Arsinée Khanjian

Arsinée Khanjian (Western Armenian: Արսինէ Խանճեան, Eastern Armenian: Արսինե Խանջյան; Template:Langx; born 6 September 1958) is a Lebanese-Canadian actress and activist. She is widely known for her collaborations with her husband, filmmaker Atom Egoyan. She won the 2003 Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her role in Ararat.

Biography

Early life and education

Khanjian was born in Beirut in 1958 to an Armenian family. Her grandparents had fled to Lebanon from present-day Turkey in 1915 as refugees from the Armenian genocide.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Her paternal grandparents were from Diyarbakır Province in present-day Turkey, originally with the surname Hagopian.<ref name=":0" /> According to Khanjian, her paternal grandfather was protected during the genocide by a Kurdish family. He lived under a false Kurdish identity, and at one time was married to a Kurdish woman, before emigrating to Lebanon.<ref name=":0" />

Khanjian was raised trilingual, speaking Armenian at home, Lebanese Arabic with her friends, and French in school.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Her family emigrated to Canada when Khanjian was 17 due to the Lebanese Civil War, settling in Montreal.<ref name=":1" /> She studied theatre at the Conservatoire Lasalle, and earned a bachelor's degree in French and Spanish at Concordia University.<ref name=":1" /> While earning her master's degree in political science at Université de Montréal, she met her future husband Atom Egoyan, who cast her in his debut film Next of Kin.<ref name=":1" /> She then moved with Egoyan to Toronto, finishing her degree at the University of Toronto, while working for the Ontario Arts Council.<ref name=":1" />

Acting

To date, Khanjian has starred in 14 films directed by her husband. She won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for his 2002 film Ararat.

Her work for other directors includes French director Olivier Assayas' Irma Vep (1996) and Late August, Early September (1998), and Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl (2001). She had a supporting role in The Cut (2014), directed by Turkish-German filmmaker Fatih Akin. She was nominated for a second Genie Award for playing the title character in the romantic dramedy Sabah (2005). She won a Gemini Award for her performance on the CBC anthology drama Foolish Heart.<ref name=":1" />

Her theatre work has included stage roles in both Canada and France.<ref name=":1" /> She starred in the debut production of Palace of the End by the Canadian Stage Company.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She wrote, directed, and starred in the play Auction of Souls at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin.<ref name=":2" /> She toured France and Japan with a French-language production of Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa.<ref name=":1" />

Khanjian was a jury member for the Cinéfoundation and Short Films sections at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.<ref name="Cinéfoundation">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Activism

Khanjian is a civil rights activist and was briefly detained in Armenia in 2016 while protesting human rights abuses.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2017, Khanjian, along with Egoyan and Serj Tankian, founded the "Justice Within Armenia" initiative and participated in the parliamentary elections in Armenia as an observer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Khanjian participated in the 2018 Armenian Revolution, repeatedly speaking at rallies, and making speeches on various platforms.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Honours

Khanjian received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.

In 2003, Khanjian was awarded the Order of St. Mesrop Mashtots. The same year, she received the Queen Zabel Medal by the Armenian Apostolic Church in America.

In 2011, Khanjian was awarded the Order for "Services to the Motherland" by the Armenian government.

Personal life

File:Atom Egoyan and Arsinee Khanjian in 2013.jpg

Khanjian with her husband Atom Egoyan in 2013

Khanjian's husband, Atom Egoyan, credits her for inspiring him to further explore his Armenian roots. The two received Armenian citizenship in 2018.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She lives in Toronto with her husband and their son, Arshile.<ref name=":0" />

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Next of Kin	Azah Deryan
1988	Family Viewing	Aline
	The Box of Sun (La boîte à soleil)
1989	Speaking Parts	Lisa
1991	Template:Sortname	Hera
1992	Chickpeas
1993	Calendar	Translator	Also co-producer
1994	Exotica	Zoe
1996	Irma Vep	The American
1997	Template:Sortname	Wanda
	Bach Cello Suite #4: Sarabande	Sarah
1998	Sentimental Education	Arthur
	Last Night	Streetcar Mother
	Late August, Early September	Lucie
1999	Felicia's Journey	Gala
2000	Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys	Francine
2001	Fat Girl	Mrs. Pingot
2002	Ararat	Ani
2005	Sabah	Sabah
	Where the Truth Lies	Publishing Executive
2007	Template:Sortname	Armineh
2008	Adoration	Sabine
2011	Nobody Else But You	Dr. Juliette Geminy
2012	No Man's Zone	Narrator (voice)
2014	The Cut	Mrs. Nakashian
	Atlit	Mona
	The Captive	Diane Grey
2016	Lost in Armenia	Tzarkanoush
	The Other Side of November	Lea/Layla
2017	Last Car	Mayor Keele
2019	We Are Gold
	Guest of Honour	Anna
2025	Door Prize	Mayor Henze	Post-production

Short films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Looking for Nothing
1991	En passant	Rima	Segment of anthology film Montreal Stories
1995	Template:Sortname	Voice
	2 rue de la mémoire
1997	Strands	Lab Worker
2000	Hokees	Anahid
2011	De temps et d'eau
2024	Before They Joined Us

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Street Legal	Rosa Martino	Episode: "Truth or Dare"
1994–1995	Side Effects	Elaine Chen	Main role (12 episodes)
1996	Dinner Along the Amazon	Olivia Penney	TV short
1997	Ms. Scrooge	Cratchit	TV film
1998	More Tears	Andrea	TV series
1999	Foolish Heart	Lena	TV series
2000	Foreign Objects	Maria	TV series
2001	Mentors	Anaïs Nin	Episode: "Experience"
2002	Made in Canada	Crystal	Episode: "Veronica's Friend"
2005	Slings and Arrows	Nadine Perola	Episode: "Rarer Monsters"
2006	ReGenesis	Eva Ramone	Episode: "Our Men in Havana"
2009	Template:Sortname	Ghayda Hassan	Episode: "Broken"
2013	Murder in Passing	Mayor	42 episodes
2019	Coroner	Muna Khalighi	Episode: "All's Well"

Awards and nominations

• Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film Chloe Award (2002).
• Recipient of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal (2002).
• Queen Zabel Award by the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America (2003).
• Sourp Mesrob Mashdotz Award (2003)
• Durban International Film Festival Winner for Best Actress in Ararat (2003)
• Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in Ararat (2003).
• The Crystal Award for Creative Excellence by Women in Film and Television (2005) <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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External links

• Canadian Film Encyclopedia
• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 451376

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