Edwin Avaness

Edwin Avaness (born July 4, 1971) is an accomplished award winning American independent film producer.
== Biography ==
Edwin Avaness was born in Tehran to Armenian parents. He attended Melkonian Educational Institute, an Armenian boarding school of high academic standard, in Nicosia, Cyprus. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Film and Digital Media productions at University of California, Santa Cruz, and his Master of Arts Degree from Northwestern University's School of Communication - The Department of Radio/Television/Film.
He joined the executive board of Arpa Foundation for Film, Music & Art in 1998 to 2001. The annual humanitarian honor, in conjunction with the Arpa International Film Festival in Hollywood, is co-created by Mr. Avaness, where filmmakers are awarded for their work that has contributed to the fight for social conscience and human rights issues. Among the past recipients of this award are documentary films Screamers (2006), Darfur Now (2007), Children of War (2009), Aghet - Ein Völkermord (2010), and in 2017 Academy Award-winning screenwriter-director Terry George for The Promise (2016 film)|The Promise (2016). Mr. Avaness also serves as a board member of Armin T. Wegner Society of USA, where the society revives the legacy of this 20th Century humanist through his work. 
After co-producing his first feature film, My Dark Days (2001), Mr. Avaness produced and co-directed the feature film The Journey (2002) which was awarded the Audience Award at the Milan International Film Festival in 2002. He next produced Tabriz: Images from the Forgotten World (2006), a docudrama which received popular reception and awards in international festivals such as Bangkok Int'l Film Festival.
Mr. Avaness later established EOS Entertainment which is developing and producing content to mainstream audiences. Projects such as the documentary Epic Denied: Depriving the Forty Days of Musa Dagh which covers the trials and tribulations of Hollywood's multiple attempts to produce an epic movie based on Franz Werfel's bestseller novel.
As a joined venture with other production companies, he has produced Virginity (2014) a film about human rights issues, which deals with women struggling in their social and cultural environments and facing unforeseeable crises. Damn Foreigners (2015) a feature film based on a true story which questions prejudice elements within the justice system of the United States. Zoya (2016), a vividly poetic avant-garde story about abduction, unlawful imprisonment, and execution of human rights' activists in countries with corrupt governments. Furthermore, he has produced Ali Atshani’s 1st Born (2019) which is notable for being the first joint feature film co-production between Iran and Hollywood, with such cast as Val Kilmer, Tom Berenger, William Baldwin, Denise Richard, Taylor Cole, Dominique Swain, Robert Knepper and Greg Grunberg. And most recently Loteria (2022), which is about a young Iranian man who’s plan is to cross over the boarder illegally from Mexico to the United States in pursuit of a better life.
== Filmography ==
Feature Films
Year	Title 	Credited as	
2001	My Dark Days 	co-producer	
2002	The Journey 	producer 	
2006	Tabriz: Images from the Forgotten World	producer 	
2014	Virginity 	producer 	
2015	Damn Foreigners 	producer 	
2016	Zoya 	producer 	
2019	1st Born 	producer 	
2022	Lotería 	producer 	
== Honors & Awards ==
* The Audience Award for the feature film The Journey (2002), Milan International Film Festival
* U.S. House of Representatives Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition
* Certificate of Recognition from State of California Assembly and Senate
* City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Certificate of Appreciation
* The New Photography Exhibition, Fine Art Award at Los Angeles County Fair
* Best Feature Film Damn Foreigners (2015) Canada International Film Festival
* Best Social Denunciation Film Zoya (2016) International Euro Film Festival
* Film of Social Conscience Virginity (2014) Long Island Film Festival
Category:American people
Category:1971 births
Category:Iranian people