Based on the book Infidel Quarter by Mıgırdiç Margosyan, this film essay by Berlin-based artist Silvina Der-Meguerditchian revives what the author witnessed and experienced during his childhood in Diyarbakır, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s. The film features numerous photographs depicting the life of Ottoman Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, creating a bridge between Margosyan’s Diyarbakır and the older, more vibrant life of Diyarbakır’s Armenians. Narrated by actress Arsinée Khanjian, whose ancestors also hailed from this city, the film also invokes the dialect of Diyarbakır, which continues to resonate today across the diaspora, among the descendants of Diyarbakır Armenians.
The event will include a screening of Our Names and a conversation between Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, Karen Jallatyan and Arsinée Khanjian, moderated by Banu Karaca. Discussing the challenges and opportunities in memory work in the arts, they will think about the ways in which video art, theater and audiovisual mediums can create new ways to perceive literature and literary works.
The film was made with the support of Gulbenkian Foundation, Tarabya Alumni Program and the Goethe Institut.
The event will be in English and broadcasted live on Yesayan Salonu Youtube channel.