'Last Round in Istanbul': French-Armenian director’s new film to address Genocide impact

French-Armenian film director Serge Avedikian is working on an animation project to raise his voice on the consequences of the Armenian Genocide.

The film, entitled “Last Round in Istanbul”, will be screened on the sidelines of the annual international Yerevan- hosted festival ReAnimania.

“I am happy to be the ReAnimania festival’s guest. I think the work will be of interest to the public. I am not an animator myself, but I believe animation is born from an endeavor. It was strange to me to think that I would create an animation. But I prepared animation movies even before this project,” the state news agency Armenpress quotes Avedikian as telling film fans in Yerevan.

Speaking about the expected outcome and effect, the director stressed the importance of sound and compatibility with speech as essential elements of an animation film.

“ ‘The Last Round in Istanbul’ is an animation movie I started working on 10 years ago from now. It addresses the consequences of the Armenian Genocide, which is more difficult to approach. My film’s heroes are Armenians, an orphan brother and sister. The sister sells her body; the brother is a boxer. The entire story begins the day a Turkish boxer comes to the city, and the Armenian hero, Armen, is to challenge him,” he said, elaborating on the movie’s plot.

In 1946, both sportsmen find themselves in the trap of a fierce persecution. After their duel in Ethopia, Suleyman, the Turkish hero, fakes his death to change his identity. Armen, who is accused of killing him, is to take flight. They would later meet in Istanbul to settle accounts. Stan O’Brien an Irish boxer who conducts a probe for the English, will join the trip. Armen’s sister, Roza, will do all her best to save her brother. Her romantic encounter with O’Brien will become decisive for all.

Avedikian admitted that he initially intended to shoot a black-and-white movie based documentary episodes he had found in France. But he said he later had to leave the project to work on other films until he came up with the idea of the creating something in the animation genre.