J. Michael Hagopian

J. Michael Hagopian (Jakob Michael Hagopian, Armenian: Մայքլ Հակոբ Հակոբյան, born October 20, 1913 – December 10, 2010) was an Armenian-American Emmy-nominated film director, writer, and a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. He was born in Kharpert, Western Armenia.

Biography

I feel that my work is important because I want the truth to be known about the Armenian Genocide [of 1915]. I want the justice accorded to Armenians to be a reminder to the world that future acts of violence committed against humanity will not be tolerated by the international community.

KCET-TV Interview of Legendary Armenian Filmmaker Gets Extended Coverage, 2006

In summer of 1915, when the Turkish soldiers rampaged through the Kharpert, Michael's mother hid her baby in a mulberry bush and prayed to God that the Turkish soldiers would not find him. Mother and baby survived, and moved to Fresno, California. Hagopian received an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and after receiving a doctororate in international relations from Harvard University, he went into cinema and founded the Atlantis Films Company, which produced over fifty documentary films on ethnic minorities and foreign lands. He won critical acclaim, including two Emmy nominations for the writing and production of The Forgotten Genocide, the first full-length feature on the Armenian Genocide, that encompassed nearly 400 witness interviews and twenty years of research.

In 1979, Hagopian founded the non-profit Armenian Film Foundation dedicated to preserving the visual and personal histories of the witnesses to the first genocide of the 20th century.

The pre-release version of Hagopian's 58-minute documentary "The River Ran Red" opened the Eighth Annual Arpa International Film Festival on Oct. 24, 2008 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California, four days after Hagopian’s 95th birthday.

Other awards

• Arpa Lifetime Achievement Award,
• Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award, 2006,
• Jewish World Watch's 'I Witness' Award for dedicating his professional life to chronicling the history of the Armenian people and commemorating victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Filmography

• The Witnesses Trilogy
  • Part 3:The River Ran Red (DVD). Armenian Film Foundation. 2009.
  • Part 2:Germany and the Secret Genocide (DVD). Thousand Oaks, California: Armenian Film Foundation. 2003. OCLC 61369507.
  • Part 1: Voices from the Lake (DVD). Thousand Oaks, CA: Armenian Film Foundation. 2000. OCLC 60767918.

• From Bitlis to Fresno: The Karabians of Fresno (DVD). Armenian Film Foundation. 1997. OCLC 61832358.

• Ararat Beckons (Videotape). Hollywood Film & Video. 1991. OCLC 25074751.
• The Armenian Genocide (DVD). Thousand Oaks, California: Armenian Film Foundation. 1991. OCLC 60768143. (Produced for the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission of the State of California.)
• Strangers in a Promised Land (DVD). Thousand Oaks, California: Armenian Film Foundation. 1986. OCLC 180933802.
• The Armenian case (DVD). Thousand Oaks, California: Atlantis Productions. 1975. OCLC 71224858.

• The Forgotten Genocide (DVD). United States: Atlantis Productions. 1975. OCLC 60767995.
• Cilicia . . . Rebirth in Aleppo (DVD). Thousand Oaks, CA: Armenian Film Foundation. OCLC 181238609.
• California Armenians: The First Generation
• The Art of Traditional Armenian Cooking
• Where Are My People? (DVD). Thousand Oaks, CA: Armenian Film Foundation. OCLC 60768330.
• Soviet Boy
• Historical Armenia (DVD). United States: Atlantis Productions. 1967. OCLC 181231956.

External links

• Armenian Film Foundation (Official Website of the organization founded by Hagopian)
• Hagopian the Filmmaker on the website of the Armenian Film Foundation
• Hagopian at IMDB
• Hagopian at Armeniapedia
• 95-year-old Award-Winning Filmmaker Completes 70th Documentary, PRWeb, October 15, 2008
• Award-Winning Filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian Dies at 97, Asbarez