Jakob Michael Hagopian ( hy, Մայքլ Հակոբ Հակոբյան; October 20, 1913 – December 10, 2010) was an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

n-born American Emmy-nominated filmmaker.

Biography

Hagopian was born to an Armenian family on 20 October 1913, in Kharpert,

Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet The Vilayet of Mamuret-ul-Aziz,Vilayet of Ma'muretül'aziz, ''Redhouse Yeni Türkçe-İngilizce Sözlük'', On İkinci Basım, Redhouse Yayınevi, 1991, , p. 729, Ma'mûretü'l-Azîz, Ma'muretül Aziz or Mamûretü'l-Azîz ( Ottoman: ''Vilâyet- ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. In summer of 1915, when the Ottoman soldiers rampaged through Kharpert, Michael's mother hid her child in a mulberry bush and prayed that the soldiers would not find him. Both escaped, and moved to

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

. Hagopian received an undergraduate degree from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and after receiving a doctorate in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, 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 his film ''The Forgotten Genocide'', the first full-length feature on the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the 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 through t ...

. The film encompassed twenty years of research and nearly 400 witness interviews. In 1979, Hagopian founded the non-profit Armenian Film Foundation dedicated to preserving the visual and personal histories of the witnesses to the Armenian Genocide. In 2004 Hagopian's "Germany and the Secret Genocide" documentary became the winner of US International Film & Video Festival. 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 California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, four days after Hagopian’s 95th birthday.

Other awards

*Arpa Lifetime Achievement Award. *

Armin T. Wegner Armin Theophil Wegner (October 16, 1886 – May 17, 1978) was a German soldier and medic in World War I, a prolific author, and a human rights activist. Stationed in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Wegner was a witness to the Armenian geno ...

Humanitarian Award, 2006. *

Jewish World Watch Jewish World Watch (JWW) is a non-profit humanitarian organization dedicated to helping survivors of genocide and mass atrocities around the world. Mission JWW is primarily focused on the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, My ...

's 'I Witness' Award.Award-Winning Filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian Dies at 97

Asbarez ''Asbarez'' ( hy, Ասպարէզ "Arena") is an Armenian-American bilingual daily newspaper published in Armenian and English in Los Angeles, California, formerly by the Western USA Central Committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. A ...

, December 13, 2010

Filmography

*The Witnesses Trilogy **''Part 3'': **''Part 2'': **''Part 1'': * * * (Produced for the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission of the State of California.) * * * * *''California Armenians: The First Generation'' *''The Art of Traditional Armenian Cooking'' * *Soviet Boy * *

References

External links

Armenian Film Foundation
(Official Website of the organization founded by Hagopian)

on the website of the Armenian Film Foundation *
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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagopian, J Michael 1913 births 2010 deaths People from Elazığ People from Mamuret-ul-Aziz vilayet Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United States American film directors Armenian refugees University of California, Berkeley alumni Harvard University alumni American people of Armenian descent Armenian genocide survivors