Ani Manoukian King-Underwood (1950 – 2020) was one of the co-founders of the Armenian Institute and also served as a trustee. She brought her high energy and bright spirit to everything she did and her wide circle of family and friends all find it hard to believe that someone so full of life has been so quickly taken away. Through her work in documentaries, she touched many more lives and we are all left with moving memories through her vivacious life and work.
Born in Beirut, Ani grew up with her younger brother, Krikor, attending Armenian primary and secondary schools. In her own words, “My childhood was poor but a happy one. All my childhood friends and their families were equally poor. This meant that I was not too aware of our poverty.” At 17 she emigrated to the UK where members of her mother’s family had settled earlier, following the invasion and displacement in Cyprus. Under their care, she attended university studying Modern Languages, going on to receive an MA in translation in Paris. The languages she accumulated along the way, through her birth in multilingual Lebanon and through education, included Armenian, Arabic, English, Russian, French, Turkish and Greek. These paved the way for her long and lively career in journalism and film as producer/director of documentaries covering many parts of the world.
Ani has written, “I particularly like presenting difficult issues in informative and accessible ways (and) have developed a specialised interest in and understanding of the Middle East region and its issues.” Her more than 37 documentaries reflect this with thought-provoking work on human, minority and women’s rights. She also worked extensively as a field producer on breaking news from conflict zones around the world. Her approach was often from new or unusual angles, not falling into expected tropes, blending her own mixture of background and ideas from both the Middle East and Europe.
During her long career working as a freelancer, for the BBC, Al Jazeera, and other companies, Ani produced a number of exceptionally insightful films. Her own very wide range of interests was reflected in the subjects covered, from whales to the place of the Fatwa within Islam. In “An Armenian Homecoming”, Ani takes a more personal approach, arranging for her mother and aunt to fulfil their long-held wish to visit their family home in Mersin, lost during the Genocide. Going by childhood memories of their parents’ descriptions of this beloved home, the trio set out to explore the modern city of Mersin, following their clues.
While her work was an essential part of her life, Ani also had other interests and talents. For many years she taught Armenian every Sunday at the Kevork Tahta School in London. In addition to her work with the Armenian Institute, she was also active in other organisations in London’s Armenian community, lending her support in many ways.
Ani was honest about herself and her relationships and we use her words here to describe what was most important to her. “My three marriages were all important in my life. Each gave to me as much as I gave to it. From my first marriage I had a son, Gregory. The second marriage in the USA lasted only two years. My third marriage to Brian (d. 2019) was the most wholesome of all three. The respect and love we had for each other was immeasurable and gave rise to a contentment that one wishes to have at the end of life.”
None of us know when the end of life will come for us but Ani packed an extraordinary amount into hers and touched so many very different people around the world. Her expression of contentment in her last years was not only sincere but one that reflected her acknowledgement that each stage of life brings a different kind of adventure to explore. She remained greatly interested in everything and everyone. Even as she found it more difficult to express herself, her engagement with the world and those around her remained intense. She is sorely missed and also definitely remains with us.
Written by Susan Pattie with thanks to many others for contributions
Ani at AI events including Zabel Yessyan event (2016), language workshop with Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian and Sona Kalenderian, and after an event with Nouritza Matossian.
A short selection of documentaries which Ani produced, directed or assisted with that are available to watch.
Egypt’s Invisible Children 22’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbtu-FrufqI
Over hundred thousand children in Egypt are not registered because their fathers do not acknowledge them mainly because they are girls and under Egyptian law only the father can apply for a child’s birth certificate.
An Armenian Homecoming 22’
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwsr_WG_EpE
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYxVyT3EB1s
Sirarpi and Arpine (87 and 84 years old) Armenian ladies from North London go to Turkey looking for their mother’s house which the family were forced to abandon in the early part of 20th century. During their visit they will look into the changes that have taken place during the last decade in Turkey towards the Armenians and their Genocide of 1915.
Al Jazeera English, 2008
Killing in the name of Honor 22’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ssDzbL0mg
We find that women may be forced into suicides as a way of disguising honour killings. With an eye to improving its chances of joining the EU, Turkey is cracking down on honour killing, making life imprisonment a mandatory sentence. Is this the cause?
Ampersand, 2008