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Hollywood 2019. in the sweltering heat of LA, my family went out to this area for a couple of days in August. I was almost 19 and about to enter university in a few weeks back in Armenia, and I had no clear idea what I wanted to pursue after graduation.…
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My favorite films in 2025: Films that heal
Better late than never… Took me a while to finish because of my master’s thesis and other life stuff. Well, let’s get right to it!
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To the people who can’t go to the World Con
If you weren’t able to go to the World Con because of the whole flight fiasco following the war in the Middle East, schedule conflicts, a family emergency, or some other reason, here’s something I wrote that I hope will give you some encouragement. Today, my siblings and I missed the…
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How a fictional character helped me cope with perfectionism and social anxiety
An android who couldn’t feel emotions taught me how to stop overthinking mine. It started at a university workshop on perfectionism several years ago, where I was taught to recognize the specific ways it’s been damaging me and that I needed to put a stop to certain mindsets and behaviors I…
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Attending an independent filmmaking workshop – Making food for the soul
Here’s an account of how I made a film and gained experience from Michael Goorjian’s indie filmmaking workshop. I was chosen out of 80 applicants along with 20 other classmates and boy, was it an experience to remember.
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The Fears (and Miracles) of Filmmaking & Pursuing a Creative Life
I’ve been pondering about the push-and-pull of what it means to be a creative. Especially being someone from a third world country. Or maybe it touches everyone in general. Here’s my journey so far… I have been invited by God to live a life of creativity. But there’s always been something…
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The Heartsong – a story
Do you ever get those times when you come across an old story you don’t even remember writing, but it seems as if someone else – better than you – wrote it, YET, all the evidence says that YOU yourself wrote it – and you can’t even believe it because it’s…
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Thoughts on “A Quiet Place: Day One” as an earthquake survivor, relief volunteer, TCK… (Spoilers)
“A Quiet Place: Day One” is the type of restrained, slower cinema and drama that I find lovely to watch, even if I’m not into thrillers/horror films, because of all its layers and beautiful themes. It reminded me of when I was an earthquake relief volunteer in Nepal, and resonated with…
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“Can You Hear the Music?”: How Contemporary Movies Use Film Music as a Narrative Tool
Music in contemporary motion pictures remains a highlight for casual filmgoers – with many people recognizing themes from popular franchises like Marvel and Lord of the Rings, and others creating playlists of their favorite film music on Spotify or Youtube. However, considered on a more scholarly approach, film music often acts…
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The labyrinth of life and death: Filipino tragedies and how I overcame insomnia during COVID
I had started working on this blog post about the fear of death and the brevity and preciousness of life – I’d already written the body of it – when we heard news of another Filipino tragedy. We’d already received the bad news of two other incidents in the past week……