Armenia has been submitting films for the Best International Feature Film Oscar here and there since 2001, but never has the West Asian country been nominated. This year, that could change with Michael A. Goorjian’s hopeful fable of Soviet Armenia, “Amerikatsi.” For the first time, Armenia’s Oscar committee got their film on the shortlist of 15, thanks to a groundswell of support that started at the Woodstock Film Festival last year, and with the trumpeting of Canadian-Armenian filmmaker Atom Egoyan.
Many multi-hyphenates star in films they directed in service of getting the movie made at all. For actor and writer/director Goorjian, the Bay Area-born artist whose father was Armenian and whose paternal grandparents survived the Armenian genocide in World War I, it only made sense to play Charlie Bakhchinyan himself. In “Amerikatsi,” Charlie is an Armenian-American who repatriates to his homeland in 1948, when Armenia was in thrall to Soviet Communism.
Many multi-hyphenates star in films they directed in service of getting the movie made at all. For actor and writer/director Goorjian, the Bay Area-born artist whose father was Armenian and whose paternal grandparents survived the Armenian genocide in World War I, it only made sense to play Charlie Bakhchinyan himself. In “Amerikatsi,” Charlie is an Armenian-American who repatriates to his homeland in 1948, when Armenia was in thrall to Soviet Communism.
- 1/11/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Trine Dryholm Photo: Courtesy of Poff Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) has announced the juries for this year's edition as well as the rest of its line-up. Danish star Trine Dyrholm (Margrete - Queen Of The North) will head the official jury alongside composer John Altman (Life Of Brian) and directors, Xie Fei (The Women From The Lake of Scented Souls), Hilmar Oddson (Driving Mum) and Inna Sahakyan (Aurora's Sunrise).
In total, 185 feature films from 73 countries will be screened. Youth and Children sub-festival Just Film will show 51 feature films, 37 shorts and six animated films. PÖFF Shorts sub-festival will present 240 short films. Among them will be 51 world premieres and 24 international premieres.
There are five competition sections in total, with the First Feature jury headed by Nicolás Celis, the founder of the Mexico City based Pimienta Films, while the Critics' Picks competition will be headed by Dina...
In total, 185 feature films from 73 countries will be screened. Youth and Children sub-festival Just Film will show 51 feature films, 37 shorts and six animated films. PÖFF Shorts sub-festival will present 240 short films. Among them will be 51 world premieres and 24 international premieres.
There are five competition sections in total, with the First Feature jury headed by Nicolás Celis, the founder of the Mexico City based Pimienta Films, while the Critics' Picks competition will be headed by Dina...
- 10/27/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
On Monday, October 23, 2023, at 10:00 Pm, PBS will broadcast Season 36, Episode 11 of “Pov” titled “Aurora’s Sunrise.” This episode tells the remarkable true story of Aurora Mardiganian, who, at the age of 14, survived the Armenian Genocide.
Aurora’s journey is both tragic and inspiring. She managed to escape the horrors of the Armenian Genocide and found her way to New York. From there, her life took an unexpected turn as she rose to stardom in Hollywood.
This episode of “Pov” is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity. Aurora’s story is a compelling one, showing the strength and determination of a young girl who overcame extraordinary challenges.
If you’re interested in powerful real-life stories and the triumph of the human spirit, “Aurora’s Sunrise” is a must-watch. Tune in on the specified date and time to witness this incredible tale of survival and success.
Aurora’s journey is both tragic and inspiring. She managed to escape the horrors of the Armenian Genocide and found her way to New York. From there, her life took an unexpected turn as she rose to stardom in Hollywood.
This episode of “Pov” is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity. Aurora’s story is a compelling one, showing the strength and determination of a young girl who overcame extraordinary challenges.
If you’re interested in powerful real-life stories and the triumph of the human spirit, “Aurora’s Sunrise” is a must-watch. Tune in on the specified date and time to witness this incredible tale of survival and success.
- 10/16/2023
- by Jules Byrd
- TV Everyday
Nonprofit media company Shine Global celebrated its second annual Children’s Resilience in Film Awards at Paramount Studios on Tuesday night. Recognizing films and filmmakers around the world that highlight the resilience and strength of children in the face of adversities such as poverty, violence, illness and discrimination, the awards honored documentary Name Me Lawand with the event’s grand prize of $15,000.
