Arsinée Khanjian (

Western Armenian Western Armenian ( ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based on the Yerevan Arme ...

: Արսինէ Խանճեան,

Eastern Armenian Eastern Armenian () is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Western Armenian. The two standards form a pluricentric language. Eastern Armenian is spoken in Armenia, Russia, as well as Georgia, and by the Armeni ...

: Արսինե Խանջյան; ; born 6 September 1958) is a Lebanese-Canadian actress and activist. She is widely known for her collaborations with her husband, filmmaker

Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; ; born July 19, 1960) is an Armenian Canadians, Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. One of the most preeminent directors of the Toronto New Wave, he emerged during the 1980s and made his career breakthrough with ''Exotica (film), Exotica ...

. She won the 2003 Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her role in ''Ararat''.

Biography

Early life and education

Khanjian was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

in 1958. Her family is part of the Armenian minority of Lebanon. Her grandparents had fled to Lebanon from present-day Turkey in 1915 as refugees from the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. Her paternal grandparents were from

Diyarbakır Province Diyarbakır Province (; ; ) is a province and metropolitan municipality in southeastern Turkey. Its area is 15,101 km2, and its population is 1,804,880 (2022). The provincial capital is the city of Diyarbakır. The Kurdish majority province ...

in present-day Turkey, originally with the surname Hagopian. According to Khanjian, her paternal grandfather was protected during the genocide by a Kurdish family. He lived under a false Kurdish identity, and at one time was married to a Kurdish woman, before emigrating to Lebanon. Khanjian was raised

trilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monoling ...

, speaking

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

at home,

Lebanese Arabic Lebanese Arabic ( ; autonym: ), or simply Lebanese ( ; autonym: ), is a Varieties of Arabic, variety of Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and primarily Languages of Lebanon, spoken in Lebanon, with significant linguistic influences borrowed from ...

with her friends, and French in school. Her family emigrated to Canada when Khanjian was 17 due to the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

, settling in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. She studied theatre at the Conservatoire Lasalle, and earned a bachelor's degree in French and Spanish at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

. While earning her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

, she met her future husband

, who cast her in his debut film ''Next of Kin''. She then moved with Egoyan to Toronto, finishing her degree at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, while working for the Ontario Arts Council.

Acting

To date, Khanjian has starred in 14 films directed by her husband. She won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for his 2002 film ''Ararat''. Her work for other directors includes French director

Olivier Assayas Olivier Assayas (; born 25 January 1955) is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. Assayas is known for his eclectic filmography, consisting of slow-burning Period Piece Films, period pieces, psychological thrillers, neo-noirs, an ...

' ''Irma Vep'' (1996) and ''Late August, Early September'' (1998), and Catherine Breillat's ''Fat Girl'' (2001). She had a supporting role in '' The Cut'' (2014), directed by Turkish-German filmmaker Fatih Akin. She was nominated for a second Genie Award for playing the title character in the romantic dramedy ''

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

'' (2005). She won a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

for her performance on the CBC anthology drama ''Foolish Heart''. Her theatre work has included stage roles in both Canada and France. She starred in the debut production of ''Palace of the End'' by the Canadian Stage Company. She wrote, directed, and starred in the play ''Auction of Souls'' at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. She toured France and Japan with a French-language production of

Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription requ ...

's ''Dancing at Lughnasa''. Khanjian was a jury member for the Cinéfoundation and Short Films sections at the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival took place from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti was the president of the jury for the main competition. French actress Bérénice Bejo hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Austrian filmma ...

Activism

Khanjian is a civil rights activist and was briefly detained in Armenia in 2016 while protesting human rights abuses. In 2017, Khanjian, along with Egoyan and

Serj Tankian Serj Tankian ( , ; born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band System of a Down, which was formed in 1994. Tankian has released five albums with System of a Down ...

, founded the "Justice Within Armenia" initiative and participated in the parliamentary elections in Armenia as an observer. Khanjian participated in the 2018 Armenian Revolution, repeatedly speaking at rallies, and making speeches on various platforms.

Honours

Khanjian received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002. In 2003, Khanjian was awarded the Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots. The same year, she received the Queen Zabel Medal by the

Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...

in America. In 2011, Khanjian was awarded the Order for "Services to the Motherland" by the Armenian government.

Personal life

Atom Egoyan and Arsinee Khanjian in 2013

Khanjian's husband,

, credits her for inspiring him to further explore his Armenian roots. The two received Armenian citizenship in 2018. She lives in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

with her husband and their son, Arshile.

Filmography

Film

Short films

Television

Awards and nominations

* Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film Chloe Award (2002). * Recipient of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal (2002). * Queen Zabel Award by the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America (2003). * Sourp Mesrob Mashdotz Award (2003) * Durban International Film Festival Winner for Best Actress in Ararat (2003) * Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in Ararat (2003). * The Crystal Award for Creative Excellence by Women in Film and Television (2005)

References

External links

Canadian Film Encyclopedia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khanjian, Arsinee 1958 births Lebanese people of Armenian descent Lebanese film actresses Canadian people of Armenian descent Lebanese emigrants to Canada Canadian film actresses Best Actress in a Drama Series Canadian Screen Award winners Best Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Living people Actresses from Beirut Concordia University alumni University of Toronto alumni Canadian stage actresses 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Canadian television actresses Actresses from Toronto Ethnic Armenian actresses