We were lucky to catch up with Nanor Vosgueritchian recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nanor, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

For the past year, I have been curating and organizing free Armenian cultural events in New York City as part of Garod Collective. Co-founded with my friend Cynthia Nahhas, our collective is an initiative to introduce, build, and revitalize connections to Armenian culture, language and tradition. We hosted our first event in April 2025, which involved archiving family photographs and sharing living histories through guided storytelling and creative collage. That first event was so gratifying, because we got to hear people’s intimate stories, learn about their familial histories, and be entrusted with treasured photos, which would have otherwise stayed hidden.

It was great to meet other Armenians and be in community with them, but it was even more touching when people asked, “When’s the next event?” We loved the enthusiasm others had, including the shared desire for connection so we decided to do more. We have since hosted a wide range of events, including backgammon socials, generative writing workshops, group translation sessions, film screenings, and other cultural events. All of these events have made me grateful to have the opportunity to gather and build an Armenian community in New York City, something that I (and others) have been in search of for a long time.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a film and cultural curator, in addition to being the co-founder of Garod Collective. My interest in film curation began during my time at NYU, where I pursued a Master’s degree in Cinema Studies. Throughout that program, I was slowly introduced to, and eventually became immersed in the film industry in NYC. Upon graduating, I began working at various film festivals in curation & programming. I have been a film programmer at the Brooklyn Film Festival, Nova Frontier Film Festival, and Tribeca Festival.

Most notably, I am the Head of Programming for the Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI), which hosts the largest and oldest Arab Film Festival in North America. In addition to the annual festival, I curate the Arab Women in the Arts showcase, which highlights the works of pioneering Arab women artists. It’s so gratifying to give a platform to filmmakers who are underseen or underappreciated by audiences that are not familiar with the fantastic films coming out of the region.

As part of Garod Collective, I curate and organize a variety of cultural events with a focus on creating intimate, meaningful, and accessible gatherings. A defining feature of the collective is our commitment to keeping events free, addressing a lack of low or no-cost Armenian cultural programming in the city. This is especially important to foster a truly inclusive community, where no one feels left behind.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The most important goal for me in my creative journey has always been to share beautiful, innovative, and thought-provoking art with others. That is certainly reflected in my film curation, where I am constantly inspired by passionate filmmakers who have a singular vision or story to tell through their films, which in turn inspires me to champion their work though whatever festival I am working on. I view this as especially important for Arab films and filmmakers, who don’t always get the chance to showcase their works in mainstream platforms. For Arab narratives, I am even further motivated to give a platform for the engaging films that I come across, whether from established pros or emerging directors at the start of their careers. Advocating these filmmakers to succeed, or seeing audiences enjoy their films, is all the gratification I need to continue to feel motivated in my curatorial work.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Honestly, something I wish I knew earlier is that I don’t need to have all the resources prepared in advance to start a creative project. In other words, just do it. It might seem daunting, but if you have an idea or event you want to see happen, chances are others want it too. Take a leap and try to make it happen. If you know how to communicate, negotiate, and ask for help, you can probably pull it off. While it may certainly help, you don’t necessarily need to have money, branding, marketing, etc. to pursue a passion. We had none of that when starting Garod Collective. All we had was a small circle of friends, which has now grown into a larger network of new friends. You don’t need to figure everything out to start, just take it one step at a time.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nanorv/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nanor-vosgueritchian-7917a019a/