Armenian American Artist Raises Awareness of Genocide through Film


Nazo Bravo at the Armenian Genocide memorial complex in Yerevan

Nazo Bravo is set to release documentary, soundtrack and feature film commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

LOS ANGELES—Nazo Bravo, an Armenian American actor and hip hop artist from Los Angeles, is currently in production on multiple projects dedicated to the Armenian Genocide and culture as a whole, including a documentary titled “Armenian American.” In 2014, Nazo visited Armenia for the first time and felt the importance of documenting the journey of his family’s heritage and homeland. Nazo states, “It’s a crucial time for my people. April 24th marks the centennial of the genocide, which Turkey still denies, so I’m doing what I can to help bring awareness to the issue. I feel like this documentary is something any first or second generation American can relate to, no matter where you come from.”

Nazo will premiere the documentary as an episodic web-series on Feb. 11 via his YouTube channel, and will release a song from each week’s episode via his Soundcloud. The series will conclude with a music video filmed entirely in Armenia titled “Power of The Hye” (“Hye” translates to “Armenian”), where Nazo touches on President Obama’s position on the Armenian Genocide and Hrant Dink, an Armenian journalist who was assassinated in Turkey in 2007 for speaking out about the issue.

Nazo is also currently working on the feature film “Armenia, My Country, My Mother, My Love,” a period drama set in 1915 based on stories from survivors of the Genocide. Nazo plays the role of Grigor Orbelian, an Armenian intellectual called to Constantinople by Turkey during World War I on the eve of the Armenian Genocide. Historically, the rounding up and deportation of Armenian intellectuals (sometimes known as Red Sunday) marks the first phase of the genocide. The story then follows Grigor’s family as they face the treacherous death marches carried out by Turkish soldiers leading hundreds of thousands of defenseless Armenian women, children, and elderly to their deaths. The film is scheduled for release in theaters this April.


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