Vem Radio: News & Analyses from Armenia, Christianity & Culture, Classical & Sacred Music: Vem Radio

Vem Media Arts is a highly professional video production studio offering full-service, multi-lingual audiovisual production capabilities. Its services span from development and production of original TV shows, video clips, commercials and other video materials to multi-media presentations, documentaries and shorts. Since its successful debut with the film short “Competition” at COAF’s first Annual “Save a Generation” Award Benefit in N.Y. City on June 24, 2004, Vem Media Arts has produced a series of environmental documentaries comprising 11 movies that were favorably received both in Armenia and the Diaspora. Written by Inga Zarafyan and directed by Hayk Kbeyan (“Shikahogh” was directed by Nikolay Davtyan), all the 11 documentaries were funded by Armenia Tree Project, Armenian Forests NGO, and the World Wildlife Fund Caucasus Office, as well as by the American University of Armenia’s Environmental Conservation and Research Center (“Yerevan: City or Desert?”), the Greens Union of Armenia (“Poisoning for Profit”), and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (“Evil Quartet”).

Vem Media Arts has also produced the “Spiritual Discussions” and “Catechism" series of shows for television broadcasting.

In 2010, Vem Media Arts completed shooting of a grandiose documentary feature, “From Ararat to Zion” depicting the centuries-old Armenian presence in the Holy Land.

From Ararat to Zion

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The colorful mosaic of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land has been shaped over two thousand years. Pilgrims have brought their stories with them, and left their memories with the land.

Here the documentary filmmakers have given us a view of some essential passages in these stories, to reveal the precious identities which the stories preserve. They follow the paths taken by Armenian pilgrims as they travel between to focal points of history – from the Mount Ararat to Zion, from A to Z.

For the filmmakers themselves, the process of making this film became a pilgrimage they will remember throughout their lives. They personally experiences the perils of the journeys made so long ago by pilgrims who called themselves “those who witnessed death.”

The documentary communicates the spirit of pilgrimage which has nurtured and sustained the sanctuaries and monasteries of the Holy Land over the centuries. At the cost of immeasurable sacrifices and immense exertions, pilgrims have come to the Holy Shrines to witness the earthly presence of God.

The viewer sees the Holy Shrines through the pilgrims’ eyes. Though they may have been put on display many times before, these special places emerge anew in the film, revealing their otherworldly essence and life-transforming power.

The film shows such striking scenes as the Holy Sepulcher by night, the colorful spectacles of Easter in Jerusalem, the Ceremony of Holy Light, Mount Sinai in Egypt, the Monasteries of the Judean Desert, the summit of Mount Ararat.

The documentary is woven together to make an impact at every level, through the exceptional narration of Aidan Quinn, the beautiful music of Lisa Gerrard, and the striking visuals and rich personal reflections.

Visit the site of the film at : www.fromararattozion.com

Shikahogh

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The 23-minute documentary film tells the story of a coalition of local and international NGOs, educational and scientific organizations, and individuals who worked with the Diaspora to save the Shikahogh Nature Reserve in southern Armenia.

Date of production: June, 2005.