Why I Didn't See "The Priestess"

I was really looking forward to seeing Vigen Chaldranian's "The Priestess" - but I didn't. I was very excited about the notion of a Hollywood-style film, in terms of the picture quality, sound quality, and that polished look that Armenian films always miss, for better or worse.

Long story short, I didn't see it - and this is the main reason: "Premiere pricing" meant that I had to pay anywhere from $50-60 a ticket to see a couple of hours of film. What a joke!

Sure it's a premiere, sure it's a Chaldranian film, but does this mean getting raped financially for the pleasure of enjoying an Armenian film? At first, I planned on taking my family and my other half, but that would mean my spending $250. I don't think so. I was further dissuaded by the fact that when I called the special number to get the tickets - and this is before I knew of the steep price - a woman said the following in Armenian: "Yes?"

Did I get the wrong number? Were the phone lines crossed? Surely this couldn't have been Grauman's Chinese Theater! I don't know where I called - most likely some suite in a building somewhere in Glendale - but I was confused. I said, "Hello?" and she replied, "Ayo?" (Ayo is "Yes" in Armenian.) A few seconds after that exchange, it seemed clear that the only people taking orders were Armenian and they didn't speak English.

Why does this bug me? It bugs me because I want Armenian movies to succeed! I don't care what the theme is: don't limit the movie to Armenians! Get operators who can actually speak the language in which it is premiering! For crying out loud, are you trying every last possible option to make sure that this film does not succeed with the rest of the world?

Regardless, if you have a review, submit it and I will publish it if it is good.

Armenian Movie "The Priestess" Opens January 25th

One of the producers of "The Priestess" informed me of the premiere details:

Place: Grauman's Chinese Theatre, 6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California
Date: Thursday, January 25th, 2007
Time: 7:00PM
Call: 818-265-0506

A lot more information is available on the official "The Priestess" website. The web site has a trailer, photo gallery, and more.

Go out there and see it!

New Armenian Movie: Priestess

There's a new Armenia-themed movie on the horizon, so keep your eyes open!

"Priestess,' the latest film shot by one of the leading Armenian film directors, Vigen Chaldranian, will be premiered on January 25 in Chinese Theater cinema house in Glendale, California, USA. The film will be screened also by cinema houses in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.

...Chaldranian said the main idea behind this film was to present Armenia as the first nation to convert to Christianity and adopt it as their national faith. The film was first shown in Yerevan last October. Chaldranian said the main source of information for the film was the 'History of Armenia' by a 5-century Armenian historian Agatangeghos.

Chaldranian said 600 costumes were made specially for this film, which is the first large-scale Armenian film in the last decades.

I'm sure this movie will be great, but ALL Armenian movies shown in the U.S. do poorly. Why? Because they lack distribution. It costs money, sure, but it also guarantees that more than 25 people see such an epic work. Screamers was only on a handful of screens and by the time I went to see it, they had already taken it off.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud Armenians for doing such terrific movies, but they will discourage others from doing similar movies because the financial incentives are not there. And whether you like it or not, those incentives largely drive studios and distributors to make even more movies of the sort. A bit of a Catch-22, I suppose.

Source: ArmenPress