Documentary filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian didn’t have to look too far for survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Somehow, says his wife Toni Hagopian, they always found him.

“The first time I experienced it, we were in New York on our honeymoon and there was a note left in the laundry asking if [Michael] was any relation to Mikael, which was Mike’s father,” Toni said. “The man said Dr. Mikael had saved his father’s life. We heard that a lot.”