As a political science and economics professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), J. Michael Hagopian was unsatisfied with the quality of educational films that were available for use in his classroom. Before long, he left his teaching post and picked up a camera to produce and direct quality educational tools on topics ranging from Black history to Nigerian culture.

Born in Kharpert-Mezreh, Hagopian's search for his roots and the history of his people have won him critical acclaim, including two nominations for Emmys for the writing and production of The Forgotten Genocide, the first full-length feature film on the Armenian Genocide of 1915. In all, Hagopian's work encompasses nearly 400 survivor interviews and 20 years of research.

In 1979, Hagopian founded the Armenian Film Foundation, a California non-profit organization, to document the Armenian culture and instill pride in Armenian youth worldwide. Since then, he has been leading the effort to raise funds and create THE WITNESSES trilogy on the Armenian Genocide. The first film, Voices From the Lake, provides a case study of the Genocide's impact on one community, Hagopian's birthplace.

Germany and the Secret Genocide, the second film of the trilogy, was released in 2003. This disturbing documentary takes place against the backdrop of World War I when German diplomats and soldiers help to cover up and deny the massacre of Armenians in exchange for Turkey's support in the war.

Caravans Along the Euphrates, is anticipated to be the "crown jewel" of THE WITNESSES project, targeted for release within one year.

His other films have included the well respected Jerusalem - Center of Many Worlds and the first full-color film on the Nile River, which took first place at the Cleveland Film Festival in 1950. His next, Asian Earth, won the Golden Reel Award at the American Film Festival and first place at the Cleveland and Boston film festivals.

Hagopian holds a doctorate in international relations from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley. As a young boy, he emigrated with his parents to Fresno, California. In his teens, they moved to Los Angeles.

  
 
   
   
     
 
  Richard G. Hovannisian is Professor of Armenian and Near Eastern History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He served as the Associate Director of the G.E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies from 1978 to 1995. A member of the UCLA faculty since 1962, he has organized the undergraduate and graduate programs in Armenian and Caucasian history. Dr. Hovannisian, a native of Tulare, California, received his B.A.(1954) and M.A.(1958) degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D.(1966) from UCLA. He was also Associate Professor of History at Mount St. Mary's College, Los Angeles, from 1966 to 1969. In 1987, Professor Hovannisian was appointed the first holder of the Armenian Educational Foundation Endowed Chair in Modern Armenian History at the UCLA. Dr. Hovannisian is the author of Armenia on the Road to Independence (1967, 1969, 1974, 1982); The Republic of Armenia, Volume I (1971, 1974, 1982, 1996), and Volume II (1982, 1996), Volumes III-IV (1996); The Armenian Holocaust (1980); has edited and contributed to The Armenian Image in History and Literature (1981), The Armenian Genocide in Perspective (1986), The Armenian Genocide: History, Politics, Ethics (1992); The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, 2 volumes (1997); Remembrance and Denial: The Case of the Armenian Genocide (1998), Enlightenment and Diaspora: The Armenian and Jewish Cases (1999), Armenian Van/Vaspurakan (2000), Armenia at the Dawn of the Century (2000), Taron/Moush and Baghesh/Bitlis (2001), Kharperpt/Tsopk (2002) and seven books on Near Eastern society and culture. He has also published more than fifty scholarly articles.

Richard Hovannisian is a Guggenheim Fellow and has received many honors for his scholarship, civic activities, and advancement of Armenian Studies. His biographical entries are included in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Writers' Directory, and a number of other scholarly and literary reference works. Dr. Hovannisian is a founder and three-time president of the Society for Armenian Studies and represented the State of California on the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) from 1978 to 1994. He serves on the board of directors of nine scholarly and civic organizations, including the Facing History and Ourselves Foundation; the International Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide; International Alert; the Foundation for Research on Armenian Architecture; and the Armenian National Institute (ANI). He is a member of the editorial boards of the Armenian Review, Ararat, Human Rights Review, Journal for the Society for Armenian Studies, and Mitk, and has made numerous television and radio appearances on issues relating to the Armenian people and Armenian, Near Eastern, and Caucasian history. He has been honored by His Holiness Karekin I with the Medal of St. Mesrop Mashtots for his advancement of Armenian Studies. In 1990, Richard Hovannisian was elected to the Armenian Academy of Sciences, becoming the first social scientist living abroad to be so honored. He has received honorary doctorates from Yerevan State University (1994) and Artsakh State University (1997). In 1998, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the First Republic, Dr. Hovannisian was presented the Movses Khorenatsi medal and award by the President of the Republic of Armenia. On November 9, 2001 a Jubilee honorary celebration marked more than 40 years of Dr. Hovannisian's truly exemplary academic and personal life as a scholar, teacher, mentor and a friend. In 2002, the President of Artsakh on behalf of the people of Nagorno-Karabagh personally presented to Dr. Hovannisian the Republic's Medal of St. Mesrop Mashtots.