Directed by Edward Lovelace, Name Me Lawand follows a deaf Kurdish boy’s emotional journey toward discovering how to express himself using British Sign Language, depicting the power of communication and community.
“This award is for Lawand — for his bravery, his determination in getting his message out to the world. His message is a beautiful one, which guided the entire filmmaking process,” said Lovelace in a written acceptance speech read by cinematographer Lol Crawley. “We as filmmakers have learned so much just by watching and listening to these...
Directed by Edward Lovelace, Name Me Lawand follows a deaf Kurdish boy’s emotional journey toward discovering how to express himself using British Sign Language, depicting the power of communication and community.
“This award is for Lawand — for his bravery, his determination in getting his message out to the world. His message is a beautiful one, which guided the entire filmmaking process,” said Lovelace in a written acceptance speech read by cinematographer Lol Crawley. “We as filmmakers have learned so much just by watching and listening to these...
- 10/4/2023
- by Sydney Odman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As the Academy Awards near — yes, it’s September but we all know that means we are officially in awards season — countries all over the world have begun to name their official submissions for the Best International Feature Film Oscar. Now, we would like to showcase the trailer for Armenia’s selection last year, the animated documentary Aurora’s Sunrise.
As per the official press release, Aurora’s Sunrise has the following synopsis: “In 1915, as WWI raged on, the Ottoman Empire singled out its entire Armenian population for destruction. Only 14 years old at the time, Aurora Mardiganian’s story was tragically relatable. Forced onto a death march towards the Syrian desert, she lost her entire family before being kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. Four years later, through luck and extraordinary courage, she escaped to New York, where her story became a media sensation.”
Armenia has yet to have a movie nominated...
As per the official press release, Aurora’s Sunrise has the following synopsis: “In 1915, as WWI raged on, the Ottoman Empire singled out its entire Armenian population for destruction. Only 14 years old at the time, Aurora Mardiganian’s story was tragically relatable. Forced onto a death march towards the Syrian desert, she lost her entire family before being kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. Four years later, through luck and extraordinary courage, she escaped to New York, where her story became a media sensation.”
Armenia has yet to have a movie nominated...
- 9/21/2023
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
The 31st edition of London’s Raindance Film Festival will open with the U.K. premiere of British actor Jack Huston’s directorial debut “Day of the Fight.”
The film comes to Raindance fresh off its Venice debut, where Huston was honored by Variety as a breakthrough director.
The story of a once-renowned boxer who takes a redemptive journey through his past and present on the day of his first fight since he left prison stars Michael Pitt alongside a cast including Ron Perlman, Joe Pesci, and a cameo from Steve Buscemi.
The U.K. premiere of Isabel Coixet’s “Un Amor” will close the festival after it bows at San Sebastian. Based on Sara Mesa’s bestselling novel, Laia Costa plays a young woman who escapes her stressful life in the city and relocates to rural Spain. When she accepts a disturbing sexual proposal, it gives rise to an all-consuming and obsessive passion.
The film comes to Raindance fresh off its Venice debut, where Huston was honored by Variety as a breakthrough director.
The story of a once-renowned boxer who takes a redemptive journey through his past and present on the day of his first fight since he left prison stars Michael Pitt alongside a cast including Ron Perlman, Joe Pesci, and a cameo from Steve Buscemi.
The U.K. premiere of Isabel Coixet’s “Un Amor” will close the festival after it bows at San Sebastian. Based on Sara Mesa’s bestselling novel, Laia Costa plays a young woman who escapes her stressful life in the city and relocates to rural Spain. When she accepts a disturbing sexual proposal, it gives rise to an all-consuming and obsessive passion.
- 9/13/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Location, Location, Location
Entertainment, sports and brand licensing firms WildBrain Cplg and WildBrain Ltd. have brokered location-based entertainment (Lbe) deals on behalf of Peanuts Worldwide for “Peanuts,” “Teletubbies” and “In the Night Garden” with China’s Max-Matching Entertainments. These are expected to lead to the opening of family entertainment centers and IP-themed hotel rooms for each brand in Beijing, in Zhongshan City, Guangdong and a third city yet to be announced. These will roll out over the next five years.
The moves come at a time when WildBrain Cplg is expanding its Asia-focused teams. These include the Los Angeles-based veteran licensing executive, Kevin Suh who is former president of themed entertainment & consumer products at Paramount Pictures. Suh was also a senior executive at the Motion Picture Association of America and a lawyer in California. Shanghai-based Evi Sari joins as VP of Lbe in Apac and the Gcc. She was previously...
