In 1967, a group of Armenian-Americans organized by the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) were among the first to travel to Historic Armenia to find traces of their roots. On Sunday, October 1, 2017, portions of J. Michael Hagopian’s documentary film of that landmark journey will be screened along with Ani Hovannisian-Kevorkian’s short documentary on the vanishing traces of Historic Armenia, shot nearly 50 years after Hagopian’s footage, Asbarez reports.
The October 1 program, “Forbidden Journeys,” will present segments of Hagopian’s 1967 film Historic Armenia and of Hovannisian-Kevorkian’s current documentary on the disappearing vestiges of Historic Armenia, followed by a panel that includes Marc A. Mamigonian, Director of Academic Affairs at NAASR, Dr. Carla Garapedian of the Armenian Film Foundation, Dr. Richard G. Hovannisian, Professor Emeritus of Modern Armenian and Near Eastern History at UCLA, and Hovannisian-Kevorkian. UCLA Professors S. Peter Cowe and Sebouh Aslanian will make opening and closing remarks.
“Forbidden Journeys” will be the first program in the J. Michael Hagopian Film Discovery Series jointly presented by the Armenian Film Foundation (AFF) and NAASR. It will focus on the pioneering legacy of J. Michael Hagopian – his impact as an advocate for Armenian Studies and as a filmmaker.
Co-sponsored by the Richard G. Hovannisian Chair in Modern Armenian History at UCLA, the Narekatsi Chair in Armenian Language and Literature at UCLA, and the Ararat-Eskijian Museum, the October 1 program will take place at 2:00 pm, at the James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall, UCLA. This program is free and open to the public.
