''Screamers'' is a 2006

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed by

Carla Garapedian Carla Garapedian ( hy, Քարլա Կարապետեան) (born 27 February 1961) is a filmmaker, director, writer and broadcaster. She directed ''Children of the Secret State'' about North Korea and was an anchor for BBC World News. After leaving ...

, conceived by Peter McAlevey and Garapedian and produced by McAlevey. The film explores why

genocides Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

have occurred in modern day history and features talks from

Serj Tankian Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American singer, musician, songwriter, political activist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal ...

, lead vocalist of the American

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

band

System of a Down System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, v ...

, whose grandfather is an

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

survivor, as well as from human-rights activist, journalist, and professor,

Samantha Power Samantha Jane Power (born September 21, 1970) is an American journalist, diplomat and government official who is currently serving as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. She previously served as the 28th ...

, as well as various other people involved with genocides in Rwanda and Darfur. ''Screamers'' also examines genocide denial in current-day Turkey, and the neutral trend that the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

generally holds towards genocide. Screamers is now shown in Armenian Youth organizations to explain and clarify the Armenian genocide, and raise awareness. Also, it is used to educate Armenians and others about the genocide.

Contributors

(in order of appearance) *

, Professor, Harvard University, Pulitzer prize-winning author, ''

A Problem from Hell ''"A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide'' (2002) is a book by American Samantha Power, at that time Professor of Human Rights Practice at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, which explores the United States's unders ...

: America and the Age of Genocide'' *

, Vocalist, System of a Down *

John Dolmayan John Dolmayan (; born July 15, 1972) is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American musician, best known as the drummer of System of a Down. He is also the drummer for the band Indicator and former drummer for Scars on Broadway. Dolmayan ranked number 33 ...

, Drummer, System of a Down *

Daron Malakian Daron Malakian (born July 18, 1975) is an Armenian-American musician. He is best known as the guitarist, songwriter, and second vocalist of metal band System of a Down, and as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwrit ...

, Guitarist, System of a Down *

Shavo Odadjian Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian ( hy, Շավարշ "Շավո" Օդաջյան; born April 22, 1974) is an Armenian-American musician, best known as the bassist of heavy metal band System of a Down. He also plays bass in a trap group called North Kingsl ...

, Bassist, System of a Down * Aram Hamparian, Armenian National Committee * Stepan Haytayan, Grandfather of Serj Tankian, 96-year-old survivor of Armenian genocide * Maritza Ohanesian, 100-year-old survivor of Armenian genocide * Guy Simonian, Community Activist * Michael Hagopian, Filmmaker, "Voices from the Lake", "Germany and the Secret Genocide", "The Forgotten Genocide" * Verjin Mempreian, 96-year old survivor of Armenian genocide * Greg Topalian, Freeman College, UK *

Henry Morgenthau III Henry Morgenthau III (January 11, 1917 – July 10, 2018) was an American author and television producer, and scion of the Morgenthau dynasty and member of the Lehman family. Biography Henry Morgenthau III was the son of Elinor (née Fatman), gr ...

, Grandson of

Henry Morgenthau, Sr. Henry Morgenthau (; April 26, 1856 – November 25, 1946) was a German-born American lawyer and businessman, best known for his role as the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Morgenthau was one of the most prominent Americans w ...

, U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman empire * Lord Shannon, House of Lords *

Lord Avebury Baron Avebury, of Avebury in the County of Wiltshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created 22 January 1900 for the banker, politician and archaeologist John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet. He ...

, House of Lords * Baroness Cox, Deputy Speaker, House of Lords * Charles Tannock, MEP, Conservative, European Parliament * Tom Tsvann, Professor, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies Amsterdam *

Peter Galbraith Peter Woodard Galbraith (born December 31, 1950) is an American author, academic, commentator, politician, policy advisor, and former diplomat. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he helped uncover Saddam Hussein's gassing of the Kurds. From 1993 ...

, Former U.S. Senate Staff * Vartkes Yeghiayan, "The Case of Soghomon Tehlirian" Author *

Sibel Edmonds Sibel Deniz Edmonds is a former contract translator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the founder and editor-in-chief of the independent news website NewsBud. The FBI hired her as a translator shortly after 9/11 but fired her ...

, Former FBI translator *

Taner Akçam Altuğ Taner Akçam (born 1953) is a Turkish-German historian and sociologist. During the 1990s, he was the first Turkish scholar to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, and has written several books on the genocide, such as '' A Shameful Act'' ...

, Turkish historian and dissident *

Hrant Dink Hrant Dink ( hy, Հրանդ Տինք; Western ; 15 September 1954 – 19 January 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian intellectual, editor-in-chief of '' Agos'', journalist and columnist. As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspa ...

, Agos Newspaper, Istanbul. Assassinated by a Turkish nationalist shortly after the premiere of ''Screamers'', in which he was interviewed about Turkish denial of the

. * Appo Jabarian, Editor, USA Armenian Life Speaking at UCLA conference *

Ara Sarafian Ara Sarafian ( Armenian: ) is a British historian of Armenian origin. He is the founding director of the Gomidas Institute in London, which sponsors and carries out research and publishes books on modern Armenian and regional studies. Ear ...

Gomidas Institute The Gomidas Institute (GI; hy, ԿԻ) is an independent academic institution "dedicated to modern Armenian and regional studies." Its activities include research, publications and educational programmes. It publishes documents, monographs, memoi ...

Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented since 2013. Schiff's district (numbered as the ...

, U.S. Congressman * Salih Booker, Africa Action

Response

Critical reaction

* ''Screamers'' generally received good to average reviews from critics.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

assign it a score of 55 / 100 based on a weighted average of more than 10 newspaper reviews. * Ken Hachikian, chairman of the

Armenian National Committee of America The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) ( hy, Ամերիկայի Հայ դատի յանձնախումբ) an Armenian American grassroots organization. Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and it has regional offices in Glendale, Ca ...

, described the documentary as a "powerful contribution to the anti-genocide movement."

Awards

*In 2006, ''Screamers'' won the AFI Audience Award for Best Documentary.AFI FEST 2006 Announces Award Winners

References

External links

Official website
* * * * {{Authority control American war films Armenian-language films Armenian genocide films Documentary films about the Armenian genocide Armenian genocide denial System of a Down Documentary films about the Rwandan genocide Documentary films about the War in Darfur Documentary films about genocide 2006 documentary films 2006 films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films