Entertainment, sports and brand licensing firms WildBrain Cplg and WildBrain Ltd. have brokered location-based entertainment (Lbe) deals on behalf of Peanuts Worldwide for “Peanuts,” “Teletubbies” and “In the Night Garden” with China’s Max-Matching Entertainments. These are expected to lead to the opening of family entertainment centers and IP-themed hotel rooms for each brand in Beijing, in Zhongshan City, Guangdong and a third city yet to be announced. These will roll out over the next five years.
The moves come at a time when WildBrain Cplg is expanding its Asia-focused teams. These include the Los Angeles-based veteran licensing executive, Kevin Suh who is former president of themed entertainment & consumer products at Paramount Pictures. Suh was also a senior executive at the Motion Picture Association of America and a lawyer in California. Shanghai-based Evi Sari joins as VP of Lbe in Apac and the Gcc. She was previously...
- 9/7/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
"Her story shouldn't be forgotten." Two official trailers are available for this indie documentary film titled Aurora's Sunrise, which will be out in select US theaters in August. Starting on Aug. 11 in NY, Aug. 18 in LA, 9/1 in Toronto, with other cities across the US / Canada later on. A film about the incredible true story of how a fourteen-year-old girl narrowly escaped the slaughter of the Armenian Genocide and embarked upon an odyssey that took her to the heights of Hollywood stardom. The film examines how this survivor became a silent movie star: Aurora Mardiganian's odyssey is almost unreal. After losing her family, escaping slavery, and enduring Hollywood greed – she journeys far to tell the world of the Armenian Genocide. But even then her story does come to an end with much joy. Aurora's Sunrise is an acclaimed animated doc, similar to the award-winning doc Flee, and was submitted to the...
- 7/25/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Armenia’s submission to the Oscars, animated feature “Aurora’s Sunrise,” took home the top Jury Award for best documentary at the MiradasDoc Festival, Spain’s foremost documentary film festival, which wrapped its 16th edition on Feb 4.
The festival closed on a strong note, reaffirming its relevance where interest in and demand for documentaries have only grown in strength, thanks largely to wider exposure and distribution on streamers.
Directed by Inna Sahakyan, the Armenian-German-Lithuanian co-production tells the true harrowing tale of Aurora, a survivor of the 1915 Armenian genocide who lost her family, fled slavery and later endured the grinding publicity machine of Hollywood. Doc had its world premiere at Annecy 2022.
Announcing their choice, the jury made up of Hicham Falah, Jane Mote and Ricardo Acosta, described “Aurora’s Sunrise” as “a convincing story elegantly told, through archives, animation and fiction, about a little-known genocide that sheds light and awareness on today’s political tensions and challenges.
The festival closed on a strong note, reaffirming its relevance where interest in and demand for documentaries have only grown in strength, thanks largely to wider exposure and distribution on streamers.
Directed by Inna Sahakyan, the Armenian-German-Lithuanian co-production tells the true harrowing tale of Aurora, a survivor of the 1915 Armenian genocide who lost her family, fled slavery and later endured the grinding publicity machine of Hollywood. Doc had its world premiere at Annecy 2022.
Announcing their choice, the jury made up of Hicham Falah, Jane Mote and Ricardo Acosta, described “Aurora’s Sunrise” as “a convincing story elegantly told, through archives, animation and fiction, about a little-known genocide that sheds light and awareness on today’s political tensions and challenges.
- 2/5/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Armenia’s ’s Oscar© 2023 Entry for Best International Feature: ‘Aurora’s Sunrise’ directed by Inna SahakyanBased on the true story of Aurora Mardiganian‘Aurora’s Sunrise’ is a surprising film on many levels. It is an historical artifact on its own. A story within a story, both of which are highly relevent today, the film ought to make it to the Oscar shortlist if not all the way to the nomination, where competition is very strong this year.
Most remarkable are the closing words of the protagonist, Aurora Mardiganian who was in her 90s when the interview with her was recorded. She was 14 at the time of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Aurora passed away in 1994. The Genocide seems so long ago and yet is vividly alive as a festering wound today.
