Local artist and filmmaker Leah Bedrosian Peterson, associate professor of film and video arts at Lycoming College, was selected as a semi-finalist at the Los Angeles CineFest and was screened at the Austin Spotlight Film Festival for her stop motion short film, “Under the Walnut Tree.”

The short film is “based on the true story of a young refugee who witnessed the murder of his family during the Hamidian massacres in Armenia over 100 years ago,” said Bedrosian Peterson. The story of Shahan Natalie and “his childhood and how he reunited with his mother while she was burying his father under a walnut tree struck me as both fortunate and tragic.”

The Hamidian massacres orphaned more than 50,000 children during the Armenian Genocide. Bedrosian Peterson began researching stories for this project in 2015, the 100-year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, she said.

Bedrosian Peterson’s heritage is closely related to Armenian culture, as her grandparents, who were children in Armenia during the genocide, fled to France and then the U.S. with their families during the genocide, she said.

“Armenians have been marginalized due to the lack of recognition of the genocide and continued denial by the perpetrators of the genocide,” she said. “My cultural heritage, the legacy of survival and giving a voice to the marginalized is very important to me and is at the core of who I am as a person, artist and mother.”

During her research, Bedrosian Peterson also was reading “What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng,” by Dave Eggers, which focuses on one of the Lost Boys in Sudan, she said. Throughout the autobiography, there were reoccuring themes in the stories of survivors from Armenian genocide, especially those from children, and how their lives changed. Children’s stories, like Natalie’s or survivors, impact Bedrosian Peterson’s response as a mother.

Inspired by Natalie’s story from 100 years ago, his struggle and survival “sadly mirrors the tragedies that exist all over the world today,” she said. “My hope is that my film speaks to our universal compassion and humanity.”

Before choosing a medium for the film, Bedrosian Peterson begins with the idea, which then determines what art form would best suit the concept, she said.

“I felt that, through stop motion animation, I would be able to create a story about suffering, survival and strength in a way that addressed the human condition as a whole,” she said.

Stop motion animation is a hands-on process that allowed Bedrosian Peterson to be in control of the fine arts elements and to be behind the camera and computer, she said.

“I enjoyed going through the process of sculpting the characters, including the incredible number of failed attempts with the molds and armature construction, as well as frustrations with learning a new medium and the technology needed to shoot and edit a film like this,” she said.

Growing up, Bedrosian Peterson came from an artistic family supportive of her pursuits in photography and filmmaking. These arts turned into a passion during her undergraduate career at the Pratt Institute where she received her bachelors. She then received her masters from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston, where she started working with video.

Bedrosian Peterson is also influenced by authors such as David Sedaris or Ta-Nehisi Coates, spending time with her two children, baking and working in the garden.

Fellow collaborators on “Under the Walnut Tree” from Lycoming College include Gabriela Burch, student; Geena Woodley and Brianne Charnigo, alumni; and Maria Hebert-Leiter, English professor, who helped throughout the process with design, special effects and narrative. Hooshere, an Armenian singer and songwriter, also donated the song “Yeraz.” This short film took over two years to create.

The Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York and Armenian community also helped Bedrosian Peterson with the translation, narrative and voiceover.

Festivals, such as the Austin Spotlight Film Festival and the Los Angeles CineFest, require a submission which is reviewed by jurors who select a finalist to screen at each festival, she said. She has recently been submitting this stop motion film to festivals and is waiting to see if she’s been accepted into others. “Under the Walnut Tree” was asked to be screened at upcoming Armenian cultural events in Philadelphia.

This is not Bedrosian Peterson’s first film festival, though, as some of her older films have been screened in N.Y.C., Boston and Yerevan, Armenia.

“I don’t make the work that I do for recognition. I make the work that I do because the ideas are important to me and because it’s how I express myself,” Bedrosian Peterson said. “I use my artistic voice to bring attention and recognition to the genocide and the significance of my cultural heritage.”

To watch the trailer for “Under The Walnut Tree,” visit https://vimeo.com/232123569.