The Wounded Warrior

PRODUCTION AND FILMMAKERS

Style

The Wounded Warrior is a breakthrough in the use of contemporary live footage, stunning photographic images of the Civil War, animated sequences, interviews, historic facts, street and classical music.

Past and present blend into one not only in meaning but also through image, word and music. The difference between periods separated by 150 years disappears and everything becomes one in a timeless dance of meaning and connectedness. It is not an usual documentary where historic facts are related to contemporary issues in a logical succession. Through a revolutionary mix of images, past and present cease to exist, and the timeless meaning speaks through the screen.

Armenian-born Yervand Kochar, the director of the movie, is a carrier of a great visionary tradition that was developed in the 1930's by his grandfather, genius artist of the avant-guard movement, Yervand Kochar Sr. Kochar Sr. was the first artist to incorporate Einstein's Theory of Relativity into artistic expression. Kochar changed the visual arts when he introduced Time as an essential part of a painting. Kochar's invention became known as Painting in Space. Kochar became one of the twenty famous signers of the Manifesto of Dimensionalists along with Kandinsky, Miro, Picabia, Duchamp and other visionaries of the time.

Painting in space is a painting that consists of a series of images that transform into each other in movement while maintaining their form. The meaning of it is that everything is related in time (movement) and everything turns into something else.

Rebel by his nature, Yervand Kochar was repressed by the Stalin's regime. He was imprisoned, tortured and not allowed to paint by the Communists. His art and inventions were banned for years and prevented from their due recognition.

It is the first time that this visual philosophy is translated into a film form and presented to a large public. The Wounded Warrior is an attempt to bring historic justice and show people the work and style of the forgotten master.

Harold Holzer

Featured Historian

In order to bring historic perspective into the picture, we implored the help of one of the country's leading authorities on the political culture of the Civil War era, Harold Holzer.

Mr. Holzer is an author and co-author of more than 22 books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

Mr. Holzer is a Vice President for Communications and Marketing for The Metropolitan Museum of Art and a co-chairman of the United States Lincoln Bicentennial Commission appointed by President Clinton in September 2000. (for additional information, please visit Mr. Holzer's website (haroldholzer.com)) Historically precise, controversial and a highly engaging storyteller, Mr. Holzer adeptly weaves 150 years of history and shows its contemporary relevance.

Aaron Copland

Street Interviews

We conducted street interviews in order to reveal the social moods and conditions of today. College professors, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, students, artists, workers almost every profession and kind is given a chance to express their ideas. The passionate debates and opinions of today's people are placed in the context of time and reveal a great deal about ourselves.

Music

The Wounded Warrior features the great American composer Aaron Copland's composition "Lincoln Portrait", a powerful combination of classical music and Lincoln's words narrated by an actor.

In the 1950's there was a performance of "Lincoln Portrait" in Venezuela. Aaron Copland was conducting it himself. To everybody's surprise, the country's dictator, who had rarely dared to be seen in public, arrived at the last possible moment.

When the speaker spoke the "And that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth," the audience of 6,000 rose to its feet as one and began shouting loudly. "Lincoln Portrait" inspired the first public demonstration against the dictator and started a revolution.

The classical "Lincoln "" is not, though, the only piece that features in The Wounded Warrior. The phenomenal street music, African drums, Negro spirituals, Civil War songs, Armenian sacred chorals and Karaoke music are all part of the diverse soundtrack of the movie.

Press & Cartoons

Most of the Northern Press declared an open war on Lincoln and "his war."

A vast amount of political cartoons appeared in leading papers depicting Lincoln as anything from an evil dictator to a dumb and clumsy frontiersman. The Press successfully channeled the war anxiety into a Lincoln-bashing industry and by 1863 almost entirely turned public opinion against his presidency and war.

Through series of anti-Lincoln cartoons and statements from the press, the film transmutes these not very known facts of Lincoln's presidency.

Location

Filmed on various recognizable and sometimes very unusual locations in Los Angeles and New York City. The film is also enhanced by the images of the Civil War. The unorthodox use of photographs, from pre-war Washington to the battlefields of Gettysburg and camps and landscapes of the South creates a striking ambience.

Gagik Maloyan Producer/Editor

Jonathan Carp producer

Filmmakers

Yervand Kochar
director/writer/producer

Yervand Kochar was born in Yerevan, Armenia. He was named after his grandfather, the great Armenian surreal artist, the inventor of the Painting in Space and one of the leading figures in the 30's Paris avant-garde movement.

Yervand experienced the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 followed by a war and severe economic crisis. As a reflection of his experiences, he wrote a short play which won the prestigious Isaakian Literature Award of the year.

Yervand Kochar

He studied theatrical criticism and drama at the Yerevan State University and philosophy at the University of St.Thomas Aquinas 'Angelicum' in the Vatican. He wrote essays on visual arts and metaphysics and was awarded William Simon Scholarship for Philosophy.

In 1999, Yervand received the LA Weekly Award for Art Direction of the play 'Master and Margarita.'

Among Yervand's directorial works is a short film 'Manfish,' one of the most played short films in Italy in 2002; a collection of short works "My American Dream" (1998); a full-length documentary "A German in Los Angeles and a German in Bremen" (1999).

Yervand's films were screened in such theatres as Arclight in Los Angeles and Cinecitta Studios in Rome among others. His movies were screened and broadcasted in LA, NYC, Italy, France, Germany and on major Armenian and Russian TV channels.

He is a voting member of The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Jeani DiCarlo
actress/writer/producer

Jeani is a co-founder of RebelLight Communications and X-Back Pictures.

Jeani's vision of life, art and company is one of our most valuable assets. Jeani DiCarlo is an Artist in very sense of the word. A talented actress, she appeared in numerous film and stage production in New York and Los Angeles and got a critical and professional acclaim including one from Elizabeth Browining. Her designing skills brought her to the attention of Ralph Lauren and at the age of seventeen Jeani designed her own line of bridal wear, White on White and ran a successful business.

Jeani DiCarlo

Jeani DiCarlo first book "A Prayer for the Wounded" is a book that transformed many lives. "A Prayer for the Wounded" chronicles her experience with domestic violence. "A Prayer for the Wounded" is a true "self- help" book. It was written as such and it proved to be so. Every page in the book is followed by a blank page called "Thoughts and Dreams". It is done so to encourage the reader to write down her or his own experiences with abusive relationship as they follow Jeani's confessions. Her book becomes someone else's journal because we are all one in pain.

Through a personal story Jeani clearly shows how the low-self worth causes fear to break free from an abusive relationship and how to learn to take care of yourself, become independent and uncover suppressed hidden talents.

The whole purpose of the book is to inspire others to take the same Path of Action.

People from all over the world were inspired by "A Prayer for the Wounded". It helped not only the abusers but also abused. You can find some of their testimonials at aprayerforthewounded.com

As an author Jeani also created a Civil War trilogy of which "The Wounded Warrior" is the first part and which she also produced. Her script "The War Within" was evaluated by Elmar Beibal, the juror of Golden Globes, as one of the most fascinating screenplays in a decade. Currently Jeani is working on the last part of the trilogy, "The Wind of War".