Film info

Creator / Collector

Description
With a black marker the film maker writes "Armenia 1975" on the map and a small welcome text to the visitors from the then Soviet Republic.

We are in Lenin Square (now Republic Square) in Yerevan, Armenia.

Footage from the Museum of History and National Gallery, (designed by Mark Grigorian and Eduard Sarapian), the then People's Commissariat, a government building today (housing the Council of Ministers -designed by Alexander Tamanian and built by his son Gevorg), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (designed by Samvel Safaryan, Rafayel Israyelian, Varazdat Arevshatyan) and the meloc fountains. The film ends with footage from the Armenia Mariot Hotel.

Coordinates

Film Information

Holder
Bonar, Andrew Graham

Quality
HD (1440x1080)

Sound
Yes

Color
Yes

Duration (seconds)
77

Format
Super 8mm

Creator's description


Thank you for the welcome. As I stand here in Erivan looking out on the central square, inevitably called Lenin Square, I can’t help feeling a bit sorry that Armenia has to describe itself as a Soviet Republic. It could have done so much better if it had retained the independence that it won just after the Bolshevik Revolution. Or could it? Would it have survived at all? Who knows? Throughout its history Armenia has been squeezed and crushed by its neighbours: the Turks, the Persians, even the Georgians. The Soviet juggernaut had little difficulty in swallowing this tiny country with its population of only two million as soon as the Bolsheviks had won the civil war. But at least this rump of a once great nation still exists as some sort of an entity, and its people can feel at home here. This is more than can be said for the large numbers of Armenians living in Iran, Turkey and other places further afield.
Bonar, Andrew Graham