Watertown’s Shant Cimenian shared his tale of living with an “invisible disease” in his book “My Life, My Victory,” with hopes that it would show others with similar conditions would not feel alone. Now, he plans to turn the book into a film, or even two films.
Cimenian was born with Familial Mediterranean fever, or FMF, a disease that is found in people whose descendants are from that region, according to the National Institutes of Health. When an attack occurs, it can cause fever, and pains in the abdomen, lungs, and joints. When Cimenian has an episode, he said it can be two to three days of constant pain. He was just 9 months old when he had his first episode related to FMF.
In 2023, when he was 21, Cimenian completed his book and it has caught attention of many news outlets.
“Since its release, the book has gained incredible traction, being featured on major platforms such as The New York Times, Yahoo Finance, Benzinga, Business Insider, and many others worldwide,” Cimenian said. “Building on this momentum, we are now taking My Life, My Victory to the big screen!”
Cimenian is working on developing both a documentary and a feature film, directed by award-winning filmmakers David Mackenzie and Aram Torosyan.
Torosyan sent a letter to Cimenian confirming his interest in working on the film, which reads, in part, “We believe the touching and emotional story of Mr. Cimenian is very important to be told for wider number of people all over the world and will help many people in their individual lives.”
Cimenian said the next step is to raise money to bring the vision to life.
“Right now, we’re focused on securing funding for the documentary. As part of that effort, we’ve even launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise awareness and gather support,” he said. “The documentary will be televised nationwide, and we’re excited to bring this story to life.”
Find out more on Cimenian’s GoFundMe page by clicking here.