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“Armenian Genocide denial can lead to other genocides”. Dean Cain and Montel Williams present “Architects of Denial” film in Yerevan

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Dean Cain and Montel Williams present, Armenian Genocide

”All ordinary Turks whom I know recognize the Armenian genocide, only Turkish government denies it,” famous American actor Dean Cain, who will attend the premiere of the documentary about Armenian Genocide denial today in Armenia .
Dean is one of the co-authors of the film. He visited Armenia in 2017 during the film shootings.

How did the American actor learn about the Armenian Genocide if, in his words, most Americans do not know about it?
“I went to Princeton University, I consider it one of the finest universities of the world, and I was a history major. A friend of mine, Kevin Matosian asked me if I knew about the Armenian Genocide, and this was 15 years ago. I was embarrassed because I was a historian, and had never heard about it, and he invited me to participate march in Los Angeles on April 24”.
Dean Cain shares the idea of making a documentary about the Armenian Genocide with her friend, Emmy Award-winning Montel Williams.

According to Montel Williams, when Dean Cain told him about the project he was surprised to hear about the Armenian Genocide. “At that moment I started to think that if I have been a servicemen for 22 years, I consider myself to be a military historian, I refer to numerous issues during my TV shows and I am unaware of the Armenian Genocide, it means that many are unaware. I realized that it’s necessary to tell people, discover that reality for them, since not being recognized the Armenian Genocide can lead to other genocides. It’s enough. This issue should be raised and a solution should be found to it”, Williams said.

“I think that until the Armenian Genocide has not been recognized, this tense situation in Azerbaijan and Artsakh can turn into a massive genocide,” added Dean.

Dean and Montel faced any obstacles while filming “Architects of Denial”.
The only thing was that they were not allowed to place movie posters on the buses in Washington.
“I am going to visit Turkey or Azerbaijan tomorrow,” Montel Williams said , speaking about the possibility of being blacklisted in these countries.

The film may be nominated for Emmy.

Americana hosts private screening of Armenian Genocide documentary “Architects of Denial,”

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television host Montel Williams

Despite controversy over mall officials initially refusing to display an advertisement for the Armenian Genocide documentary “Architects of Denial,” local officials and others joined one of the film’s producers Tuesday night for a private screening at the Americana at Brand, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The documentary uses expert testimony and survivor experiences to explore genocides throughout history and how continued denial of the Armenian Genocide contributes to future atrocities.

The screening was organized by the Glendale chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America.

The film is produced by actor Dean Cain and television host Montel Williams, the latter of whom spoke before the film started to the more than 200 audience members packed into a screening room at Pacific Theatres.

Williams said he was “embarrassed” to admit that when he was asked to participate in the project, he had not heard of the Armenian Genocide, and the film should be used as an education tool in schools.

“The Armenian Genocide and its denial for over 100 years is, I think, solely the reason why the world ignores the other genocides that have continued to take place, [and] those that are taking place right now that we hear about and read about and we hear whispers of because the world’s not talking,” he said.

Williams said all the money generated from movie sales will be donated to “Armenian causes” such as the Armenian National Committee of America.

Also in attendance were members of the Glendale City Council, state Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) and state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge).

Portantino, who joined the effort early to get the Americana to reverse its original rejection of the film’s advertisement, spoke briefly after the screening.

“It is tragic that we don’t have recognition when it’s appropriate,” Portantino said, according to a statement. “The role of the activist is to make government officials do better … so let’s continue to fight for recognition [of the Armenian Genocide] and to do the right thing.”

Dean Cain and Montel Williams challenge Armenian Genocide denial across Capitol Hill

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Internationally acclaimed celebrity activists Dean Cain and Montel Williams – executive producers of the powerful anti-genocide documentary “Architects of Denial” – joined the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) on Capitol Hill last week in calling on U.S. legislators to reject Turkey’s gag-rule and adopt legislation (H.Res.220 and S.Res.136) applying the lessons of the Armenian Genocide to the prevention of future atrocities.

The meetings with over a dozen senior legislators, Republican and Democrat, took place around the September 26th Washington DC premiere of Architects of Denial, held at the U.S. Naval Memorial before a capacity crowd of policymakers, diplomats, and DC influencers.

“We were honored to be joined on Capitol Hill by Dean Cain and Montel Williams, two of America’s most eloquent and effective human rights advocates, in challenging U.S. legislators to – at long last – reject Turkey’s gag-rule against honest U.S. remembrance of the Armenian Genocide,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “As they made so very clear – in their film and across the Hill – no nation – especially as one as hostile as Turkey – deserves a veto over U.S. human rights policy.”

Cain and Williams reminded legislators that genocide denial leads to it perpetuation, connecting the Armenian Genocide with ongoing official Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia and Artsakh. Among the legislators who took the opportunity to discuss the legacy of the Armenian Genocide and Turkey’s denial on the geopolitical realities of today were, House Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-SC), House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY), and Representatives from throughout the U.S. including Reps. Kevin Kramer (R-ND), Dan Donovan (R-NY), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Louis Gohmert (R-TX), Jody Hice (R-GA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Juan Vargas (D-CA), among others.

Cain and Williams also discussed efforts to secure passage of the Armenian Genocide legislation with Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Jackie Speier (D-CA), Dave Trott (R-MI) and David Valadao (R-CA) and Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA), several of whom recently returned from a trip to Armenia and Artsakh.

With powerful footage from the Armenian Genocide and ongoing attacks against Armenia and Artsakh by Azerbaijan, the “Architects of Denial” includes testimonials from Wikileak’s Julian Assange, historians Dr. Greg Stanton, Dr. Taner Akcam and Dr. Ugur Ungor, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, publisher Harut Sassounian, and eye-witness accounts by Aregak Bagirian, Movses Anehyan and Yepraksi Gevorgyan.

The film will be premiering on October 6th and playing through October 12th in the following cities and venues.