“Truth is always in exile”, said Cioran, the exile par excellence, the Romanian thinker
who lived exiled from his homeland but also from his adoptive country. And this is perfectly illustrated in the documentary Cori in esilio, winner of Prix Farel 2016 of Neuchatel, the international film festival on religious topics, which pay tribute to the Armenian culture, victim of the first genocide of the twentieth century.
Directed by Italian/Belgian film makers Nathalie Rossetti and Turi Finocchiaro, the film follows Aram and Virginia, a couple of the Armenia diaspora, while they pass on to a crew of European actors a very ancient singing tradition which is disappearing in the era of globalisation. The couple accompanies this theatre crew to Anatolia, where the Armenian civilization was swept away by Turkish dominators. During the trip, through the actors’ curiosity, the richness of this culture is rediscovered, and the singing becomes an identity protest, a language of creation and re-birthing, a breath of life.
Thanks to this old couple of Armenian musicians, “Cori in esilio – as said in the motivation of the jury of Farel 2016 – shows that it is possible to remember, heal and overcome history traumas through a total aesthetic experience”.
The documentary will be screened on Tuesday 9 May at Sala Trevi in Rome, and after the film the leading actors will meet the audience.
