Occidental’s Media Arts & Culture (MAC) department welcomed this year’s Artist-in-Residence, filmmaker Anahid Yahjian ‘11, Sept. 8-11. The residency included three events: a film screening and Q&A session Sept. 8, a screening of a compilation of films curated by Yahjian Sept. 10, and a socratic-style film workshop for Occidental students Sept. 11.
Yahjian said she is the first Occidental alumna to be a MAC Artist-in-Residence, something she was particularly excited about.
“It’s such a treat to share my work, but also to answer questions from students, because I see a version of myself in them,” Yahjian said. “Passing along the knowledge that I’ve gained out in the field, but also to come full circle to a place where I learned so much.”
Yahjian said she was born in Bulgaria, but grew up in LA and has Armenian ancestry. According to Yahjian, her varied identity drives much of her creative process.
“There’s a hybridity to who I am that shows up in a lot of my work, whether I’m making something personal, or I’m making something about somebody else,” Yahjian said. “I tend to be drawn to questions and themes around a hybrid sense of self. Complexity is something I value immensely and I e...