''Screamers'' is a 2006

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

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

genocides Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

have occurred in modern day history and features talks from

Serj Tankian Serj Tankian ( , ; born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band System of a Down, which was formed in 1994. Tankian has released five albums with System of a Down ...

, 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, whose grandfather is an

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

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

Samantha Power Samantha Jane Power (born September 21, 1970) is an Irish-American journalist, diplomat, and government official who served as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development from 2021 to 2025. She was the 28th Unite ...

, as well as various other people involved with genocides in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

and

Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...

. ''Screamers'' also examines genocide denial in current-day Turkey, and the neutral trend that the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 understa ...

: America and the Age of Genocide'' *

, Vocalist, System of a Down *

John Dolmayan John Dolmayan () (born July 15, 1972) is an Armenian-American musician, best known as the drummer of System of a Down. He is also the former drummer for Scars on Broadway. Dolmayan was ranked number 33 on ''Loudwire''s list of ''Top 200 Hard R ...

, Drummer, System of a Down *

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

, Guitarist, System of a Down *

Shavo Odadjian Shavarsh "Shavo" Odadjian (; born April 22, 1974) is an Armenian-American musician, best known as the bassist of nu metal band System of a Down. He also plays bass in a Trap music, trap group called North Kingsley and in the metal band Seven Hou ...

, 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), ...

, 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, 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 19 ...

, Former U.S. Senate Staff *

Vartkes Yeghiayan Vartkes Boghos Yeghiayan
http://www.yeghiayanlaw.com Yeghiayan Law Firm] (; April 6, 1936 - September 30, 2017) was an Armeni ...

, "The Case of Soghomon Tehlirian" Author *

Sibel Edmonds Sibel 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 after ...

, 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 (; 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 newspaper ''Agos'', Dink was a ...

, 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. Early li ...

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

Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2024. A m ...

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

Response

Critical reaction

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

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

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) () is an Armenian American grassroots organization. Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and it has regional offices in Glendale, California, and Watertown, Massachusetts. History The ANCA ...

, 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 English-language documentary films