Taniel
{{Short description|2018 British and Armenian film}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Taniel
| image = Taniel poster.jpg
| director = Garo Berberian
| producer = Nare Ter-Gabrielyan, Tatevik Ayvazyan
| screenplay = Garo Berberian, Ben Hodgson
| narrator = Sean Bean
| starring = Tigran Gaboyan, Yegya Akgun, Shoghakat MLKE-Galstyan
| music = Tigran Hamasyan, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman
| cinematography = Guri Goliadze, Ben Hodgson
| released = {{film date|2018|03|23|Bermuda}}
| runtime = 20 minutes
| studio = Rebel Republic Films
| language = English / Western Armenian
}}
Taniel (Armenian: "Դանիէլ") is a multi award winning arthouse short film by British writer and director Garo Berberian, telling the story of the last months of poet Taniel Varoujan until his murder during the Armenian genocide at the age of 31, the day of his son’s birth. The film is the first to deal with the story of a man considered to be one of Armenia’s greatest poets with international fame.
The film is loosely based on the memoirs of Aram Andonian, a journalist arrested on the same day as Varoujan, on 24 April 1915, when some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders were rounded up and deported in the first major event of the Armenian genocide.
The film takes an arthouse approach to the subject seen in film-noir with a narrative in poetry both with Varoujan’s now endangered Western Armenian language (according to Unesco classification{{cite web |title=Endangered languages: the full list |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/apr/15/language-extinct-endangered |website=The Guardian |date=15 April 2011 |access-date=2 December 2018}}) read by Yegya Akgun and Ben Hodgson’s English poem "Indelible", narrated by Sean Bean to critical acclaim. Philip Glass’s Glassworks played by Valentina Lisitsa, Michael Nyman’s Out of the Ruins, Jordi Savall’s Armenian Spirit and Tigran Hamasyan’s Luis I Luso form the soundtrack.
Style
“Taniel” is filmed in Neo-noir style, influenced by the Film noir movement and the works of Orson Welles in Citizen Kane and Rouben Mamoulian in The Mark of Zorro.{{cite web |title=Short film about Taniel Varoujan wins two awards at Bermuda Int'l Film Festival |url=https://armenpress.am/eng/news/930099.html |website=Armenpress}}{{cite web |title=ԳԵՂԵՑԿՈՒԹԵԱՆ ԽՈՐՀՐԴԱՆՇԱՆ |url=http://www.jamanak.com/content/%D5%AC%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B0%D5%B8%D5%BD/28-08-2018-%D5%A3%D5%A5%D5%B2%D5%A5%D6%81%D5%AF%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A9%D5%A5%D5%A1%D5%B6-%D5%AD%D5%B8%D6%80%D5%B0%D6%80%D5%A4%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%B7%D5%A1%D5%B6 |website=Jamanak}} The narrative of the film is heard through poetry in two languages - with Varoujan's original poems in the now endangered Western Armenian dialect expressing and explaining the scenes delivered by Yegya Akgun; and writer Ben Hodgson's narrative poetry in English delivered by multi award winning actor Sean Bean. Film's emotive music by Philip Glass, Tigran Hamasyan, Michael Nyman and the others is an integral part of the story, complementing the visuals and poetry.
Production
After his initial plans to film in Istanbul—the city where Varoujan lived and worked—were not achievable, production started in Gyumri, Armenia, with the majority of the cast from the Gyumri Drama Theater and at locations at Gyumri railway station, Vartanants Square, Hovhannes Shiraz House-Museum and the historic central district of the city. Additional scenes and the title sequence were filmed in the English city of Portsmouth and University of Portsmouth.
Poetry
The film uses two strands of poetry, in Western Armenian and English. Varoujan's original poetry is recited by Yeğya Akgün in Western Armenian, accompanied by English subtitles, translated by Alice Stone Blackwell, Tatul Sonentz-Papazian, etc. Young Taniel Varoujan had witnessed Hamidian massacres as a child, which profoundly affected his poetry, and the film uses some of his works which were prophetic about the 1915 events. "Taniel"'s scenes are explained in the poet's rich, innovative Western Armenian, using poems from his various books about loss, love, exile and his yearning for peace for the mankind. The film concludes with an epilogue from "Nemesis" (Նեմեսիս),{{cite web |title=ՆԵՄԵՍԻՍ |url=https://digilib.aua.am/book/1567/1926/21011/%D5%91%D5%A5%D5%B2%D5%AB%D5%B6%20%D5%BD%D5%AB%D6%80%D5%BF%D5%A8?term=%D5%B6%D5%A5%D5%B4%D5%A5%D5%BD%D5%AB%D5%BD |website=Digilib}} an epic poem from "The Heart of the Race"
{{verse translation|italicsoff=y
|1=Ո՛հ, ի՜նչ փոյթ կեանքը մեռնող,
Երբոր երազը կ’ապրի,
Երբոր երազն անմա՜հ է:
|2=What do we care life is dying,
When the dream is Living,
When the dream is Immortal.
