"Taniel" Trailer from Garo Berberian on Vimeo.
TANIEL
Constantinople, April 24 1915. As the British prepared their landings in nearby Gallipoli, hundreds of arrest warrants are issued across the city. The arrival of police at poet Taniel Varoujan’s door would shatter his home, destroy his work and his family would never see him again.
Film Noir in style, “Taniel” pays homage to the era of dramatic filmmaking with extreme lighting and camera angles. The narrative is mostly heard through poetry, with Varoujan poems in Armenian expressing the emotions in each of the scenes; and narrative poetry in English delivered with an emotive depth of feeling by Sean Bean.
Taniel is currently taking part in the film festival circuit. It won two awards at the Bermuda International Film Festival, Best Short Film award at ARPA International Film Festival and Don Quixote special mention award at Avanca Festival. The film was also selected by a number of festivals all over the world, including Sydney, Toronto, Bucharest, Washington DC, Buenos Aires etc, as well as by the Golden Apricot International Film Festival, Shetland’s Screenplay Festival, curated by Mark Kermode; and one of the oldest festivals in Europe in Montecatini. Taniel also had some very special screenings at The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan and at the iconic Lincoln Center in New York.
The team is just back from two very emotional screenings, tracing the poet’s footsteps in Istanbul, at Hrant Dink Foundation; and at Ghent University in Belgium where he studied – and planning a few more exciting screenings.
Lucky 3 at L’age D’or Festival
Three exciting wins at L’age D’or International Arthouse Film Festival
Award at Avanca Festival
Taniel picks up another award at a Portuguese festival
Immortal Dream: The Making of “Taniel”
”I wanted the film to be powerful in conveying emotion, for the audience to feel and understand the human story, Varoujan’s pain, our pain, a story that represented all Armenians” – Garo on making ‘Taniel’
Taniel in Agos
Agos reviews on Taniel, in Armenian and Turkish…
Açık Radyo podcast
Garo, Tatevik and Yegya in conversation with Yetvart Danzikyan
ORER Magazine: ”Դանիէլ” ֆիլմը ներկայացվեց Ստամբուլում եւ Գենտում
Prague-based ORER magazine covered our screenings 2 significant places – Hrant Dink Foundation and Ghent University. (In Armenian)
Taniel: Tracing Varoujan’s Footsteps
Read the Moscow-based Zham Magazine’s reflections about our Ghent and Istanbul screenings.
Screening at Taniel’s University
”Taniel” was invited to open for the inaugural Taniel Varouzhan Annual Lecture at University of Ghent, organised by the Programme of Armenian Studies
A Poignant Screening at Centrala
A short report on a very heartwarming and emotional trip to Birmingham on Genocide Commemoration Day
Taniel soundtrack։ Michael Nyman
Garo Berberian on why Michael Nyman’s music was one of his choices for the soundtrack of Taniel film
Yeğya Akgün on being the voice of Taniel
Yeğya Akgün on being the voice of Taniel Varoujan reading his poetry for the short film Taniel.
Taniel – The Soundtrack
The film’s director Garo Berberian discusses his rationale in picking the soundtrack, featuring music by Philip Glass, Michael Nyman and Tigran Hamasyan amongst others.
Tigran Gaboyan on playing Varoujan
՛I had to become Varoujan, feel like Varoujan’ – Tigran Gaboyan talks about his experience of playing the poet and expressing his emotions in silence
…Ո՛վ Լալագե |…You, Lalage!
Meet ‘You, Lalage’, one of Varoujan’s most sensual and emotionally charged poems.
A Trail of Ink, a River of Blood.
Read Indelible, a poem by English writer Ben Hodgson, which is used in the film