AZNAVOUR ON SCREEN: Charles Aznavour is to star in a new film based on Balzac's famous novel Father Goriot.

The world-renowned French-Armenian singer with play the part of Father Goriot in the joint French-Romanian-Belgian production, Armenpress reported February 16. Producer Jacques Dercure said he had been dreaming to cast 79-year-old Aznavour as Goriot for years.

The film, commissioned by the France-2 TV Channel, will be shot on location in Romania 's capital Bucharest . Old Goriot, a cornerstone of Balzac's Comedie Humaine (Human Comedy) is a novel of obsession and the sacrifices of a father for his two spoiled daughters.

POLITICS IN PHOTOS: An exhibition of photos from the presidential elections in Azerbaijan and the “rose revolution” in Georgia was staged on February 19 and 20 at the Caucasus Media Institute in Yerevan .

ART ONLINE: The presentation of a new website for the National Gallery of Armenia (www.gallery.am) took place at the National Academy of Science on February 18. The site in Armenian and English contains about 657 images of paintings and sculptures as well as 114 biographies of Armenian artists.

Paravon Mirzoyan, the director of the gallery, said the site made it possible to present the treasures of the museum, which holds about 25,000 works of Armenian, Russian and European fine art. The Assistance Fund for Armenia of the Open Society Institute has financed the site.

RESPONSES TO GENOCIDE A new book published in the UK presents all facets of the initial American response to news about the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915. " America and the Armenian Genocide of 1915" is published by Cambridge University Press. The Armenian Assembly of America reported that renowned historian and Yale University professor Dr. Jay Winter played a pivotal role in the publication.

The three-part book brings together the scholarly works of 12 experts. It also shows that there was open and vivid discussion of the Armenian Genocide in the United States both during and after the war. Dr Winter concludes: "The paralysis of the policy was not a function of ignorance, but of a willful turning away from a fully documented catastrophe."

FESTIVE FILMS: A festival of 30 films by Armenian cinematographers opens in San Francisco on February 20, reported Panarmenian network. They include recent films from Armenia shot by Albert Mkrtchian and Vigen Chaldranian as well as works by Canadian-Armenian directors Atom Egoyan and Karine Torosian.

Liberty radio station reported that Torosian's film "My Soul," which tells the love story of an Armenian girl and a Turkish man in Canada , is of particular interest.

On Yerevan Stages …

February 20: Concert-performance dedicated to the 80 th Anniversary of the Armenian Mother Theater named after Gabriel Sundukyan.

February 21: “Ghiselle” at the Armenian National Opera and Ballet Theater, director Martin Saghatelyan.

February 24: Concert of Armenian State Dance Ensemble directed by Armenian People's Artist Suren Chanchuryan. National Opera and Ballet theater.