EVN Media Festival 2024

Molly Crabapple is an acclaimed artist and writer. She co-authored “Brothers of the Gun”, a NY Times Notable Book, and penned the memoir “Drawing Blood”. Her reportage spans global issues, from Occupy Wall Street to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As an award-winning animator, she has pioneered a new genre of live-illustrated journalism. With Jon Lee Anderson, Molly opens up about her beginning as an artist and activist and her very own creative processes.

Alia Malek is a journalist, author and former civil rights lawyer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The New Yorker, the Nation, the Christian Science Monitor and other publications. In April 2011, Alia moved to Damascus, Syria and wrote anonymously for several outlets from inside the country as it began to disintegrate. She is the author of “The Home That Was Our Country” about the many places Syrians have gone (including Armenia), winning the Hiett Prize in the Humanities (2016).

When surrounded by aggressive neighbors, smaller democratic states evolve by integrating their social and governmental structures into a comprehensive security system, bolstering their resilience. This holistic approach, involving both state and society, strengthens their ability to withstand threats and navigate through crises. This panel, which includes representatives from the business community, IT sector, civil society and academia looks at the mechanisms through which societal structures can be mobilized and harnessed to increase resiliency both during times of peace and amid security threats.

From illustrations to VR and filmmaking, there are creative ways through which to tell compelling stories. Writer and filmmaker Ben Mauk, artist and writer Molly Crabapple, and actor and director Michael Goorjian delve into their experiences documenting civil war, forced reeducation camps, and repressions, shedding light on the innovative and sometimes unconventional approaches to storytelling.

In the aftermath of the 2020 Artsakh War, and particularly in light of the Azerbaijani incursion into Jermuk in 2022, it became evident that Armenia had to rebuild its security architecture and change its thinking on security. Dr. Nerses Kopalyan, Dr. Anna Ohanyan and CNN senior media consultant James LeMay discuss potential approaches to augment Armenia’s security capabilities, mitigate nascent threats, and provide data-driven insights on the ongoing recalibrations in Armenia’s security environment.

The Recording Memory panel, featured representatives from StoryCorps, an organization renowned for showcasing the power of recording memories to foster empathy, understanding and inclusivity. The conversation explores the vital role of storytelling in preserving personal narratives and collective history.