A New Film by Lina Yakubova
Nineb Lamassu
Lina Yakubova has done it again, this time she is taking us through the gates of the East, the land of the cedar forest, Lebanon.
This land of continuous turmoil received its first mention in historical documents through the Epic of Gilgamesh. In this remarkable epic, together with his comrade Enkidu, Gilgamesh managed to slay “Humbaba” the giant bull representing evil who doweled in the mountains of the cedar forest . Gilgamesh and Enkidu were victorious in over coming the evil of their time, let us hope that today’s Lebanon can do the same with today’s Humbaba.
This wonderful documentary will be first screened in the Assyrian American Convention, 31st of August to 04th of September 2006, Chicago Assyrian National Convention .
Below is the official release from the production team and attached is the release poster.
Gates of the East
Fragrant cedars symbolize Lebanon. ‘’Gates of the East’’ is a new historical documentary of Ikar Production released in Armenia, August, 2006.
Lebanon, this small Mediterranean country, encompasses a great number of archeological sites and presents an extraordinary cultural synthesis of the East and the West. ‘’Kaleb Nara’’- the rock of the visiting cards with a wide range of inscriptions dating from the times of Ramses to when the last French soldier left Lebanon. Some Assyrian stelae still display their vague cuneiform characters, but in the great struggle of time, these exceptional pieces of history are slowly surrendering to the wind and the salty climate of the region.
In the whirlwind of history, the powerful Lebanese mountains have constantly sheltered members of religious minorities and exiles who had come to preserve their traditions and establish Churches in impregnable highlands.
Fleeing persecution, a Syrian Monk Maron Anachorite, a great example of monastic deeds of the Christians from the East, sought refuge in Lebanon. St. Maron is believed to be the founder of the Maronite Church. Michael Rodionov, a doctor professor of the St. Petersburg Ethnography Institute, shares his researches on Maronites and Eastern traditions of the Maronite Church.
Lebanon is home of different Christian communities. Assyrians, having survived the genocide of the XXth century in the Ottoman Empire, found their shelters in Lebanon. Communities began to form. A piece of Assyrians settled in Zahle. David Alexandros, a resident of the Ksara village shared his memories telling us the story of his clan and the thorny past of his nation, the way how his family fled from the Ottoman Empire.
The community of the Syriac Orthodox Church live in the Christian part of Beirut.George Saliba, metropolitan of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Lebanon tells us the story of his flock.
The Assyrian Community in Beirut lives in the Assyrian quarter of Baabda, a suburb of the Lebanese capital. The church of Mar-Gewargez with its school and the residence of the metropolitan Mar Narsay, is in the Assyrian quarter. This is what ‘’Gates of the East’ is about.
Producer and writer LINA YAKUBOVA,
Director ARTAK AVDALYAN,
Director of Photography KAREN STEPANYAN,
Editor DAVID AVDALYAN,
Narrator SARO SOLIS,
Composer VAHAN ARTSROUNI.
“IKAR” production.
Film sponsored by AUAF
P.S. The Israeli-Lebanese war burst out in July, 2006 still continues. Cities have been ruined, people have been killed. Many of the places and monuments shown in the film might have already been destroyed today.
The creative stuff of the documentary is grateful to Hollywood director Henry Chara for his support and help in production of ‘’Gates of the East’’.
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