Aurora Mardiganian states with utter conviction that if the world had stood up to the Turks and acted to condemn and end the Armenian Genocide, then Hitler (who himself said, « who will ever remember the Armenians ? » would not have been so bold as to perpetuate the genocide against the Jews. Some might say, as they do about stories of the Holocaust, « enough already » but as we see the same story repeated around the world today, in Russian aggression against Ukraine, Chinese against Uighers, Hindus of India against Muslims, Israel against Palestine, Darfur : there cannot be enough reminding the world of atrocities which need to be addressed and taken responsibility for if anyone truly wants to redeem humankind’s humanity. Without admitting and facing the past misdeeds, we cannot progress and are doomed to repetition until we bring on our own end.
Aurora Mardiganian and the original poster
If we do not say no to Russia or to China or ; if we do not acknowledge our own nation’s indigenous genocide and massive kidnapping of Africans, we are endangering our own selves to future genocides and we will never get out of the mess we are finding ourselves in today which includes mass shootings and fentanyl poisoning which is killing our young adult population.
In 1915, as WWI raged, the Ottoman Empire singled out its entire Armenian population for extermination. Only 14 years old at the time, Aurora lost everything during the horror and was forced onto a death march towards the Syrian desert. She lost her entire family before being sold into sexual slavery, from which she escaped. Two years later, through luck and extraordinary courage, she reached New York, where her story became a media sensation.
View the trailer Here
With little regard for the toll it would take on the traumatized teenager, one of the founding fathers of Hollywood, producer William Selig convinced Aurora that by bringing her story to the silver screen she would be able to help other survivors of the genocide.
And so Aurora relived the unbearable, and became the most improbable starlet of the silent era in Auction of Souls, a runaway success, breaking box office and fundraising campaign records. After the film’s release, one out of every three American families reportedly contributed to the campaign to help the victims of the genocide. With the help of the film, a campaign by the aid group Near East Relief raised $116 million and saved the lives of over 132,000 orphaned survivors. The number of their descendants are in the millions.
During his time as Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau witnessed first-hand the atrocities committed against Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians at the hands of the Ottoman government. However, expanding Turkish lobbying in Congress thwarted President Wilson’s aim to aid Armenia. Congress’s action caused any mention of the Genocide to cease. All copies of Auction of Souls throughout the world were believed to be lost. The diappearance of all the prints may be in part because they were fragile, made of nitrate, but there is also conjecture that their disappearnce could be due to a concerted effort initiated by the Turkish government to destroy them. However, in 1994, several months after Aurora’s death, 18 minutes, fragments of Auction of Souls were rediscovered.
The story of this feature film compelled me to interview the film’s director Inna Sahakyan.
Director Inna Sahakyan
To begin, I am curious to know if you are living in Armenia today ?
Currently, for the Award campaign, I am deviding my time between Armenia and Los Angeles.
Was this filmed here or there?
It was filmed in Armenia. I am part of a small production company and we create the material we work on. We internationally co-produced several award winning feature documentaries in the past, and when I found the idea for this film while researching the Genocide, it became a much larger story.
The Armenian genocide is the enduring pain of my nation. It is my family’s pain, and it is my own pain. Though I always wanted to, I was wary of making a film about it. I was afraid to be overly sentimental, overly emotional. I was afraid of telling stories that only confirmed Armenians as a nation of victims with no historical agency and nothing but tragedy running through our veins.
That is, until I stumbled upon an interview with Aurora Mardiganian while going through archival interviews with Armenian Genocide survivors at the Zoryan Institute. I was mesmerized the first time I watched it. While painful to hear, the elderly woman appeared to grow more and more youthful as she spoke. Through her words and expressions, an incredible but ordinary heroism shone: this woman survived a genocide but refused to be a victim. She refused to be reduced to an object of history. This is the character I wanted to build in Aurora’s Sunrise, resilient, powerful and heartwarming all at once.
The archival video interviews with Aurora, filmed by the Zoryan Institute with two additional interviews from the Armenian Film Foundation, comprise a major medium of Aurora’s Sunrise. The majority of the film’s narration was built from the stories she told in these interviews.
My mission was to create a film taking audiences beyond the cold facts of the genocide, so I decided on a dynamic combination of mediums: animation, archival interviews with Aurora Mardiganian, and digitally-restored footage from Aurora’s 1919 film Auction of Souls.
What have you done before this ?
