Documentary about Armenian Transgender Musician Wins Another Award

This Sunday, November 16th, the 17th Annual ARPA International Film Festival in Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA, awarded the film “When My Sorrow Died: The Legend of Armen Ra and the Theremin” as Best Documentary of 2014. It is the 12th award for the film since its release early this year. The film is directed by Los Angeles based-director Robert Nazar Arjoyan.

The film is an intimate portrayal of the life of Armen Ra, a transgender Iranian-born Armenian, who, after a turbulent life, becomes a master theremin player. Armen came from a wealthy family of artists and intellectuals and lived the ‘high life’ before 1979, when the Iranian Revolution kept him and his family stuck in the United States. He was frequently bullied in school and was involved in sewing costumes for puppet shows. The alienation he felt from his peers and unique imagination eventually led him to New York City. There he became involved in LGBT club scenes and became a model, drag queen, drug addict, and alcoholic.

Due to destructive addictions and his peers' deaths, Armen’s life became dark and bleak. So the former-model, drag queen turned to music as a form of rehabilitation, and began learning to play the Theremin in 2001. Armen quickly became a master of the instrument and performed internationally at places like the United Nations (NY), Wiener Konzerthaus Mozartsaal (Vienna), Villa Petraia (Florence), etc. Some of his most memorable pieces are of Armenian folk and sacred music.

The film’s director, Robert Nazar Arjoyan, told Epress.am about the indirect symbolism and coincidence of the ARPA festival’s award; “I met Armen outside the doors of the Egyptian [theatre] in 2010 because I used his music in my film during my first run at ARPA. 4 years later, we’re standing together as winners at the same festival. It’s pretty wild.”

Robert Nazar Arjoyan was born in Glendale, CA. He studied cinema from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and since then has worked as a writer, producer, and director of short films, commercials, and features in Los Angeles.

The documentary has won the Best Film and Documentary at the Byron Bay International Film Festival 2014, Best Music Documentary at the Macon Film Festival 2014, Best Documentary at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, as well as numerous other awards at film festivals around North America.

The young director and his film are continuing to travel from festivals to screenings. On December 6, 2014, “When My Sorrow Died: The Legend of Armen Ra and the Theremin” will premiere in Houston, Texas.

To view the trailer of the film click here.