GLENDALE, CA —The Armenian National Committee – Western Region (ANC-WR) has announced that filmmaker Eric Nazarian will serve as a panelist in “Lights, Camera, Activate,” which will cover the ways in which film, music and the arts can be used to promote grassroots activism. The presentation is part of the ANC Grassroots weekend that will take place from Friday, November 25 to Sunday, November 27, 2011, at the Sheraton Universal Hotel.

Eric Nazarian is an Armenian-American film director and screenwriter, whose latest film “Bolis” recently won the award for Best Short Film at the Arpa International Film Festival. The film, which was shot entirely in Turkey, takes its name from the Armenian word for Istanbul. The 15-minute film focuses on the character Armenak who is an oud player traveling to Istanbul for the first time for an important musical event. His feelings toward the city are very complex, for he identifies it as the place his Armenian grandfather fled from the Genocide in 1915. Armenak arrives full of prejudice, expecting to hate the place, but instead finds it very familiar. The film takes the viewer through an evocative journey as Armenak searches for his grandfather’s old musical instrument shop, and the answers to his past, with only an old photo and a street name. “Bolis” had its world premiere at the European Capital of Cultures festival in Istanbul in 2010.

His film The Blue Hour premiered at the 2007 San Sebastian International Film Festival and was selected by Nanni Moretti to screen at the 25th Torino Film Festival in Turin, Italy.

Nazarian was born in Armenia and moved to the United States as a young child. He grew up in Los Angeles and is a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. In 2008, Nazarian won the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Nicholl Fellowship, the world’s most prestigious screenwriting competition.

The three-day ANC Grassroots program is a groundbreaking weekend of
workshops and panel presentations that will educate the community about civic leadership arising from grassroots efforts. ANC Grassroots will bookend the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) Annual Banquet, which will take place on Saturday, November 26 at 7 p.m.

ANC Grassroots and the Annual Banquet are open to interested individuals throughout the entire United States, and participants are encouraged to register early.

Tickets for ANC Grassroots, which includes the Friday night cocktail in the Starview Room; as well as conference sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which include breakfast, post-banquet dance, and a keynote luncheon on Sunday, are $49. Tickets for the Annual Banquet are $200.

Students with valid ID can purchase discounted tickets to the Annual Banquet and conference.

For more information, please visit www.anca.org/ancgrassroots

The Armenian National Committee-Western Region is the largest Armenian American grassroots community organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR works to promote understanding regarding issues of concern to the Armenian American community.