But first, he had to quit the industry altogether.
Donate todayDespite landing a string of supporting roles in highly acclaimed films, Karagulian was having trouble finding work a few years ago. He reached a crossroads after "The Florida Project," a critical darling from director Sean Baker that failed to give Karagulian's career the boost he had hoped forI decided I don’t want to do this anymore,” Karagulian said over coffee at Parkview Diner in Coney Island on Thursday. “I just quit.
The movie is brimming with locations and actors from Brighton Beach, giving the Russian-centric enclave a rare spotlight on the silver screen. Still, for a 20-year old from the Soviet Union, New York was a place of wonder. Back home, he said, “candy, chewing gum, or jeans for us was a dream.” But in the United States, “even just going to the supermarket and seeing all these things… it was a feeling of happiness.”Beyond that, he remembers the Brighton Beach of yesteryear with its old-fashioned restaurants and theaters hosting Russian plays, music, and dance, and the Russian-language bookstore he used to frequent.
Karagulian also struggled with panic attacks – after dreaming of making a Brighton Beach film for decades, the stakes felt higher than they had in previous jobs. “Maybe this was a little bit closer to my heart…I wanted to deliver as high a quality product as I could.” But New Yorkers aren’t the only ones responding positively to the film, and when "Anora" won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, earning a standing ovation that lasted for over seven minutes, Karagulian was elated.
“It’s in theaters? Here in New York?” said Ali El Haddad, who has managed the diner for over a decade and remembers when "Anora" shot at the diner last year. “They should at least give us free tickets,” he joked.
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