Vahé Berberian Movies, TV Shows, and Filmography
Vahé Berberian
Directing
Biography
A life is always framed by a story, but existence continuously searches for another empty canvas. 1955. It starts with the streets, smells and sounds of Beirut, Lebanon. In beginnings, reactions are instinctive and purity is not compromised. Vahé Berberian, an Armenian painter, author, playwright, director and actor, is able to hold on to that instinct and purity through all his journeys, becoming the phenomena known as Vahé. His parents’ home in Beirut served as a stage where personalities from the worlds of theater, literature and the arts interacted passionately. Conversation flowed and humor filtered intensity. This is where Vahe, the storyteller, was formed. 1973. Leaving the safety of the familial nest, exchanging the familiar with the unknown, Vahé becomes part of the counterculture and travels through Eastern and Western Europe. Upon returning home, he lives the onset of the Lebanese Civil War. 1976. Devastated, Vahé reluctantly relocates to Los Angeles. Four years later, he graduates with honors, receiving a degree in journalism, while fervently pursuing art. “Painting is about creating history. I start with the empty canvas and nothing in mind. My first coat is my first mistake. My second coat is my second mistake. With every layer I erase the previous one, but nothing is completely eliminated. There are always traces. Eventually, the layers evolve into something from which I cannot take anything away.” Different settings and realities chisel, break down, blend and mold an identity. This identity is innately about combinations. The urgency to combine is what predominately resonates in all his work. His stand up comedies recognize absurdity and embrace laughter. His plays unfold absurdity and validate coexistence. His novels magnify absurdity and blur the lines between reality and fantasy. His paintings are the absurd. This process has lent itself to over 65 solo and group exhibitions, four one man shows, two published novels, and over a dozen plays written and directed by Vahe, worldwide. “Ultimately I suppose I am a story teller, whether in words or paint. I started out as a figurative painter. Throughout the years, gradually, as I got rid of everything that was decorative or didactic, my work became more and more abstract, eventually minimalist. Occasionally some of the old elements creep in and survive the process of purification. The perfect painting is the empty canvas. I fill it up because I love the process of painting.”
Filmography Movies
Acting
East of Byzantium: War Gods and Warrior Saints
The battles between the ruling empires and houses of nobility that would decide the fate of the Caucuses, the real Middle Earth, and ultimately the fate of the Western World.
3 Weeks in Yerevan
In this heartwarming comedy, two filmmakers from Los Angeles go to Armenia to shoot a feature length movie about a third generation American Armenian who goes to Yerevan to adopt a 12 year old. Teaming up with a local impresario, the team begins the arduous task of casting for the parts, scouting locations and securing the last leg of the funding. What seems to be a perfect plan becomes a perfect storm of absurd meetings, unexpected discoveries and hysterical events, which come together to sabotage the project. The Minister of Culture, The chief of police, the director of Hyefilm Studios, the oligarch...They all offer to help, and yet all of them have their conditions - changing the plot of the script, adopting it to another period, casting a relative for a part, and ultimately a proposal to turn the simple, touching story into a biopic of an oligarch.
Dagaveen
From the man who brought you "Yevaylen" and "Nayev" comes a hilarious peek into the Armenian condition and the necessity of laughter in life. Vahe’s third hysterically funny and engaging monologue tackles diverse topics such as family, marriage, surveys, concentrating on the Armenian American identity and finally the importance of laughter. Along with personal stories and meditations on the Armenian condition, Vahe tries to find an answer to the question “Are the Armenians truly happy, or – as an Irish newspaper claims – are we the saddest nation on the planet?” Vahe performed Dagaveen for over four months at Rococo in Pasadena, California, and has taken the show on the road to various cities in the U.S., Canada and Europe to packed audiences.
Ooremn
Ooremn, Berberian’s sixth and the latest monologue after Yevaylen, Nayev, Dagaveen, Sagayn and Yete is a witty and hilariously funny take on the many aspects that bring absurdity to our existence. The sharpest of Berberian’s monologues, Oormen takes jabs at all the facets of self deception in relation to love, marriage, religion, being Armenian and much more. Recorded live at the Glen Arden Club in Glendale, California.
Yeté
Berberian is a master of finding the comedy in personal, social, and cultural topics– in this case, he finds the humor in anxiety. Yete is Berberian’s fifth monologue after Yevayln, Nayev, Dagaveen, and Sagayn. Following 20 sold out shows in Los Angeles, his Sagayn tour took him to Yerevan, Beirut, Istanbul, Paris, Sydney, Cyprus, Geneva and a dozen other cities. Four years have passed since Sagayn and Berberian is thrilled about his new monologue. “I love writing, painting and directing, but being alone on that stage is a completely different sensation. I feel empowered, because there’s nothing more difficult than getting up on a stage and trying to make people laugh for an hour and a half. If you fail, you can’t blame anyone else for your failure and you’ll be crushed, but if you succeed, you feel exhilarated,” says Berberian.
Yevaylen
A hilarious monologue about growing up in an Armenian family in Lebanon. Vahé describes his experiences as a member of the Armenian Diaspora. The monologue was performed live in several cities across the US. A performance of this piece was recorded live on video at Rococo, in Pasadena, California in August 2000.
Sagayn
With Sagayn, Berberian has pushed the envelope by finding absurdity and great humor in not just the Armenian, but the human condition in general. With his unique spin on everyday topics such as weddings, religion, Armenian characteristics and everything in between, Berberian will keep you laughing long after the show is over.
Nayev
Another raucously funny monologue covering a variety of subjects, including such topics as life after 40, the Armenian condition in the Diaspora, and Vahe’s experience of visiting Armenia for the first time.
Honest Thieves
Five misfits attempt to rob an antique heirloom with the plan to turn it in to the police and collect a reward.
100 Years from Home
100 years after genocide, an American woman ventures across the globe in search of her great-grandparents’ long-lost house and her place in the world.
Production
3 Weeks in Yerevan
In this heartwarming comedy, two filmmakers from Los Angeles go to Armenia to shoot a feature length movie about a third generation American Armenian who goes to Yerevan to adopt a 12 year old. Teaming up with a local impresario, the team begins the arduous task of casting for the parts, scouting locations and securing the last leg of the funding. What seems to be a perfect plan becomes a perfect storm of absurd meetings, unexpected discoveries and hysterical events, which come together to sabotage the project. The Minister of Culture, The chief of police, the director of Hyefilm Studios, the oligarch...They all offer to help, and yet all of them have their conditions - changing the plot of the script, adopting it to another period, casting a relative for a part, and ultimately a proposal to turn the simple, touching story into a biopic of an oligarch.
Yevaylen
A hilarious monologue about growing up in an Armenian family in Lebanon. Vahé describes his experiences as a member of the Armenian Diaspora. The monologue was performed live in several cities across the US. A performance of this piece was recorded live on video at Rococo, in Pasadena, California in August 2000.
Gallery
