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I Will Not Be Sad In This World  #1  

Beginning of December, a woman called Rose leaves a message on my phone about my film I Will Not Be Sad In This World, which was released back in 2001. She saw it 20 years ago, at its unofficial world premiere in the San Francisco Public Library for the Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, and she wants a DVD of it. After so many years I have very few copies left, streaming has taken over. We talk on the phone, and I decide to let her have a DVD. When she comes by to pick it up we talk – I like her. Here she is right at my front door, holding her family stills and DVD with Zaroohe.­­­­­  

Left: Mother, Hosrofui Kuiumgian born in Cesaria, Turkey in 1913; with me: Vartuhi Kuiumgian (now Rose Magri). Right: Grandma Nevrig 

 

Rose tells me her ancestors’ story: how family became spread out over several countries and continents. It is the story of the Armenian Diaspora, families scattered, trying to survive & thrive in new lands, remembering what has been lost and shattered, and recollecting all the beauty, strength and uniqueness….   

 

I Will Not Be Sad In This World is a lyrical portrait of 94 year old Zaroohe Najarian. The viewer, along with three 10 year old girls, explores the major turning points of this fiercely independent Armenian woman's life: surviving the genocide of her people in World War One, growing up in a Beirut orphanage, immigration to America, 50 years as a seamstress, defying convention by divorcing and creating a second family with her "true love" who dies early. Her remarkable capacity for happiness and her unselfconscious physicality bring dignity to her aging whether she is singing to her great grandson or tending her garden which she has made into the "ayki" of her childhood in Turkey. Having lived alone for the past 48 years, Zaroohe resonates with us as an inspiring model for surviving tragedy and hardships and yet letting go of bitterness. In her refusal to be sad she becomes the universal grandmother to all of us. 

https://karinafilms.vhx.tv/products/i-will-not-be-sad-in-this-world-2001-56-minutes

 

“A touching and evocative film – having the children recreate Zaroohe’s story is particularly effective. Congratulations!”  –Atom Egoyan, Canadian filmmaker 

 

"It is a very sensitive film, well made and narrated, and I loved it."   –Ara Sarafian, Gomidas Institute, London 

 

"Zaroohe's story mirrors the story of the Armenians in the last century: persecution, exile, hopelessness, recovery, survival, endurance. This film shows in microcosm the spirit of a generation torn from the homeland able to make a new life without bitterness in a new land." –Ronald Grigor Suny, Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago 

 

Tomorrow more on the film's background, my narration, and the young girls! 

Comments

  1. nicole gervacioJanuary 18, 2022 at 9:55 AM

    knowing your life & dance through theatre, movement, visual art, spoken & written word, I see how all of these skills come through to weave the stories of people in your films with great depth, complexity and nuance…a delicate balance of heaviness, grief, truth, joy, resilience, playfulness. how powerful the impact when artwork, film, anything is created with that level of intention & love.

    I appreciate reading this special connection with Rose, it reminds me of my early experiences with art shows & galleries, I always felt a little uncomfortable as people would ask "How did your art show go, did you sell anything?" "How was the turn out?" and rarely they would share reflection about my paintings, or ask questions about the meaning or inspiration of this work...when isn't that also the point of an art exhibition? The meanings, the concept, the interpretation...I would rather hear what a person's personal experience was at the exhibit than speaking about my "success" of a show. it shows how capitalism how woven itself into the culture that pedestalizes a narrow view of what "success" can be for a visual artist. so I love this story you share of an intimate experience with a person, Rose. the affirmation of art deeply rooted in its purpose. how beautiful it can be when your art is received, is felt, inspires reflections & communications, nourishes connection...

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