I Will Not Be Sad In This World

An hour portrait of 94-year-old Zaroohe Najarian that explores the major turning points of this Armenian woman's life. She survives the genocide of her people in World War One, grows up in a Beirut orphanage, immigrates to America, works in a sweatshop, and defies convention to be with her "true love". Her unselfconscious physicality and remarkable capacity for happiness bring dignity to her aging whether she is singing to her great grandson or tending her garden which she has made into the "ayki" of her childhood. Zaroohe is a model for surviving tragedy and hardships without bitterness. In her refusal to be sad she becomes the universal grandmother to us all.

Genre: Documentary