KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

"The Continuing Journey," a film dedicated to Sergo Yeritsyan, a well-known Armenian journalist, publicist, public and state figure, was screened at Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) this week.

The Professor of the Chair of TV Journalism at ASPU, Doctor of Philological Sciences, statesman, educator, and scientist would turn 68 on June 11.

A devotee who made great contributions to the field of journalism and journalism education, and wrote numerous books, professional manuals, and scientific publications, educated dozens of generations of future journalists, passing on to them his own experience and mastery of theoretical and practical journalism.

Among those attending the film screening were the University’s leadership, Sergo Yeritsyan’s colleagues, students, relatives and close friends.

The script was written by Associate Professor Levon Galstyan, Head of the Chair of TV and Radio Journalism at ASPU. The director is Arsen Arakelyan, Associate Professor at the same Chair, and the producer is Armen Amiryan, Honoured Worker of Culture of the Republic of Armenia.

The meeting was symbolically titled "The Last Lesson." As Levon Galstyan said the end of the school year and the film screening are a good opportunity to summarize what has been done and to remember one of the important lessons: the lesson of gratitude. “It is one of the most sought-after traits nowadays. In particular, I would like our students to remember this, always feeling a sense of gratitude towards their parents, teachers, elders and traditions, and also towards their beloved lecturer, with whom you will have the opportunity to communicate through the film," Mr. Galstyan said.

Interesting technological tricks and artificial intelligence tools are used in the film. It is a story told from the perspective of a camera, through the ‘lips’ of the author.

"You can't know a person or this world only through books. Our life is a journey, a continuous journey," the film begins with these words and then tells stories about the main character - Sergo Yeritsyan, who has taken on an important mission in life.

Intellectuals, officials, students, and Sergo Yeritsyan’s relatives bring memories from the past to the future, presenting his life as an individual, journalist, scientist, and politician, as well as the high level of conscientiousness, diligence, honesty, sincerity, and love that accompanied him every day.

As the film says, he [Sergo Yeritsyan] was able to stand the test of time and of the office, remain a good person despite his busy schedule, communicate effectively with ordinary people and interact with top figures as equals.

"I remember him every day. He could interact with people and that communication could be fatal for that person and for the reality. Yes, there are irreplaceable people, and Sergo Yeritsyan is one of them," Armen Amiryan says in the film and emphasizes Yeritsyan’s unwavering love for television.

"Television is my life," Sergo Yeritsyan confesses in the film. He brought to the screen unfettered, uncensored and free speech, the opinion of the common people.

In the film, Levon Galstyan characterizes Sergo Yeritsyan as a person ‘who creates a system:’ we can definitely say that it was Sergo Yeritsyan who shaped and formulated the knowledge in Armenia that stands on academically solid scientific foundations of journalism education.

Artur Baghdasaryan, Associate Professor at the Chair of TV Journalism, emphasized the importance od the legacy that Sergo Yeritsyan left to students; it is thanks to him [Sergo Yeritsyan] that future journalists and those interested in the field have the opportunity to use the Armenian-language literature on the theory of journalism.

"There is no secret. You just need to love and listen to people, which is equally important. Respect others, live with their concerns, and understand that what interests them interests you too," says the hero of the film – Sergo Yeritsyan, who used to speak about complicated issues and problems in a comprehensible way, who was patriotic and attached importance to educating the generations of today and tomorrow, and who honestly confessed: I am nothing without you, but I am everything with you.

ASPU Rector Srbuhi Gevorgyan welcomed the efforts of the creative team. She said the film is as an ongoing journey to the individuality of Sergo Yeritsyan, where viewers witnessed the unique manifestations of a person in numerous social statuses that can be described in two words: care and dedication.

"The film features [Sergo Yeritsyan’s] colleagues and students, people who were at the center of the country’s history at that time, people who knew Sergo Yeritsyan and conveyed us through a screen his boundless dedication to people and his profession. They are happy people who had the opportunity to interact [with him], take lessons, and emphasize in their lessons the content that Sergo Yeritsyan carried within himself as a life mission and left as a message to his students," she stressed.

Professor Gevorgyan added that ‘the continuing journey’ takes to Yeritsyan’s works, which always spread light and harmony, to the paternal care, love and warmth in the Armenian family, to a political figure and colleague: he [Sergo Yeritsyan] was happy in all the social statuses he had assumed.

“The film spreads love and kindness. It is a continuous, separate path for each of us to the great personality, Sergo Yeritsyan,” Srbuhi Gevorgyan said in conclusion expressing gratitude to the filmmakers. She is convinced that the documentary will help the students of the Journalism department, as a professional path for each one, interact, recognize and continuously learn lessons.