As a political science and economics professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), J. Michael Hagopian was unsatisfied with the quality of educational films that were available for use in his classroom.  Before long, he left his teaching post and picked up a camera to produce and direct quality educational tools on topics ranging from Black history to Nigerian culture.

Born in Kharpert-Mezreh, Hagopian's search for his roots and the history of his people have won him critical acclaim, including two nominations for Emmys for the writing and production of The Forgotten Genocide, the first full-length feature film on the Armenian Genocide of 1915.  In all, Hagopian's work encompasses nearly 400 survivor interviews and 20 years of research.

In 1979, Hagopian founded the Armenian Film Foundation, a California non-profit organization, to document the Armenian culture and instill pride in Armenian youth worldwide.

His other films have included the well respected Jerusalem - Center of Many Worlds and the first full-color film on the Nile River, which took first place at the Cleveland Film Festival in 1950. His next, Asian Earth, won the Golden Reel Award at the American Film Festival and first place at the Cleveland and Boston film festivals.

Hagopian holds a doctorate in international relations from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley.  As a young boy, he emigrated with his parents to Fresno, California.  In his teens, they moved to Los Angeles.

Dr. Carla Garapedian
Producer/Director/Writer

Director and Producer of “Screamers,” featuring the Grammy award-winning band ‘System of a Down,’ on theatrical release in the US and Canada in 2007, and released on DVD in 2008 by Sony BMG. This critically acclaimed film, looking at the recurring problem of genocide and genocide denial, has been described as “brilliant” (Larry King, CNN), “eye-opening” (LA Times), “extraordinary (Maxim), “articulate and invigorating” (New York Times) and “powerful” (UK Guardian). The film debuted at the American Film Institute Festival in November 2006 where it won the coveted Audience Award. It has been translated into 12 languages and shown in universities, schools, churches, synagogues and cultural institutes around the world.  It has also been screened for the U.S. Congress, European Parliament, United Nations and British Parliament

"Through Michael's films, the Armenian Film Foundation is doing the fundamental work of telling the stories of genocide survivors.  These eyewitness testimonials are educating people all over the world."  says Garapedian, who earned her doctorate in international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science before working as a producer, director and foreign correspondent based in Britain. 

The headline about Garapedian in The Los Angeles Times best describes her filmmaking background -- “Documenting Truth in Dangerous Places.”  She made world headlines in her film “Dying for the President” about the war in Chechnya.   She made her name with the film about the brutal treatment of women in Afghanistan -- "Lifting the Veil" -- which premiered in the U.S. in August 2003.  More headlines followed her 2005 film, "My Friend the Mercenary" about the attempted military coup in Equatorial Guinea, linked to Mark Thatcher and the notorious mercenary, Simon Mann.   Her other acclaimed documentary, “Children of the Secret State” detailed starvation, human rights abuses and cannibalism in North Korea.   In “Europe’s Nuclear Nightmare” for the BBC she went inside some of the world’s most dangerous nuclear reactors to document safety abuses.  “Iran Undercover” – about the underground student movement in Iran – won the prestigious Edward R. Murrow award as part of the PBS Frontline World series.

Garapedian is the only American to anchor the famous BBC World News.  She has also been a correspondent for NBC Sunrise, NBC Nightly News and CNBC in London.   She narrated the Armenian genocide film, "Voices from the Lake" by celebrated filmmaker, J.Michael Hagopian, as well as co-writing his award-winning film "Germany and the Secret Genocide."  She is the narrator for his most recent genocide film “The River Ran Red.”  

Glenn Farr is a veteran professional filmmaker who has worked in Hollywood since 1968. Primarily as a Film Editor, Glenn’s credits include a variety of media forms including feature films, TV movies and series, feature length and short documentaries.

In 1984, Glenn was awarded an Oscar for Best Film Editing of the feature film, The Right Stuff. For the same film he was nominated for the “Eddy Award”, (Best Edited Feature), for the same film by the American Cinema Editors organization.

Currently, Glenn is a Film Editor of the Warner Bros. TV series, The Mentalist seen on CBS TV.

For many years Glenn has served as a Board Member of the Armenian Film Foundation. During that time he served as a consultant on the production of the Dr. J. Michael Hagopian produced trilogy of films about the Armenian Genocide.

Glenn serves as a mentor at large of film students and film school graduates on a regular basis.