A film about the a small town in Turkey, from ancient times through the Armenian Genocide, will be presented by the Historical Society of Watertown at the Watertown Free Public Library.
Memories of Marash: The Legacy of a Lost Armenian Community, a documentary film by Roger Hagopian, will be shown on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015 at 2 p.m. It will be hosted by the Historical Society of Watertown at the Watertown Savings Bank Meeting Room in the Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main Street, Watertown.
The Historical Society sent out the following announcement:
This 68-minute documentary film presentation on the 100th year commemoration of the Armenian Genocide was originally created in 2002. Producer Roger Hagopian remastered the film in 2015 to widescreen format with high resolution photography, hundreds of new high resolution images and animated maps. The film traces the ancient history of the city of Marash, Turkey, from its Hittite, Roman, and Crusade periods, through a series of massacres from the late 1800’s to the final expulsion and genocide of the Armenians by Ottoman Turkey between 1915 and 1923.
“I wrote and edited this film with the initial desire to tell my family story within the context of history,” Hagopian said. “In the process of my research, the theme of the story shifted from the plight of my grandmother and uncle to the tale of a vibrant way of life that had once existed in Marash and is now forever a memory.”
A history lover since his youth, Roger is a graduate of the UMass-Boston, where he received his degree in music.
His films include: 1996 – Journey Along the Middlesex Canal, 1999 – Journey of an Armenian Family, 2002 – Memories of Marash, The Legacy of a Lost Armenian Community, 2006 – Victory at Van, 2006 – Our Boys, Armenian-American World War II Veterans, 2007 – Memory Fragments of the Armenian Genocide, 2009 – Destination Watertown: The Armenians of Hood Rubber, 2011 – The Canal That Bisected Boston, 2012 – A Company of the Committed: The Armenian Memorial Church of Watertown.
Hagopian has had film presentations at high schools, universities, libraries, community centers and private homes. He has created numerous family history documentaries as well as filming lectures and events in the Armenian community.
“For me, video is a way of telling history that is educational, multidimensional, and compelling,” Hagopian said.
For more information please contact Joyce at 781-899-7239 or joycekel@aol.com
All programs are free and open to the public.