I have directed and produced feature-length documentaries, documentary series, and shorts, for over fifteen years. Following my feature-length debut co-directing the award-winning Armenia’s Last Tightrope Dancer in 2010, I directed Mel and Aurora’s Sunrise, and completed both international co-productions in 2022.
For this larger film I have to credit the great team I worked with the editor and live action scenes director Ruben Ghazaryan, art director Tigran Arakelyan among others.
Aurora’s Sunrise is the first-ever animated feature created by Bars Media, and the first-ever animated documentary film made in Armenia — and making the film was no simple task.
I had never worked with a fiction script or animation so there was a lot new for me.
On the writing too I needed help because I did not want it to be overly emotional or overly subjective. I needed a critical eye and for that I am so grarteful to my cowriter Kerstin Meyer-Beetz who is part of the German team who coproduced it, the Beetz Brothers, and to the cowriter Peter Liakhov.
How did it develop into an Armenian-German-Lithuanian coproduction ?
It is very difficult for Armenia, a very small country with a very small national support system, to raise money for production. But it was very important that we have the support of National Cinema Center of Armenia to legitimize our efforts to raise co-production funds. Each country brings its own money and funds and its own artistic structure. Gebruder Beetz in Germany had not worked with us previously, but we are from the same documentary « tribe », and the film’s producer knew them from Documentary Campus Masterschool so they decided to work together. Zdf came on board. I mentioned the imporance of cowriting with Kerstin Meyer-Beetz.
The music component with original music by the celebrated Christine Aufderhaar (also from Germany) with additional Armenian music from Andranik Berberyan and Garegin Arakelyan, was the sinew that connected the film into a moving and elegant whole.
Lithuania came in later with producers Justė Michailinaitė and Kestutis Drazdauskas and animation producer Meinardas Valkevicius, the key animator Sarunas Vystartas, Gediminas Skyrius the lead illustrator and storyboard designer, Rimas Valeikis the lead character designer and we had great team of Lithuanian illustrators working with them. The international partnership with Lithuania was crucial. With the Armenian team taking a lead in art direction, cooperation with the Lithuanian team helped create something both new but also deeply Armenian.The artistic style of animation came out of the Lithuanian and Armenian artists working together on linear solutions, color, etc trying to find a unique art style which eveolved.
Eurimages came in as well and it was the first time that Armenia was the majority producer with this pan-European funding body. And important to note that this was by a unanimous support of all its voting members.
Every character had documentary material behnd them. The archival research came from fundraising and small grants, awards and lots of ptiching workhshops. Each producing country has its own distribution there set up, Gegruder Beetz will distribute in Germany. International sales are by Cat and Docs. In Armenia, it was first released in the Golden Apricot Film Festival, the baiggest festival in the area where it won the Silver apricot, the second prize in the Internatioal Compeititon and it was released in cinemas from November 3. It was supposed to be for two weeks, but it is so popular than its run has been extending and it is stilll playing in one of the theaters.
Did Waltz with Bashir influence your use of animation ?
Absolutely. It was the first animated documentary I saw, but then I followed all of them.
The majority of the film’s runtime is animation. Animation is a very powerful medium for portraying something as difficult as trauma. It explicitly portrays the representation of an event and not the event itself, bridges this distance, and allows for the viewer to be deeply engaged with the narrative and thematic core of the story. At the same time, animation is medium that can communicate not only the colors of the story, but even its smells, tastes, and textures. It becomes the soul of the film, and lets Aurora’s now forgotten story become vivid again. It goes further than reproducing the events: it interprets them, like our brain does with memories, and allows symbols and motifs to speak loudly instead of drowning them in the utter realism of hundreds of details.
Of course, the danger of animation is that it may produce a sense of unreality — and this is why it is so crucial that the film also features archival footage of the real Aurora and that of her film: to let the woman and her work speak for itself and to remind the audience that all this really did happen.
How long did it take you to make this film ?
The overall production was about seven years out of which about three yearswere spent in the development/script stage.
Five years into the making of Aurora’s Sunrise production of the film hit a major obstacle. In September 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic was in full swing — which had already put production, especially animation into a precarious position — a new conflict erupted over the landlocked region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been disputed territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the collapse of the Ussr.
For Armenia, over forty-four days of fighting, it was nothing less than a state of total war. By the time a ceasefire was signed on 10 November 2020, Armenia, a tiny country of only 3 million, had lost more soldiers per capita than the United States did in WWII.
