DVD 2005 Pea Holmquist and Suzanne Khardalian film

I Hate Dogs – the Last Survivor , is the latest film from Suzanne Khardalian who with her co-film-maker Pea Holmquist, last pricked the world’s consciousness about the Armenian Genocide back in 1988. Their feature length documentary Back to Ararat is thankfully here too, released on this DVD for the first time.

Running in at only 29 minutes in length, I failed to see how I Hate Dogs could possibly inject new impetuous into the growing number of documentaries related to the Armenian Genocide. However, I would now argue that it is the most powerful thus far. The film is beautifully shot, sparse in both music and dialogue, which only accentuates its power. Indeed the throbbing refrain of the cello imbues Garbis's reveries with added grief. I Hate Dogs is reminiscent of Lanzmann’s magnificent Shoah, since as with that film, the audience gains as much from what is not spoken as it does from the film’s voices. Silence is used to illustrate the difficulties Garbis, the main focus of the film, has in articulating the horrors of genocide. Garbis, is a sprightly 99 year old, and we are introduced into his family circle as they sit down to watch home movies. However, whilst there is much merriment on the periphery of Garbis’ seat, his mesmeric face suggests that what is shown on the screen hides a darker aspect of his family history. The scenes of familial normality are interspersed with Garbis’s struggle to account for his horrific history. His account of what happened to his family during the Armenian Genocide is articulated between heart-wrenching sobs and frequent breakdowns. It is a relief for the viewer to be ignorant of the images Garbis has in his head, such is the pain he goes through in order to release them verbally. When he and his family are not discussing the Armenian Genocide, they talk about the mundane things in life, and how lucky they feel to have what appears to be an idyllic life. It is during these glimpses that Garbis twice claims to hate dogs. This appears to be a throwaway remark until we hit the climax of the film and finally discover the tragedy that has led to this hatred. I Hate Dogs is a stunning addition to the film history of the Armenian Genocide, and Pea Holmquist and Suzanne Khardalian should be immensely proud of their achievement in presenting such a powerful piece of survivor testimony.

Back To Ararat is a bonus feature on the DVD, and even though it now seems a little dated with it’s talk of Soviet Armenia, it must still count as the Armenian Genocide documentary by which all others must be judged. The witness testimony is extraordinarily powerful, as we see families in the USA, in France and in Yerevan talking about the Genocide. We are also taken to Diyarbekir and hear a witness in modern day denial-state Turkey, fearing for her interviewees safety if they continue to delve into the horrors of the Genocide. There is a beautiful montage of Aghtamar on Lake Van, as well as the haunting sight of Mount Ararat from the Anatolian side. All that was lost as a result of the Genocide is painful to see when placed in this context. Back to Ararat is not a simple history of the genocide though. Khardalian and Holmquist choose to tackle head on the controversial retaliatory assassinations of the 1970s and 1980s along with further talk of revenge, and the film is richer for it. The scope of Back to Ararat is immense, and if anything, I Hate Dogs is something of an epilogue, filmed in a similar style and focusing once more on the story of those who suffered the loss of their people and their land. As a package they present a coherent and powerful history of the Genocide and it’s effects from 1915 to the present day. Both are essential viewing.

Anoush Mkrtchian