The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is days away from premiering the Armenian story as told through Ani Hovannisian’s The Hidden Map. The documentary will air about 1,000 times primarily between June 5-13, 2022 across the nation in cities from Boston, Massachusetts to Juneau, Alaska.
The Hidden Map takes viewers deep into the ancestral Armenian homeland, where a chance meeting between an Armenian-American granddaughter of genocide survivors and a Scottish explorer leads to a joint odyssey beneath the surface of modern-day Turkey, uncovering buried secrets, brave resilience and the hidden map.
“It’s time,” said Hovannisian. “To know that the silenced voices and stories of our people, of truth, are going to resonate into the homes and consciousness of perhaps millions of Americans is hugely filling.” She noted that she couldn’t have chosen a better home for her life’s most important work—four journeys and seven years in the making— and she is thankful that PBS feels the same.
PBS’ historic decision to distribute this independent film to 330 stations comes on the heels of an outpouring of viewer support when it debuted locally in Southern California. With the film’s national release, viewers who pledge even a nominal amount to PBS will help ensure additional airings and receive unique gifts, including hand-crocheted dolls made by women in Goris, Armenia— among them displaced citizens of Artsakh working toward economic stability. This is a rare opportunity for individuals and communities to be directly involved with bringing this human story of heartbreak, discovery and hope to life for millions of Americans, while touching the lives of Armenians today.
To find program dates and times, which also include in-studio conversations with the filmmaker, viewers can check their local schedules online. Most PBS stations have multiple channels – for example, PBS World – so it is important to locate the right channel ahead of time.
The Hidden Map has earned more than a dozen international awards and honors and was considered for three 2021 Primetime Emmys, including Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. Among many notable presentations in the US and abroad was a special in-person screening in the UK Parliament.
Hovannisian has traveled the world producing stories for non-fiction television programs, and reported the Armenian news on Horizon Television for more than a decade. She is the daughter of Professor Richard and Dr. Vartiter Kotcholosian Hovannisian, beacons of truth and humanity to whom she dedicates the film. Ani and husband Armenio have two children, Sophene and Daron, named after the ancestral homes of their great-grandparents whose flame they keep alive.
Guest Contributor
This was one of the best documentaries about the Armenian Genocide and enemy-occupied Western Armenia I had watched. What made it really great was the fact that this research was conducted along with a non-Armenian who was purely interested in the truth which he was able to unearth, discover, expose and tell using those hidden maps and with before and after photos of deliberate destruction, as well as the distribution, of the properties of murdered, deported and exiled indigenous Armenians. The direct admissions of the local population inhabiting seized Armenian properties were quite eye-opening and revealing and a bonus. Great job!
Շնորհակալություն այս հիանալի և հոյակապ աշխատանքի համար!
I am frustrated with PBS. I am an adult child of an Armenian Genocide survivor. I am a PBS member, have passport, and had a gathering of 8 cousins from across the USA all of whom were adult children of survivors AND WE COULD NOT FIND HOW TO VIEW THIS PRODUCTION EXCEPT ON MY DESKTOP. My colleague called to tell me about this and she saw it on tv. Where is this?????? When is it shown in Detroit????
This program was so fascinating and insightful. I was living in Holland in 2000 when I saw a young man in his twenties that looked exactly like my father when he was younger. When I spoke to him he revealed that he was Armenian. I am of Hungarian heritage,now a Canadian, with my father born in an area of the country where the people that still look Turkish to this day. He was 6 ft tall with olive skin, brown eyes, and looked just like Saddam Hussein when he was older. I know the Turks ruled over Hungary for 150 years so their genetic material continues. My mothers side had German and Turkish, the story goes that when the wars finally stopped back in 1700, a Turkish soldier stayed behind and married a beautiful blond haired blue eyed woman. So my ancestry could be Armenian perhaps? It is truly tragic of course as to what been done to the Armenians only 100 years ago with so much culture and history and amazing architecture being destroyed. Being a lover of history I read extensively. The never ending parade of destruction by the mightier against the weaker is shocking to read that has occurred throughout the last 3 millennia. You are doing a great service by keeping this story alive. Maybe in the future the Turkish leaders will acknowledge their true history as the Armenians are so part of that.