Heevand (Imperfect): A film about breaking stigma

Heevand (Imperfect) is a short movie written, directed, and produced by Adeh Baghdasarian and Zholi Minasyan.  Heevand means sick or ill in Armenian, but there is another word for people with mental illness. This short film is dark, yet it raises awareness of the importance of reaching out.

The Creators

Zholi Minasyan is an Armenian-American medical professional whose career trajectory unites acute clinical decision-making, scientific inquiry, and cultural de-stigmatization. Minasyan earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology from the UC San Diego School of Biological Sciences in 2021. As an undergraduate, Minasyan gained critical frontline exposure by volunteering in the Emergency Department at UC San Diego Health while conducting pathology research on ulcerative colitis and multiple chronic disorders.

After graduation, Minasyan moved into clinical research in behavioral health, culminating in an author publication in a peer-reviewed medical journal on September 23, 2026, for contributions to psychiatry. In clinical practice, Minasyan combines the fast-paced adaptability of urgent care—managing triage, procedural interventions, and rapid diagnostics—with extensive experience spanning cardiology, oncology, endocrinology, gynecology, pediatrics, and psychiatry.

Alongside medicine, Minasyan is an active Armenian artist and educator. While at UCSD in 2017, Minasyan founded the campus’s first-ever Armenian Language Conversation Tables at I-House and has since piloted language programs for college students and children across San Diego and Los Angeles counties. Looking ahead, Minasyan is dedicated to merging a love for medicine with visual storytelling to openly address and dismantle health-related taboos, mental health stigmas, and topics historically silenced by cultural expectations.

Adeh Baghdasarian is an Armenian-American filmmaker, director, writer, and producer based in Southern California. A graduate of The Los Angeles Film School with a Bachelor of Science in Film Production, Baghdasarian has developed a diverse body of independent work spanning drama, horror, mystery, romance, and crime.

Known for his hands-on approach to filmmaking, he frequently works across multiple areas of production, including directing, writing, producing, cinematography, and editing. His filmography includes projects such as Midnight, Lost in a Dream, Not Alone, Hold ‘Em, and Heevand. Through his work, Baghdasarian focuses on emotionally driven storytelling and explores themes of love, loss, identity, fear, and the complexities of human relationships.

As an independent filmmaker, his creative philosophy centers on a genuine passion for cinema and a desire to turn meaningful ideas into memorable on-screen stories.

Working with Adeh on this was a masterclass in creative trust.

The Cast

Arthur Donahue plays the protagonist (Andre), and Serly Artinian plays the lead actress (Ani).

In Their Own Words

A conversation with both producers:

What inspired you to make this movie?

The overwhelming need for the Armenian and Middle Eastern community to use our desire for closeness and honesty in our families to its fullest degree, was one of the biggest inspirations. We love our culture and want to keep everyone close. However, when topics of mental health issues arise, there is still a standstill in the amount of support that the individual struggling faces when trying to gain support from their loved ones.

How did you collaborate on the story and screenplay?

Adeh: When Zholi came to me with the story, it immediately caught my attention because it touched on a very sensitive topic. We didn’t have a solid story written down anywhere; ideas were being thrown around, and I picked them up and built the screenplay around them. At some point, we decided to start the screenplay from the end of the film and connect it all.

Zholi: Working with Adeh on this was a masterclass in creative trust. I knew the sensitive territory I wanted to explore, but we didn’t have the luxury of a traditional development process. We shared an obsession with the story. Reversing the screenplay structure and building it backward from the climax was a massive risk, but it became our roadmap. Sometimes you have to rely entirely on your co-creator’s instincts, and Adeh knew exactly how to translate my vision into a concrete script.

What challenges did you face during filming and post-production?

Adeh: Working with such a lean footprint and budget let us create a deeply intimate environment for our actors. There wasn’t a sea of crew members standing around; it was just a raw, collaborative space where we could focus entirely on the performances and the emotional truth of the scene. When we say microbudget, we mean everything from driving the gear to syncing the audio fell on the two of us.

Zholi: Adeh and I had to be nimble. If something broke, we fixed it; if a schedule shifted, we adapted on the spot. It was an incredibly demanding endurance test, but it bonded us permanently to every single frame of this film.

Have you screened it at other locations or film festivals?

Our strategic launchpad was a private premiere at LOOK Cinema on June 16, 2026 – the same night that we released the film for all to see on YouTube. Because this was a true microbudget film where everything rested on our shoulders, we wanted our first screening to be a deeply meaningful celebration and a calculated industry test. We packed the theater with our loved ones, our incredible cast and crew, and their loved ones, creating an unforgettable energy. We also invited leading figures in the film industry to get the movie on their radar. We were honored to have leading actors Jack Topalian and Edgar Damatian in attendance, along with producers from different studios and key film festival organizers from the Arpa International Film Festival (AFFMA) and the Armenian Film Society (AFS).

This premiere was our essential launching pad, and we are now leveraging the momentum and relationships built that night as we navigate the festival circuit and finalize our upcoming public screenings. We screened Heevand at the 29th Arpa International Film Festival.

We are confident that as the festival circuit continues, we will be invited to speak about this profound short film not only in the USA, as we have been shortlisted for the world-renowned Sundance Film Festival, but abroad as well.

What are your future projects? Will you work together?

Adeh: We can’t release too much information about future projects; all I can say is that I’ll be going back to the root of my filmmaking and focusing on horror. This project is the first time I’m stepping away from shorts and focusing on a feature-length horror film. Our collaboration will grow. As the Co-Owners of AX Production, I can say with excitement that we will have many, many projects as our production studio grows.

Zholi: As the Co-Owner of AX Productions, I can confidently say that this is just the beginning of a lifelong creative collaboration with my partner, Adeh. My path to the film industry has been highly unconventional. I come from a strict background in science and academia, where my writing was confined to scientific research papers. I never imagined I would pivot to writing a short film or helping create a feature film, let alone launching my own production company. But cinema, like science, thrives on curiosity and breakthroughs. Adeh and I are innovators at heart. We don’t see limitations; we see variables to solve. AX Productions will continue to grow, adapt, and prosper because we have the grit and analytical resourcefulness to carve out our own space in this industry and relentlessly create art.