Photograph by Suren Tadevosyan

Garin Hovannisian is a writer, filmmaker, and illusionist who lives in Yerevan, Armenia.

He is the author of Family of Shadows (HarperCollins 2010) and has written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Atlantic. He has been awarded the Fulbright Fellowship in Creative Writing and The Gotham Fellowship for TV Creators.

Garin’s films include 1915 (2015), which won Armenia’s top film prize; I Am Not Alone (TIFF 2019), an official selection of the European Film Awards, IDA Award nominee, and winner of AFI Fest and DOC NYC; Truth to Power (Tribeca 2020); and Invisible Republic (GAIFF 2022). He produces his films through Avalanche Entertainment, a production company he founded with Alec Mouhibian.

His forthcoming films Nowhere and City of Cards – along with his series Magic Stories – reflect his new work as a magician, hypnotist, and illusion artist.

Garin is also the founder of the arts foundation Creative Armenia and the incubator Artbox, through which he discovers, develops, and champions emerging artists.