What Ana Knew

Lies. Family. Secrets.
A drama about three generations of an Armenian American family
Ana is faced with pressure from her mother to keep a secret from her ailing grandmother. Making a pact with her grandmother, the young woman gives the whole family a bit of their own medicine.

Grandma Rose, the surly, misunderstood matriarch of the family, has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. But her middle-aged children – Raffi, Gayane and Lucie – won't tell her for fear the shock will kill her. Lucie's daughter, Ana, can't believe her mother could withhold such consequential information from her grandmother. She then makes up her mind to form a bond with Grandma Rose before it's too late by recording her oral history. In the process, the two devise a scheme to spite (and ultimately reconcile) the rest of the family, as this is not the only secret this family carries!

Director Statement:
I was inspired to make this short film, loosely based on my crazy little Armenian American family, because almost every Armenian story I see depicts the Genocide, but I rarely see MY reality represented on screen.

Being second-generation Armenian American (and only half, at that), with no real connection to “the Motherland” or my family members who live there, I grew up with a small scope of understanding about what it means to be Armenian outside of my hometown of Fresno, California. And, of course, it’s rarely represented in the mainstream media – except if you’re a Kardashian. All most people know, if anything, about Armenian culture is the 1915 Genocide. “Never forget.” But what seems to have happened is that, in the noble quest to have the Genocide acknowledged by the Turkish and U.S. governments for over 100 years, younger generations in the Armenian diaspora have begun to lose their nuance of the culture, and in turn we've boiled down one of the oldest and most culturally rich civilizations in the world to one event of loss and tragedy. I don’t want the erasure of culture and stories to continue.

That is why I set out to tell a story about Armenian characters coping with the realities of today – families with immigrant parents who survived WWII and displaced persons camps, coping in their own microcosm of a world, any way they can. Their children living with the effects of scarred, imperfect parents adapting to a new life. And how all of this effects generations today – whether that means reconciliation or staying caught in the cycle. That’s a big part of my experience of being Armenian. That’s real. That’s moving the cultural ball forward.

This short comedy-drama features the Armenian mother-daughter powerhouse pair, APICK YOUSSEFIAN and MARY APICK, reprising their roles as on-screen mother and daughter for the first time since 1977 when Mary Apick won Best Actress at Moscow International Film Festival for Parviz Sayyad's "Dead End." Alongside Armenian American actors ADRIANA SEVAHN NICHOLS and VACHIK MANGASSARIAN, I am also pleased to introduce to you the talented TESS GRANFIELD of the acclaimed short film "Hala," which featured her breakout performance as a 16-year-old Muslim teenager attempting to explore her sexuality and identity while growing up in a conservative, religious household.

I am also proud to share that this film was helmed completely by women (director, writers, producers, and director of photography), with a mostly female cast of characters representing all ages!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking into consideration this poignant film about forgiveness, love, and the power of storytelling in this kooky Armenian family.