}}
The English poem, narrating the film, was written by Ben Hodgson and is called "Indelible". The poem is read by Sean Bean, and is "Ben’s reading of contemporary accounts of the actual events later to be depicted in the film".{{cite web |title=Sean Bean Gives Voice to Taniel |date=November 2017 |url=https://benhodgson.tumblr.com/post/167941328419/sean-bean-gives-voice-to-taniel}} The dual language version of the film has Western Armenian subtitles for "Indelible".
The film and the Varoujan poems used in Taniel came to the National Poetry Library's librarian, poet [https://www.poetryarchive.org/poet/chris-mccabe Chris McCabe]'s attention during the library's [https://www.nationalpoetrylibrary.org.uk/news-stories/endangered-poetry-project Endangered Poetry Project] in August 2018. Subsequently, when Chris McCabe was working on the anthology based on poems in endangered languages, he considered Varoujan's works and picked 'Alms' ([https://digilib.aua.am/book/1568/1928/21015/%D4%B2%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%B6%D5%AB%D5%B6%20%D5%BE%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B5 Ողորմութիւն]) to include among 50 other works. '[https://www.johnmurraypress.co.uk/titles/chris-mccabe/poems-from-the-edge-of-extinction/9781473693012/ Poems from the Edge of Extinction']' anthology was announced in [https://www.nationalpoetrylibrary.org.uk/news-stories/poems-edge-extinction March 2019], and published in September 2019. Varoujan's poem is presented in both in Western Armenian and in English, with an introduction and background about the poet, his life, the language and style. The book was very well received,{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/cca85322-d9fa-11e9-8f9b-77216ebe1f17|title=Poems from the Edge of Extinction — lines on borrowed time|last=Financial Times|newspaper=Financial Times |date=20 September 2019 }} and was officially launched at [https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/138232-poems-edge-extinction-2019 London Literature Festival] at Southbank Centre.
Cast
- Sean Bean - Narrator
- Tigran Gaboyan - Taniel Varoujan
- Yegya Akgun - Voice of Taniel Varoujan
- Shoghakat MLké-Galstian - Araksi Varoujan
- Samvel Grigoryan - Bedri Bey
Crew
- Garo Berberian - Director
- Garo Berberian, Ben Hodgson - Writers
- Nare Ter-Gabrielyan - Producer
- Guri Goliadze, Ben Hodgson - Director of Photography
- Mariam Dvalishvili - Assistant Director
- Garik Manukyan - Production Design
- Tatevik Ayvazyan - Poetry Producer
- Lorraine Want - Film Editor
- Jesse Hodgson - Illustrator
- Mark Coory - Animation Designer
- Richard Hinton - Foley Artist
Awards and nominations
- 2018 — Bermuda International Film Festival: Outstanding Director (for Garo Berberian){{cite web |title=BIFF 2018 Film Award Winners Announced |url=http://bernews.com/2018/03/biff-2018-film-award-winners-announced/ |website=Bernews |access-date=12 January 2019 |date=26 March 2018}}
- 2018 — Bermuda International Film Festival: Audience Award{{cite web |title=BIFF 2018 Film Award Winners Announced |url=http://bernews.com/2018/03/biff-2018-film-award-winners-announced/ |website=Bernews |access-date=12 January 2019 |date=26 March 2018}}
- 2018 — ARPA International Film Festival: Best Short Film{{cite web |last1=Festival |first1=Arpa International Film |title=Festival Highlights and Award Winners 2018 Arpa IFF |url=http://www.arpafilmfestival.com/festival-highlights-and-award-winners-2018-arpa-iff/ |website=Arpa International Film Festival |access-date=12 January 2019 |date=7 November 2018}}
- 2019 — [http://www.avanca.com/ Avanca Film Festival]: Don Quixote Special Mention Award{{Cite web|url=http://www.avanca.com/?q=en/node/273|title=Prizes at Avanca Film Festival 2019|website=Avanca Film Festival}}
- 2019 — [http://liaff.com/ L'Age D'or International Arthouse Film Festival]: Best Short Film{{Cite news|url=https://armenianweekly.com/2019/08/30/garo-berberians-taniel-honored-at-liaff-arthouse-film-festival|title=Garo Berberian's 'Taniel' Honored at LIAFF Arthouse Film Festival}}| Best Poster | Special Mention for the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7bsDCqpRfA trailer]
- 2019 — [http://fresco.am/en/ Fresco International Film Festival]: Special Mention
