Tales from Hotel Lux
Vahe H. Apelian
Recently Saro Varjabedian published a book titled “Tim and Robot”. Whenever I hear or read the name Saro, I am reminded not of Saro from the opera “Anoush”; but of Saro Varjabedian and the circumstances I met by which I met his maternal grandparents in Beirut.
My father ran an inn in Lebanon, which was fairly well known among the Armenians of that era. The upper two floors of a building in the downtown, in the immediate vicinity of the parliament building, constituted the inn. Its guests were mostly Armenians from all over, including from East Europe on their way to immigrate to the U.S. through the sponsorship of ANCHA, the Armenian National Committee for Homeless Armenians. It was during one of those days, when I exited the elevator, I saw suitcases on the floor. It was not an unusual sight. Guests came with their suitcases and left them in the hallway until my father made the arrangements for their stay. I asked my father who were the guests and from where they had come. He told me that it’s an Armenian family from Bulgaria.
Over the years I had become privy of the harsh reality of life behind the Iron Curtain. My father had seemed to have become an unofficial liaison with the ANCHA’s office. This Armenian Bulgarian family too, stayed in the hotel until ANCHA completed the necessary documentation for their sojourn in Lebanon and covered the expenses for their stay in the hotel. After having their papers in order at the ANCHA's office, most of them left the hotel and rented a place. Many found employment mostly in Armenian held businesses until their departure. It is through their experiences that I came to first learn of Armenians taking advantage of other Armenians. It is how I got to know the family and their two daughters, who were younger than I. Much like the rest, they also too stopped by to let my father know that they will be leaving soon and bid goodbye. I remember to this day when this Bulgarian family let us know that they intended to settle in New York, the image of an Armenian family settling in that large city remained etched in my mind for many years and I would wonder how the Armenian family fared in that impersonal metropolis.
Fast forward. After much reluctance our son Daniel agreed to attend Camp Haiastan. But it did not take long for him to make friends. Among them was his friend Saro. After their camping session was over, I who drove our son Daniel from NJ to Saro’s parents’ house in Queens on many Saturdays and picked him the next day on Sunday afternoon. During one of such visits, Saro's maternal grandparents happened to be there. I got carried away conversing with his grandfather. One thing led to another, and his grandfather produced a journal he kept and read passages to me of their stay in Beirut. Lo and behold, I came across my father’s name. Suddenly it dawned on me that the Bulgarian Armenian family with two daughters my age l met, was the hospitable family who graciously hosted our son. Our sons had become best buddies. It would not take much to surmise that I felt a strong kinship with the family and especially with Saro.
In 1995 my job took me to Cincinnati to our sons’, especially to our elder son Daniel’s dismay. It was his friends from the Camp Haiastan and from the Armenian Presbyterian Church that kept Daniel going with their frequent phone calls especially during our first year in Cincinnati. And it was Saro among them who paid him a visit a few months after our settling in Cincinnati.
Parents of teenage sons know how determined and stubborn they can get. Saro had made a point of visiting Daniel for Thanksgiving by taking a Greyhound bus to Cincinnati. It is a journey that on the average takes 18 hours with many stops in between. Needless to say, any parent would agonize having their teenage son doing the trip by himself. The year was 1995, teenagers did not have cell phones. Saro would arrive late at night in Columbus, and had to stay there for two hours to catch the next bus to Cincinnati. I assured Saro’s parents that I would drive to Columbus and pick him from there. I remember his father’s relief when I told me I will call them when we get home. I remember him telling me “at least, now we can get some sleep !” Later on, Saro. accompanied us to Florida and another time to upstate Michigan for salmon fishing as Marie and I looked with contentment seeing their friendship.
Almost a quarter of century has passed since Saro’s visiting us in Cincinnati. Both remain good friends and visit each other. Through these years Saro embarked pursuing his dream of becoming a cinematographer. He just finished writing, directing and filming his first feature film “Respite”. Saro has photographed eight feature films, one feature documentary, and several web-series and countless short films.
Saro’s grandfather passed away a few years ago. Saro dedicated a short film he produced to his grandfather. This is what he noted to me about that film he produced in Armenia. “My Grandfather loved his experience visiting Armenia,” wrote Saro, “but in real life he always wanted to go to Alaska. So after my grandfather passed away my grandmother, with my mom and aunt went to Alaska to fulfill his wish to visit Alaska. I thought it is so interesting that these three women got to have this bonding experience. And because of my interest in my ancestry I took that idea and had it happen in Armenia instead.”
"After Water There is Sand," has been screened at several International film festivals, including the 2013 International Golden Apricot Film Festival, which is an annual film festival held in Yerevan; the 2012 International Pomegranate Film Festival, the 2012 Arpa Film Festival, which is one of the oldest international film festivals for independent cinema held in Los Angeles; the 2013 Boston International Film Festival; the 2013 International Family Film Festival in Los Angeles; and the 2013 Women and Minorities in Media film festival.
Along with Armenia, Saro has also directed and filmed internationally, in Cuba, France, Lebanon, Mexico and India. He holds a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Columbia and has taught cinematography and directing at the New York Film Academy.
Saro’s accomplishments as a writer, director and cinematographer are too many to list here. Altough I attached a copy of his professional resume below, anyone interested may search him in the Internet and may read the professional accomplishments of this young, driven film writer, director and cinematographer Saro Varjabedian.
A copy of SARO VARJABEDIAN”S RESUME’
"Saro Varjabedian, a recent Film MFA graduate from Columbia University and of Armenian descent is an international Director and Cinematographer. Saro began his career in film working as a Freelance Cinematographer in New York. As a Cinematographer, Saro has photographed seven feature films, countless shorts, industrials, and music videos. He is most known for his work on the feature film “Elliot Loves” which has aired on HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Zone, HBO GO, Cinemax, and Hulu. His work on “Jesus Loves Yusef,” which was filmed in Lebanon, won Saro the Best Student Cinematography Award from the 2012 Palm Springs International Film Festival. In addition, Saro has written over 20 articles on Cinematography practices which were published in StudentFilmMaker Magazine, has taught workshops on the latest camera technologies and cinematography principles, and has been invited to join the Tiffen Family of Cinematographers. Saro has recently finished principle photography as the cinematographer to the Independent feature films entitled “GoldStar” and “El Gallo” and the International French/Lebanese co-production feature entitled “The Traveler”.
Saro Varjabedian’s first short film as writer/director was “La Chambre De Motel” which went on to play at the 2008 New York International Latino Film Festival and 2008 WildSound Film Festival. In 2009, Saro directed and photographed the short film “Kosu” in India as part of fulfilling his requirements for the Columbia MFA film program. Kosu has won Honorable mention at the 2010 Pravasi Film Festival, screened at the 2011 Yes World India Film Festival, 2011 New York Indian Film Festival, and 2011 Arpa International Film Festival. In 2012 Saro wrote, directed and photographed his third short in Armenia entitled “After Water There Is Sand” for the purposes of fulfilling his thesis requirements for Columbia University. “After Water There Is Sand” has screened at the 2012 Pomegranate film festival, winning the 2012 PomGrant, screened at the 2012 Arpa Film Festival, the 2013 Boston International Film Festival, the 2013 International Family Film Festival, the 2013 Women and Minorities in Media film festival and the 2013 Golden Apricot International Film Festival. As of 2013, Saro has wrapped production on his fourth short film as director entitled “All That Glitters” and has directed three music videos. In 2014 Saro directed the TV pilot entitled, “The Ridge.” Saro is currently teaching directing at New York Film Academy while working on developing several projects:"
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