‘Strangers in a Promised Land’ highlights challenges of Fresno’s first Armenian settlers

The 40-year-old remastered documentary “Strangers in a Promised Land” chronicles the arrival of Armenian refugees in Fresno, the discrimination they faced and overcame, and their rise to political, economic, and cultural prominence. The film was restored from the original 16mm camera negative, which was used for the digital film-to-tape transfer.

The hour-long screening will take place on Sept. 20 at the Alice Peters Auditorium in the University Business Center at Fresno State. The event begins with a 6 p.m. reception, followed by the screening at 7 p.m., and a panel discussion afterward.

The panel will feature Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian, head of the Center for Armenian Studies Program at Fresno State and Dr. Carla Garapedian from the Armenian Film Foundation, who helped remaster the film. Several Armenians featured in the documentary will also participate in the panel.

The program is hosted by the Armenian Studies Program, the Armenian Film Foundation, and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research.

The filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian, an early Fresno resident, produced the film to reflect the Armenian experience in California mirrored the universal immigrant journey to America, according to a news release about the screening. He continued to produce documentaries on Armenian history and culture until his death at 97 in 2010. The film was narrated by former California Gov. George Deukmejian.

In an interview with Fresnoland, Der Mugrdechian said it was “the first film that gave a history of Armenians in the community.” The film captures the voices of genocide survivors and an older generation’s perspective on what happened.

The film documents the arrival of the first permanent Armenian settlers in Fresno in 1881, at a time when the city had limited infrastructure. With no government assistance available, Armenians struggled to support their families and faced housing discrimination, among other challenges. Der Mugrdechian said that these factors made life in the valley particularly difficult.

Der Mugrdechian appears in the film from when he was a student at Fresno State in 1982. He said the film’s significance lies in how “we can use that as a comparison to how life is today.”

and can “give a good idea for people that haven’t been in the Armenian community to see how one part of it was that many years ago.”

The film also explores how Armenians navigated their identity, especially when the Armenian Genocide was a controversial topic.

“We thought it was important to talk about those things which people said you shouldn’t talk about,” said Der Mugrdechian. “Some Armenians were afraid to express their identity. The older generation had worked very hard to try to assimilate into American society so they wouldn’t face discrimination.”

By the 1960s, with the civil rights movement, it became more accepted to discuss identity and race, which led college students, like Der Mugrdechian, to challenge the silence around their heritage.

“It is important to understand how the community has changed,” said Der Mugrdechian. “Fresno doesn’t do well remembering its own history, let alone any of the communities that live here.”

Bryan Bedrosian, a prominent raisin farmer in Fresno along with his family, also appears in the film from when he was 25. Now 67, he recalls discussing Armenian issues such as liberation from Soviet rule and maintaining unity within the Armenian church.

“The thing about Armenians living outside of Armenia, they all of a sudden don’t speak the language anymore or start to intermarry with non Armenians,” said Bedrosian. “It’s always good that people know where they came from. How important it is to maintain your culture and your heritage, especially when your culture and heritage is very positive.”

Garapedian said it’s important for Fresnans to view this film today because it highlights both the struggles and celebrations of the Armenian community. It also illustrates the challenges they faced in maintaining their ethnic identity amid numerous obstacles.

The success of “Strangers in a Promised Land” enabled Hagopian and the Armenian Film Foundation to launch a campaign to interview as many survivors of the Armenian Genocide as possible. This effort was highly successful, with over 300 testimonies recorded between 1975 and 2005. The full archive now includes 1,096 testimonies, all available at the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive.

“The film actually made me tear up,” said Garapedian. “It made me feel for the people who were risking a lot to just try to make it in America and at the same time, not lose what makes them special, their ethnic identity. I’m hoping that the people who see this film and see the history, will be encouraged, and that you don’t have to be Armenian to feel that way.”