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The premier of “A Suitcase to Home”, a documentary feature that won the Deauville Green Award.
The film takes us through the struggles and persecutions of the Armenian people, focusing on the most recent events of the 44-day Artsakh War, the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, and the forced displacement of more than 120,000 Armenians from Artsakh in September of 2023.
The film showcases the strength and resilience of the Armenian people throughout these adversities and brings hope that they will one day return to their beloved Artsakh and continue to thrive and prosper.
Produced by the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR) and Andrew Simonian*.
All proceeds to benefit the SOAR Families of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund and the Artsakh Family Integration Fund.
Can’t make the showing, but still want to help support these families?
Make your donation HERE. Every dollar received will help our Armenian brothers and sisters in need.
There will be a short performance by Khatchadour Khatchadourian before the showing.
Khatchadour is a Lebanese-Armenian vocalist and duduk player based out of the Bay Area. His vocal repertoire is grounded in the Armenian and Levantine Arabic vocal traditions. Growing up within the Armenian diaspora on the Lebanese Mediterranean coast, and later having spent many years in Aleppo, Northern Syria, Khatchadour’s voice pays homage to the vocal landscapes spanning the regions of the South Caucasus, Levant, and Anatolia. Khatchadour’s passion for the duduk, an Armenian double reed woodwind, began in 2007, and has since taken him on musical journeys across Armenia and Southern France. He studies under master duduk player, Levon Minassian. Additionally, for the past few years, Khatchadour has been immersed in the study of Persian vocal Radif, and sings in Farsi, under the instruction of master vocalist, Mahsa Vahdat.
Khatchadour is planning to record his 6th album, Shounch: Breath, in November & December, which was partially funded and made possible through the Musical Grant Program, administered by InterMusic SF, and supported by the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation.
There will be a Q&A after the film by Andrew Simonian, the film’s producer.
*Andrew Simonian is the Founder and President of Standard Media Company.
Film: Andrew wrote and directed “The Take Out Move”, an award-winning, action-packed, R-rated comedy produced for only $3500. The film won Best Feature / Best Comedy at 11 international film festivals and was picked up for distribution by Freestyle. He recently produced the feature film “How You Are” and the feature documentary “A Suitcase To Home“.
Television: Andrew has worked in television for over two decades, starting his career at the William Morris Agency and Fox Television Studios, then going on to Create, Develop, and Executive Produce original formats for numerous networks including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, USA, VH1, MTV, Lifetime, Travel, Fuse, CW, TLC, Syfy, TBS, BET, Bravo, Lifetime, GSN, Sony, Tribune, TV Guide Channel, and ITV. He oversaw operations and creative at Apiary Entertainment, served as SVP & Head of Development at 5X5 Media while it was under a deal at Warner Horizon, and was Head of Development and Production at Lightningworks.
Mobile: Andrew creates and produces mobile applications for iOS and Android, including top sellers in over 50 countries around the world, using development teams in India, Pakistan, and Canada. His app “Video Calls With Santa” was recently the #2 app in the entire app store, behind only “Minecraft”.
Publishing: Andrew is the author of “Bi-Curious George”, the first in a series of humor books distributed by Simon & Schuster. He also contributes to third party books and graphic novels, including “Sharing the Pants” and “Hollyvood”.
Consulting: Andrew has helped steer the growth of an array of companies, overseeing operations, strategy, finance, management, corporate structure, strategic partnerships, human resources, sales, legal, leasing, production, and more. He most recently served as COO of Entertainment Oxygen, a media-tech startup, and COO of Intelli-Heart Services, an IDTF cardiac monitoring company.
Before founding Standard Media, Andrew served as Vice President of Development at Fox Television Studios, Head of Development at The Gurin Company, and began his career as an assistant in the Television Department of the William Morris Agency.
Andrew earned a degree in Finance from the Wharton School of Business, a Certificate in Technology Entrepreneurship from Harvard, a Certificate in Film from NYU, and a Certificate in Television Writing from UCLA. He is on the board of the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief and is Co-Leader of the Wharton SoCal Media & Entertainment Group. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.
