Country: United States
Language: English, closed captions available

Presented in the Virtual Screening Room in partnership with Oscilloscope.

“Allows audiences backstage access to an international rock star whose faith in music not only revolutionized heavy metal, but also world events.”

– Live Nation Productions

About the film:

Serj Tankian is a songwriter, composer, poet, visual artist, and multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning lead singer of the Armenian-American heavy metal band System of a Down. Through his music and his message, he helped to awaken a political revolution on the other side of the world.

Both an energizing rockumentary and an inspiring call to action, the film follows the singer down an unexpected path as his passion for human rights and activism lead him to become a social justice organizer.

Images courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories

About the filmmakers:

Armenian-American writer, filmmaker and producer Garin Hovannisian graduated from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He has written for The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. His book, Family of Shadows: A Century of Murder, Memory, and the Armenian American Dream, traces his own family history from the Armenian Genocide to his father’s political success.

In 2015, Hovannisian co-founded the production company Avalanche Entertainment with Alec Mouhibian. The two filmmakers reexamined the genocide through a modern lens in the psychological thriller 1915. Featuring an original score by Serj Tankian, the film won the Special Jury Prize at the Lake Van International Film Festival in Turkey. Hovannisian’s documentary on the 2018 Armenian Revolution, I Am Not Alone, was an Official Selection of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and won audience awards at AFI Fest and Doc NYC.

Garin Hovannisian and Serj Tankian are founding members of the arts foundation Creative Armenia supporting innovative Armenian artists and creators with a current focus on the role of artists in capturing truth in troubled times. Continuing to inspire change with their music, System of a Down recently reunited to record two new songs raising awareness for the humanitarian crisis in the region.

MAJOR SUPPORT
Ohio Arts Council
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Columbus Foundation
Campus Partners

WITH HELP FROM
G&J Pepsi
WOSU Public Media