After becoming the owner of “HyeFilm”, the “Cafesjian family” fund has been granted the right to own the films produced by “HyeFilm” during the course of 50 years.
Of course, all films produced by “HyeFilm” have been considered state property for over 80 years now, but from now on the Cafesjian family will decide what to do with them. The state easily gave up its cultural heritage and handed over the film archive to private persons. A film is an archival document which is considered to be state property and should not be given to foreigners. However, this is the reality and the legislation on this privatization must be studied carefully.
We can understand why there is a desire to control the film library-the right to show the films produced by “HyeFilm” gives the owner the opportunity to make loads of money.
How much does it cost to show a film?
According to list of prices set by the film studio, all Armenian television networks can show one film by paying the minimum of 30 dollars to the film studio. This is what owner of “HyeFilm” Gevorg Gevorgyan said. He also said that the studio is signing contracts with different television networks and making discounts. If the television network wants to show 10 Armenian films a month, then that network has to pay 100 dollars in order to get the right to show it. The film studio is doing this in order to spread the good word about the films and make them accessible to television viewers.
“If any television network wants to show one Armenian film on Genocide day or Independence day, that network has to pay more than 100 dollars. For example, all television networks want to show the film called “Karot” (Longing) on Genocide day and we set different prices for each television network,” says the owner of the film studio.
It turns out that it is much cheaper to buy a couple of films all at once and show them. TV viewers can watch Armenian films most often on “ArmenAkob” or “Hayrenik”; but, for example, ALM and “H2” don’t wish to show them. “Shant” and “H1” rarely ask for films. G. Gevorgyan doesn’t like the fact that television networks are filled with foreign soap operas and films while the national films continue to be neglected. Showing Armenian films not only raises the reputation of the films, but also it is a source of income for the privatized film studio.
Director of the programs aired on “H2” television network Manya Manaseryan said that they don’t know who to ask for showing films on their television network.
“We don’t know who has the right to show the films. Before we used to go to the Ministry of Culture, but now we have no idea about how much the films cost. We are not rich like Public Television and we do the best we can. If the prices of films and showing correspond to our budget, we will start a “Armenian film hour” program with great pleasure.
Armenian films are rarely shown on television, although, according to the owner of the studio, the prices for showing films have reduced after the privatization. But that is only temporary.
“To tell you the truth, the film studio doesn’t really want to sell the right to show films too much because the films are old, they are filmed on Soviet film and are low in quality. Once they are restored, they will be refreshed and then they can be shown,” said G. Gevorgyan. Upon getting the restoration equipment, the “Cafesjian family” fund has to digitalize the films. The money received from showing the films has to take care of the expenses for restoration and those prices will be lower compared to the profit. Later on, the prices for showing films will go up parallel to the high quality of films. The film studio will then have a monopoly for showing Armenian films and will set higher prices. According to the film studio owner, the price for showing one film will be approximately 300 dollars.
Monopoly for showing
We all know what monopolization will lead up to and the 300 dollar price will not stay for a long time. What we don’t know is why the state has handed over its cultural heritage voluntarily? Keeping the right to use the films could have enriched the state budget and helped produce more films at the same time. According to specialists, if we are only dealing with the issue concerning digitalization, it doesn’t really make a difference because the films have to stay the way they are in the film library. Since digital technology advances day by day, only original films can be maintained and can never be thrown away. Warm and humid conditions in the film library will only help maintain the film archives belonging to the public and it will not benefit the state, but rather enrich the private owner. It is very profitable to turn the films into modern temporarily (after a while, today’s super technology will be yesterday’s old technology).