During the fighting, all of the men on Bars Media’s staff were on the front lines, some under direct fire. The strain of the war put the entire project in jeopardy, and the studio itself nearly shut down. But thanks to the perseverance of the German and Lithuanian co-producers the project kept moving forward.
Are you happy with the result ?
I am very content. I would still make changes. One could always do more but one must decide at some point to stop, Overall I am satisfield — we did tremendous work.
With a blend of vivid animation, interviews with Aurora herself, and 18 minutes of surviving footage from the lost silent epic, Aurora’s Sunrise revives a forgotten story of survival.
Above all, I believe this film is important because in Aurora Mardiganian’s story we see a brave young Armenian woman who, despite enduring genocide, hunger, slavery, and exploitation, refused to be a victim. She refused to be swept away by the tides of history. It’s a timeless story of the resilience of the human spirit, the power of hope, and the importance of never giving up. In our evermore uncertain world, this kind of story should be told.
Screenplay by Inna Sahakyan, Kerstin Meyer-Beetz, Peter Liakhov
Produced by Vardan Hovhannisyan, Christian Beetz, Justė Michailinaitė, Kęstutis Drazdauskas, Eric Esrailian (Bars Media, Artbox Laisvalaikio Klubas, Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion)
The Zoryan Institute, non-profit and charity provided a crucial level of research and financial support in the making of this production and this film is based on its Oral History Archive.
Featuring Aurora (Arshaluys) Mardiganian as herself (archival documentary footage), Anzhelika Hakobyan as Aurora, Arpi Petrossian as the voice of Aurora (animation)
Art Director: Tigran Arakelyan
Editor & Live Action Director: Ruben Ghazaryan
Original Music: Christine Aufderhaar, Additional Music: Andranik Berberyan, Garegin Arakelyan
Lead Illustrator: Gediminas Skyrius
Armenian with English subtitles
Run Time: 96 minutes
* Best Baltic co-production film at Tallinn’s Black Nights Flim Festival 2022
*Asia Pacific Screen Award Winner — Best Animated Film 2022
*Animation is Film- Audience Award Winner 2022
*World Premiere, Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2022, in competition
*Winner Silver Apricot- Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival 2022
* Official Selection- Fantoche International Animation Film Festival 2022,
*Official Selection- Doclisboa 2022, From the Earth to the Moon section
*Official Selection- Film Fest Hamburg 2022, Kaleidoskop section, in competition
*North American Premiere, Animation is Film Festival 2022, in competition
*Official Selection- Asian World Film 2022, in competition
*Official Selection- IDFA 2022, Best of Fests
*Official Selection — Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2022, in Baltic competition...
Most remarkable are the closing words of the protagonist, Aurora Mardiganian who was in her 90s when the interview with her was recorded. She was 14 at the time of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Aurora passed away in 1994. The Genocide seems so long ago and yet is vividly alive as a festering wound today.
Aurora Mardiganian states with utter conviction that if the world had stood up to the Turks and acted to condemn and end the Armenian Genocide, then Hitler (who himself said, « who will ever remember the Armenians ? » would not have been so bold as to perpetuate the genocide against the Jews. Some might say, as they do about stories of the Holocaust, « enough already » but as we see the same story repeated around the world today, in Russian aggression against Ukraine, Chinese against Uighers, Hindus of India against Muslims, Israel against Palestine, Darfur : there cannot be enough reminding the world of atrocities which need to be addressed and taken responsibility for if anyone truly wants to redeem humankind’s humanity. Without admitting and facing the past misdeeds, we cannot progress and are doomed to repetition until we bring on our own end.
Aurora Mardiganian and the original poster
If we do not say no to Russia or to China or ; if we do not acknowledge our own nation’s indigenous genocide and massive kidnapping of Africans, we are endangering our own selves to future genocides and we will never get out of the mess we are finding ourselves in today which includes mass shootings and fentanyl poisoning which is killing our young adult population.
In 1915, as WWI raged, the Ottoman Empire singled out its entire Armenian population for extermination. Only 14 years old at the time, Aurora lost everything during the horror and was forced onto a death march towards the Syrian desert. She lost her entire family before being sold into sexual slavery, from which she escaped. Two years later, through luck and extraordinary courage, she reached New York, where her story became a media sensation.
