banquet will be held on Sunday, October 16, 2016 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The main event will begin at 4:30p.m. with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and a silent auction. A three-course dinner will follow at 6:00 p.m. accompanied by a powerful program and presentation of awards.’
The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

 

Human Rights Advocate Geoffrey Robertson to be Featured at ANCA-WR Grassroots and Honored at Annual Gala Banquet

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Geoffrey Robertson seen here with Amal Clooney. They both represented Armenia at the European Court of Justice in January

Geoffrey Robertson seen here with Amal Clooney. They both represented Armenia at the European Court of Justice in January

GLENDALE—Attorney and renowned human rights advocate Geoffrey Robertson, QC, will pull double-duty later in October, when he will be a featured panelist during the Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region’s Grassroots Road to Reparations panel and will also receive the ANCA-WR Advocates for Justice Award at the organization’s annual Gala Banquet.

The ANCA-WR Grassroots Conference will take place on October 23 and 24 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, with the centerpiece Gala Banquet, celebrating the organization’s accomplishments on Sunday, October 25 at the grand ballroom of the same hotel.

Robertson will be joined by international legal expert Karnig Kerkonian, Esq., to discuss the issue of the Armenian Genocide in the international legal arena, as well as explore legal avenues to pursue the Armenian Cause in the post Genocide centennial phase. Kerkonian is a member of the Armenian Bar Association’s Board of Governors and currently serves as co-chair of its Armenian Rights Watch Committee. The panel, which will take place on October 24, will be co-sponsored by the Armenian Bar Association and moderated by ANCA National Board member Steven Dadaian, Esq., who has a long and impactful involvement in the ANCA family. Attorneys who attend the Road to Reparations panel are eligible to receive 1.5 hours of Continuing Legal Education general credit through the Armenian Bar Association.

Robertson is an international jurist, human rights lawyer, and academic. His latest book is An Inconvenient Genocide: Who Now Remembers the Armenians? In recent years, he has been particularly prominent in the defense of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. He also represented author Salman Rushdie, and prosecuted General Augusto Pinochet. In 2008, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon appointed him as a “distinguished jurist” member of the UN’s Justice Council, which nominates and supervises UN judges. His memoir, The Justice Game, has sold more than 150,000 copies.

Robertson is a founder and joint head of Doughty Street Chambers, a prestigious law firm in England that has dealt with numerous international legal cases. Among the associates of the law firm is human rights advocate Amal Alamuddin Clooney, who along with Robertson will be recognized as a recipient of the ANCA-WR “Advocates of Justice” Award, with Robertson set to accept the award on her behalf.
In January of this year, Robertson and Clooney represented Armenia at the European Court of Human Rights during an appeals hearing on the court’s ruling in 2013 in favor of a Turkish Armenian Genocide denier, in the case entitled Perinçek v. Switzerland.

The case concerns the criminal conviction of Doğu Perinçek, Chairman of the Turkish Workers’ Party, for publicly challenging in Switzerland the existence of the Armenian Genocide. The government of Switzerland has also joined the appeals process, as have two Turkish human rights organizations that have submitted legal briefs in favor of Armenia.

During the arguments at the ECHR, Robertson presented a compelling case for Armenia by stating that Perincek specifically went to Europe to deny the Genocide, adding that the Turkish politician was an admirer of the Talaat Pasha, whom Robertson called the “Ottoman Empire’s Hitler.”

“It [the statement] was made by a man who only came to Switzerland in order to be convicted. That was his purpose. He went to Germany, France, at the end of the day he tried to go Greece to expostulate but was turned away. He is genocide denier forum shopper. He is an incurable genocide denier, a criminal and a vexatious litigant,” said Robertson.

In her presentation before the ECHR, Amal Clooney accused the court of being “simply wrong,” stating, “It [the court] casts doubt on the reality of Genocide that Armenian people suffered a century ago.”
“Armenia must have its day in court,” she added. “The stakes could not be higher for the Armenian people.”

“Having Geoffrey Robertson as a panelist during this year’s ANCA-WR Grassroots conference is sure to set a higher bar for any future such discussions, since he can present a first-hand account of a current case about the Armenian Genocide that is being heard in an international tribunal,” said ANCA-WR Grassroots committee co-chairman Ayk Dikijian, Esq.

“The issue of reparations for the Armenian Genocide has taken on renewed urgency after the centennial this year, and Robertson’s expertise can shed light and inform that discussion,” added Dikijian.

“One of the turning points of this year—the Armenian Genocide Centennial—was the hearing at the European Court of Human Rights and the adept manner in which the attorneys representing Armenia, Geoffrey Robertson and Amal Clooney, argued the case, bringing international attention to the issue of Genocide denial and justice for this crime against humanity,” said ANCA-WR Chairwoman Nora Hovsepian.

“It is only fitting that as the foremost Armenian-American advocacy group, the ANCA-WR would honor these two legal trailblazers during its annual gala. In addition to her legal expertise and impressive professional resume as a human rights champion, Ms. Clooney brought her notoriety as an international celebrity to the issue of the Armenian Genocide and joined forces with Mr. Robertson as a formidable legal team on behalf of the Armenian Cause, for which we are deeply grateful,” added Hovsepian.

The ANCA-WR Grassroots conference will take place on October 23 and 24 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel. Admission to the conference is $85 and $50 for students. However, the committee is offering early registration incentives of $55 and FREE admission for students if registration is completed by October 1. Visit www.ANCAWRGrassroots.org to register online or learn about sponsorship and booth display opportunities.

This year’s ANCA-WR Gala Banquet will be one of the largest the organization has hosted. The event, which has become one of the most anticipated events of the calendar year, will be held on Sunday, October 25 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel. For information about purchasing tickets, corporate and tribute message sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.ANCAWRGala.org or call 818.839.1918.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

France: Dazzling Gala Armenian school Tavitian Valencia under the sign of Genocide Centennial

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1a-2-480x471-480x471Sunday, June 14, the Municipal Theater of the city of Valencia was packed to the rafters. More than 350 people were present to witness the gala Tavitian school of the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. Sahag of Valencia, under the direction of Reverend Father Antarnik Maldjian. The gala was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The room had been kindly made by the municipality and its mayor Nicolas Daragon, available to the Tavitian school. Among the audience of parents, friends and personalities of community life, note the presence of Marlene Mourier, Mayor of Bourg-Les-Valence accompanied by the councilor Mariam Cainan and elected officials of Valencia, Franck Daumas-Diratzonian (deputy mayor ), Georges and Nathalie Rastklan Iliozer councilors. Also note the presence of the pastor of the church Louder Nassanian of Maranatha brethren.

Taking advantage of the year-end event for the Armenian school, Father Andranik Maldjian honored madame Chaké Donoyan for its continued support to the school and Eugenie Tavitian Pilibossian, schoolteacher and very long years was rewarded with an emeritus teacher diploma. The children’s show kept all its promises, energy and spontaneity of the dozens of young Armenian tricolor students stating a very strong hand Armenianness. Reflections of Ararat were evident in the eyes of these children by claiming gestures and simple words, recognition of genocide suffered by their people.

Krikor Amirzayan