J. Michael Hagopian

Hagopian was born to an Armenian family on 20 October 1913, in Kharpert, Mamuret-ul-Aziz Vilayet, Ottoman Empire. 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,America and the Armenian Genocide of 1915, By J. M. Winter, Cambridge University Press, 2003, {{ISBN|0-521-82958-5}}, p. 19 and moved to Fresno, California.

Hagopian received an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and after receiving a doctorate 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.{{cite journal| last =Kouymjian| first =Dickran| title =ARMENIANS AND AMERICAN FILM| journal =Le Cinéma Arménie| volume =1993| pages =104–122| location =Paris| url =http://www.armeniandrama.org/show.php?w=armenianfilm&a=0| url-status =dead| archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20070928195837/http://www.armeniandrama.org/show.php?w=armenianfilm&a=0| archivedate =2007-09-28}} He won critical acclaim, including two Emmy nominations for his film The Forgotten Genocide, the first full-length feature on the Armenian genocide. The film encompassed twenty years of research and nearly 400 witness interviews.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}}

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.[http://www.armenianfilm.org/drupal/about Armenian Film, About the Foundation]

In 2004 Hagopian's "Germany and the Secret Genocide" documentary became the winner of US International Film & Video Festival.[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2062776/awards/?ref_=nm_awd J. Michael Hagopian, Awards, IMDB]

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.[http://www.hairenik.com/weekly/2009/03/11/naasr-to-premiere-j-michael-hagopian%E2%80%99s-the-river-ran-red-in-boston/ NAASR to Premiere J. Michael Hagopian’s ‘The River Ran Red’ in Boston, by Andy Turpin, Hairenik, March 11, 2009]

• Arpa Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award, 2006.
• Jewish World Watch's 'I Witness' Award.[https://asbarez.com/award-winning-filmmaker-j-michael-hagopian-dies-at-97/ Award-Winning Filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian Dies at 97], Asbarez, December 13, 2010

• The Witnesses Trilogy
• Part 3:{{cite video|date =2009|title =The River Ran Red|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/river_ran_red.htm|medium =DVD|publisher =Armenian Film Foundation|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20110725013720/http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/river_ran_red.htm|archivedate =2011-07-25}}
• Part 2:{{cite video|date =2003|title =Germany and the Secret Genocide|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/germany_and_the_secret_genocide.htm|medium =DVD|publisher =Armenian Film Foundation|location =Thousand Oaks, California|oclc =61369507|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20080603230858/http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/germany_and_the_secret_genocide.htm|archivedate =2008-06-03}}
• Part 1: {{cite video|date =2000|title =Voices from the Lake|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/voices_from_the_lake.htm|medium =DVD|publisher =Armenian Film Foundation|location =Thousand Oaks, CA|oclc =60767918|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20080511212222/http://armenianfilm.org/aff/films/voices_from_the_lake.htm|archivedate =2008-05-11}}
• {{cite video|date =1997|title =From Bitlis to Fresno: The Karabians of Fresno|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/karabians_of_fresno.htm|medium =DVD|publisher =Armenian Film Foundation|oclc =61832358|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20090531015739/http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/karabians_of_fresno.htm|archivedate =2009-05-31}}
• {{cite video|date =1991|title =Ararat Beckons|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/ararat_beckons.htm|medium =Videotape|publisher =Hollywood Film & Video|oclc =25074751|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20080511205452/http://armenianfilm.org/aff/films/ararat_beckons.htm|archivedate =2008-05-11}}
• {{cite video|date =1991|title =The Armenian Genocide|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/armenian_genocide.htm|medium =DVD|publisher =Armenian Film Foundation|location =Thousand Oaks, California|oclc =60768143|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20120818031713/http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/armenian_genocide.htm|archivedate =2012-08-18}} (Produced for the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission of the State of California.)
• {{cite video|date =1986|title =Strangers in a Promised Land|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/strangers_in_a_promised_land.htm|medium =DVD|publisher =Armenian Film Foundation|location =Thousand Oaks, California|oclc =180933802|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20080511205311/http://armenianfilm.org/aff/films/strangers_in_a_promised_land.htm|archivedate =2008-05-11}}
• {{cite video|date =1975|title =The Armenian case|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/armenian_case.htm|medium =DVD|publisher =Atlantis Productions|location =Thousand Oaks, California|oclc =71224858|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20080214024157/http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/armenian_case.htm|archivedate =2008-02-14}}
• {{cite video|date =1975|title =The Forgotten Genocide|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/forgotten_genocide.htm|medium =DVD|publisher =Atlantis Productions|location =United States|oclc =60767995|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20080513232654/http://armenianfilm.org/aff/films/forgotten_genocide.htm|archivedate =2008-05-13}}
• {{cite video|title =Cilicia . . . Rebirth in Aleppo|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/cilicia.htm|medium =DVD|publisher =Armenian Film Foundation|location =Thousand Oaks, CA|oclc =181238609|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20080511211408/http://armenianfilm.org/aff/films/cilicia.htm|archivedate =2008-05-11}}
• California Armenians: The First Generation
• The Art of Traditional Armenian Cooking
• {{cite video

|people =

|date =

|title = Where Are My People?

|url =

|format =

|medium = DVD

|publisher = Armenian Film Foundation

|location = Thousand Oaks, CA

|accessdate =

|time =

|id =

|isbn =

|oclc = 60768330

|quote =

}}

• Soviet Boy
• {{cite video|date =1967|title =Historical Armenia|url =http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/films/historical_armenia.htm|medium =DVD|publisher =Atlantis Productions|location =United States|oclc =181231956|url-status =dead|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20080511212034/http://armenianfilm.org/aff/films/historical_armenia.htm|archivedate =2008-05-11}}
• African Girl-Malobi (1960)
• Africa is My Home (1960)
• {{Cite AV media| title = Himalayas: Life on the Roof of the World|date=1958| accessdate = 2021-04-25| url = http://archive.org/details/47564HimalayasTravelogueFilm}}

{{reflist|2}}

• [http://www.armenianfilm.org/ Armenian Film Foundation] (Official Website of the organization founded by Hagopian)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20091119032451/http://www.armenianfilm.org/aff/filmmakers.htm Hagopian the Filmmaker] on the website of the Armenian Film Foundation
• {{IMDb name|2062776}}
• [http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=J._Michael_Hagopian Hagopian at Armeniapedia]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20190407155357/https://www.topix.net/content/prweb/2008/10/95-year-old-award-winning-filmmaker-completes-70th-documentary-the 95-year-old Award-Winning Filmmaker Completes 70th Documentary, PRWeb, October 15, 2008]
• [http://asbarez.com/90087/award-winning-filmmaker-j-michael-hagopian-dies-at-97/ Award-Winning Filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian Dies at 97, Asbarez]
• [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/8215257/Michael-Hagopian.html Obituary of Michael Hagopian, The Daily Telegraph, 20 December, 2010]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagopian, J Michael}}

Category:1913 births

Category:2010 deaths

Category:People from Elazığ

Category:People from Mamuret-ul-Aziz vilayet

Category:Armenians from the Ottoman Empire

Category:Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United States

Category:Film directors from California

Category:Armenian refugees

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:Harvard University alumni

Category:American people of Armenian descent

Category:Armenian genocide survivors