- 2019 — Monochrome Film Festival: Best Cinematography | Best Foreign Film{{Cite web|url=https://filmfuture3.wixsite.com/monofilmfest/gallery|title=Monochrome Festival}}
- 2019 — Cyprus International Film Festival: Best Short Direction
- 2019 — Art Visuals and Poetry Film Festival: International Audience Award{{Cite web|url=http://poetryfilm-vienna.com/de/node/235|title=Poetry Film Festival Vienna}}
"Taniel" has been selected to screen and nominated at a number of international festivals in 2018, such as in Sydney, Toronto, Bucharest, Washington DC, etc. Among them were the biggest Armenian film festival, Golden Apricot;{{cite web |title=Official selection 2018 |url=http://www.gaiff.am/films/2018/taniel |website=Golden Apricot}} ScreenPlay Film Festival run by Shetland Arts, curated by Mark Kermode and Linda Ruth Williams{{cite web |title=Screenplay Festival Official Programme 2018 |url=https://www.shetlandarts.org/our-work/festivals/screenplay |website=Shetland Arts}} and one of the oldest European Film Festivals at Montecatini.{{cite web |title=Official Selection 2018 |url=https://www.filmvideomontecatini.it/official-selection-2018/ |website=Montecatini International Short Film Festival}} First festival of 2019 was SR Film Festival New York{{cite web |title=Narrative Shorts Official Selection 2019 |url=https://www.ratedsrfilms.org/narrative-short-films-2019/ |website=Socially Relevant Film Festival New York}} in March, followed by Buenos Aires, Avanca and Yerevan.
Notable Cultural Screenings
- 17 July 2018 - Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute{{cite web |title=THE SCREENING OF THE MOVIE "TANIEL" AT THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM-INSTITUTE |url=http://www.genocide-museum.am/eng/news-17.07.18.php |website=Genocide Museum |access-date=30 November 2018}}
- 16 November 2018 - Film Society of Lincoln Center with AGBU Performing Arts {{cite web |title=Armenian Filmmakers on the Global Stage |url=http://voiceofarmenians.com/programs/armenian-filmmakers-on-the-global-stage |website=Voice of Armenians |access-date=30 November 2018}}
- 19 April 2019 - Hrant Dink Foundation, Istanbul {{cite web |title=Tracing Varoujan's Footsteps |url=http://zham.ru/categories/heritage/1527-taniel-tracing-varoujans-footsteps.html |website=Zham Magazine |access-date= 3 June 2019}}
- 3 May 2019 - Ghent University as a part of [https://progarmstud.org.uk/taniel-varouzhan-annual-lecture/ Programme of Armenian Studies]' Daniel Varoujan Annual Lecture, with an inaugural lecture by Krikor Beledian{{cite web |title=Դանիէլ ֆիլմը ներկայացվեց Ստամբուլում եւ Գենտում |url=http://orer.eu/hy/allcategories-hy-am/72-hy-am/6611-%D5%A4%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%AB%D5%A7%D5%AC-%D6%86%D5%AB%D5%AC%D5%B4%D5%A8-%D5%B6%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%A1%D6%81%D5%BE%D5%A5%D6%81-%D5%BD%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%A2%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%AC%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B4-%D5%A5%D6%82-%D5%A3%D5%A5%D5%B6%D5%BF%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B4.html |website=Orer Magazine |access-date= 3 June 2019}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|7603760|Taniel}}
- {{IMDb title|5895598|Garo Berberian}}
- [http://tanielfilm.com Official website]
- [http://www.agos.com.tr/am/hvotvadzi/21026/vosge-dzirani-sev-sbidag-tyemanyeri «Ոսկէ ծիրան»ի սեւ-սպիտակ թեմաները] Agos
- [https://armenpress.am/eng/news/930099.html Short film about Taniel Varoujan wins two awards at Bermuda Int’l Film Festival]
- [https://armenianweekly.com/2019/03/05/the-socially-relevant-film-festival-highlights-armenian-films/ The Socially Relevant Film Festival Highlights Armenian Films]
- {{cite web|last=Berberian|first=Garo|url=https://armenianweekly.com/2019/06/13/immortal-dream-the-making-of-taniel/|title=Immortal Dream: The Making of Taniel|date=13 June 2019 |publisher=Armenian Weekly}}
- [http://film-directory.britishcouncil.org/taniel Taniel on British Council Film Directory]
Category:Armenian-language films
Category:English-language Armenian films
Category:British multilingual films
Category:Armenian multilingual films
Category:British neo-noir films
Category:British World War I films
Category:British drama short films
Category:2018 multilingual films