VOYAGE TO AMASIA will be a feature length
documentary based around Eric Hachikian's piano trio
of the same name. Amasya, Turkey is the city where Eric's
grandmother, Helen Shushan, was born and from which she fled during the
Genocide. Helen left Amasya as a young child, so she only remembered the town
through her mother's stories.When Helen
passed away, Eric wrote Voyage to Amasia
as an imagined musical journey with his grandmother to a place that was
important for both of them, but that they only knew through passed down
stories.
The filmmakers spent 23 days traveling throughout
Turkey and Armenia, making a real voyage to Amasya, following Eric's family
exile march from Amasya to Malatya, and ultimately to Istanbul.The filmmakers also visited modern-day Armenia and explored Yerevan
and two additional villages in Armenia
named Amasia. The film traces a path
through the past, telling Helen Shushan's story, the
story of the current people of Turkey
and Armenia, and how the
Armenian Genocide affects Turkey,
Armenia,
and the Armenian Diaspora today.
