The Stateless Diplomat, a film produced and directed Mimi Malayan, traces the life of an Armenian writer living in Japan, brought to Japan with her newborn daughter in 1890 by her husband, Armenian entrepreneur Michael Apcar. Japan was then filled with opportunities and hope for new business. However, her husband experienced two bankruptcies and then died, leaving Diana Agabeg Apcar in severe debt and with three children in a foreign country.
Diana Agabeg Apcar wrote books, articles, and appeals to peace societies, academics, missionaries, and politicians about the suspicion and hostility of the Ottoman government towards its remaining minorities, as it was weakened by its countries gradually all regaining their independence. Apcar saw that the Armenian massacres of 1895-1896 and 1909 were all leading to a much larger genocide. Although these massacres gained media coverage, none of the countries actively involved in Ottoman affairs put any significance into these omens, nor heeded Apcar's attempts at drawing their attention to it.
"A hundred years before the emergence of social media, Diana created an extensive network of connections, arguing over and over that if nothing were done to protect the Armenians, new massacres would be an inevitable outcome" (dianaapcar.org).
Because nobody paid attention to Apcar's efforts, and 1.5 million people were brutally murdered in the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Apcar put all her efforts and resources into helping survivors of the Armenian Genocide, negotiating with the Japanese government, as a result of which Japan provided shelter for the refugees. She used her own resources to rent out houses for people running from Turkey. She also made sure children enrolled into schools, helped survivors with their documents and visas, and secured ship passage.
The Golden Apricot has two showings of the film, one on July 8, 2019 in Kinopark at 5pm and another in Moscow Cinema, Blue Hall on July 12, 2019 at 12:30pm. I'm late for the July 8th viewing, but you can still make the July 12 one at the Moscow Cinema. Mimi Malayan and Arthur Muradyan directed the film; Mimi Malayan, Kate Rossikhina, and Todd Dayton wrote the script; Vahan Sirakan Abroyan, Brian Boeddecker, Jeffrey Cooke, Kristoffer Hamilton, Michael Maloney, and Arthur Muradyan are directors of photography. Todd Dayton edited the film.
Stay tuned for a follow-up article!!
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