Matevosian’s Video for Bei Ru’s ‘Tortoisehead’ Selected for Austin Music Video Festival

Music Video Features Armenian-American Artist Vahe Berberian

AUSTIN, Tex. (A.W.)—The music video for Armenian-American music producer and composer Bei Ru’s “Tortoisehead” has been selected to be featured at the third annual Austin Music Video Festival (AMVF), taking place Sept. 12-16. The video was directed by Armenian-American filmmaker Hayk Matevosian and stars Beirut-born and Los Angeles-based painter, author, playwright, director, and actor Vahe Berberian.

“Tortoisehead” is featured on Bei Ru’s 2016 album “L.A. Zooo.”

Born Baruir Panossian in L.A., Bei Ru is known for his blending of Middle Eastern rhythms with drums, electronic sounds, and live instrumentation.

“As a kid, my parents would play a lot of Armenian music in the house. We visited Armenia when I was six, and my folks took me and my siblings to see orchestral concerts and operas,” Bei Ru told Haytoug magazine in 2011. “I think all of that nurtured my love for music. I also started taking piano lessons around the time of our Armenia trip, and stuck with it for about 10 years. When I was 15, I started getting more and more into hip-hop and DJ’ing, which is what I eventually started to pursue. I got a job at a local dry cleaners and saved up enough money to buy a set of turntables, a mixer, an amp, and some speakers. After DJ’ing house parties and clubs for some years, I bought a small Casio keyboard and started working on creating my own music.”

Filmmaker Hayk Matevosian was born in Yerevan in 1990. In 2008, his family emigrated to the U.S. In 2013, he graduated from UCLA Film School with a B.A. in film production. His thesis short film, “The Player,” was awarded Michael Minor and Robert Green Scholarship for displaying artistic merit in directing and art design. In 2013, “The Player” premiered at Arpa International Film Festival, at the historical Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The film was also screened at 16th Auburn International Film Festival, 22nd UCLA Annual Film Festival, and 2013 Riverside Saginaw Film Festival.

His 2016 short film “Syria, My Love” is about a Syrian-Armenian artist who, after losing his family in the civil war, refuses to abandon his studio in Aleppo before he can finish his final painting. The film was written under the mentorship of Mardik Martin (“Mean Streets,” “Raging Bull,” “New York, New York”) and co-produced by Liana Avetisyan. “Syria, My Love” was the winner of the Special Jury Award at Toronto’s Hamazkayin Pomegranate Film Festival.

The AMVF officially launched in 2015 and has since hosted dozens of free events and a four-day festival and awards show, and featured hundreds of music videos from Austin and around the world.

The third annual AMVF will take place at a variety of Austin venues and will feature events such as video screenings, live concerts, workshops, panels, and after-parties, as well as an interactive video lounge.