View the trailer Here
With little regard for the toll it would take on the traumatized teenager, one of the founding fathers of Hollywood, producer William Selig convinced Aurora that by bringing her story to the silver screen she would be able to help other survivors of the genocide.
And so Aurora relived the unbearable, and became the most improbable starlet of the silent era in Auction of Souls, a runaway success, breaking box office and fundraising campaign records. After the film’s release, one out of every three American families reportedly contributed to the campaign to help the victims of the genocide. With the help of the film, a campaign by the aid group Near East Relief raised $116 million and saved the lives of over 132,000 orphaned survivors. The number of their descendants are in the millions.
During his time as Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau witnessed first-hand the atrocities committed against Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians at the hands of the Ottoman government. However, expanding Turkish lobbying in Congress thwarted President Wilson’s aim to aid Armenia. Congress’s action caused any mention of the Genocide to cease. All copies of Auction of Souls throughout the world were believed to be lost. The diappearance of all the prints may be in part because they were fragile, made of nitrate, but there is also conjecture that their disappearnce could be due to a concerted effort initiated by the Turkish government to destroy them. However, in 1994, several months after Aurora’s death, 18 minutes, fragments of Auction of Souls were rediscovered.
The story of this feature film compelled me to interview the film’s director Inna Sahakyan.
Director Inna Sahakyan
To begin, I am curious to know if you are living in Armenia today ?
Currently, for the Award campaign, I am deviding my time between Armenia and Los Angeles.
Was this filmed here or there?
It was filmed in Armenia. I am part of a small production company and we create the material we work on. We internationally co-produced several award winning feature documentaries in the past, and when I found the idea for this film while researching the Genocide, it became a much larger story.
The Armenian genocide is the enduring pain of my nation. It is my family’s pain, and it is my own pain. Though I always wanted to, I was wary of making a film about it. I was afraid to be overly sentimental, overly emotional. I was afraid of telling stories that only confirmed Armenians as a nation of victims with no historical agency and nothing but tragedy running through our veins.
That is, until I stumbled upon an interview with Aurora Mardiganian while going through archival interviews with Armenian Genocide survivors at the Zoryan Institute. I was mesmerized the first time I watched it. While painful to hear, the elderly woman appeared to grow more and more youthful as she spoke. Through her words and expressions, an incredible but ordinary heroism shone: this woman survived a genocide but refused to be a victim. She refused to be reduced to an object of history. This is the character I wanted to build in Aurora’s Sunrise, resilient, powerful and heartwarming all at once.
The archival video interviews with Aurora, filmed by the Zoryan Institute with two additional interviews from the Armenian Film Foundation, comprise a major medium of Aurora’s Sunrise. The majority of the film’s narration was built from the stories she told in these interviews.
My mission was to create a film taking audiences beyond the cold facts of the genocide, so I decided on a dynamic combination of mediums: animation, archival interviews with Aurora Mardiganian, and digitally-restored footage from Aurora’s 1919 film Auction of Souls.
What have you done before this ?
I have directed and produced feature-length documentaries, documentary series, and shorts, for over fifteen years. Following my feature-length debut co-directing the award-winning Armenia’s Last Tightrope Dancer in 2010, I directed Mel and Aurora’s Sunrise, and completed both international co-productions in 2022.
For this larger film I have to credit the great team I worked with the editor and live action scenes director Ruben Ghazaryan, art director Tigran Arakelyan among others.
Aurora’s Sunrise is the first-ever animated feature created by Bars Media, and the first-ever animated documentary film made in Armenia — and making the film was no simple task.
I had never worked with a fiction script or animation so there was a lot new for me.
On the writing too I needed help because I did not want it to be overly emotional or overly subjective. I needed a critical eye and for that I am so grarteful to my cowriter Kerstin Meyer-Beetz who is part of the German team who coproduced it, the Beetz Brothers, and to the cowriter Peter Liakhov.
How did it develop into an Armenian-German-Lithuanian coproduction ?
It is very difficult for Armenia, a very small country with a very small national support system, to raise money for production. But it was very important that we have the support of National Cinema Center of Armenia to legitimize our efforts to raise co-production funds. Each country brings its own money and funds and its own artistic structure. Gebruder Beetz in Germany had not worked with us previously, but we are from the same documentary « tribe », and the film’s producer knew them from Documentary Campus Masterschool so they decided to work together. Zdf came on board. I mentioned the imporance of cowriting with Kerstin Meyer-Beetz.
The music component with original music by the celebrated Christine Aufderhaar (also from Germany) with additional Armenian music from Andranik Berberyan and Garegin Arakelyan, was the sinew that connected the film into a moving and elegant whole.
Lithuania came in later with producers Justė Michailinaitė and Kestutis Drazdauskas and animation producer Meinardas Valkevicius, the key animator Sarunas Vystartas, Gediminas Skyrius the lead illustrator and storyboard designer, Rimas Valeikis the lead character designer and we had great team of Lithuanian illustrators working with them. The international partnership with Lithuania was crucial. With the Armenian team taking a lead in art direction, cooperation with the Lithuanian team helped create something both new but also deeply Armenian.The artistic style of animation came out of the Lithuanian and Armenian artists working together on linear solutions, color, etc trying to find a unique art style which eveolved.
Eurimages came in as well and it was the first time that Armenia was the majority producer with this pan-European funding body. And important to note that this was by a unanimous support of all its voting members.
Every character had documentary material behnd them. The archival research came from fundraising and small grants, awards and lots of ptiching workhshops. Each producing country has its own distribution there set up, Gegruder Beetz will distribute in Germany. International sales are by Cat and Docs. In Armenia, it was first released in the Golden Apricot Film Festival, the baiggest festival in the area where it won the Silver apricot, the second prize in the Internatioal Compeititon and it was released in cinemas from November 3. It was supposed to be for two weeks, but it is so popular than its run has been extending and it is stilll playing in one of the theaters.
Did Waltz with Bashir influence your use of animation ?
Absolutely. It was the first animated documentary I saw, but then I followed all of them.
The majority of the film’s runtime is animation. Animation is a very powerful medium for portraying something as difficult as trauma. It explicitly portrays the representation of an event and not the event itself, bridges this distance, and allows for the viewer to be deeply engaged with the narrative and thematic core of the story. At the same time, animation is medium that can communicate not only the colors of the story, but even its smells, tastes, and textures. It becomes the soul of the film, and lets Aurora’s now forgotten story become vivid again. It goes further than reproducing the events: it interprets them, like our brain does with memories, and allows symbols and motifs to speak loudly instead of drowning them in the utter realism of hundreds of details.
Of course, the danger of animation is that it may produce a sense of unreality — and this is why it is so crucial that the film also features archival footage of the real Aurora and that of her film: to let the woman and her work speak for itself and to remind the audience that all this really did happen.
How long did it take you to make this film ?
The overall production was about seven years out of which about three yearswere spent in the development/script stage.
Five years into the making of Aurora’s Sunrise production of the film hit a major obstacle. In September 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic was in full swing — which had already put production, especially animation into a precarious position — a new conflict erupted over the landlocked region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been disputed territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the collapse of the Ussr.
For Armenia, over forty-four days of fighting, it was nothing less than a state of total war. By the time a ceasefire was signed on 10 November 2020, Armenia, a tiny country of only 3 million, had lost more soldiers per capita than the United States did in WWII.
During the fighting, all of the men on Bars Media’s staff were on the front lines, some under direct fire. The strain of the war put the entire project in jeopardy, and the studio itself nearly shut down. But thanks to the perseverance of the German and Lithuanian co-producers the project kept moving forward.
Are you happy with the result ?
I am very content. I would still make changes. One could always do more but one must decide at some point to stop, Overall I am satisfield — we did tremendous work.
With a blend of vivid animation, interviews with Aurora herself, and 18 minutes of surviving footage from the lost silent epic, Aurora’s Sunrise revives a forgotten story of survival.
Above all, I believe this film is important because in Aurora Mardiganian’s story we see a brave young Armenian woman who, despite enduring genocide, hunger, slavery, and exploitation, refused to be a victim. She refused to be swept away by the tides of history. It’s a timeless story of the resilience of the human spirit, the power of hope, and the importance of never giving up. In our evermore uncertain world, this kind of story should be told.
Screenplay by Inna Sahakyan, Kerstin Meyer-Beetz, Peter Liakhov
Produced by Vardan Hovhannisyan, Christian Beetz, Justė Michailinaitė, Kęstutis Drazdauskas, Eric Esrailian (Bars Media, Artbox Laisvalaikio Klubas, Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion)
The Zoryan Institute, non-profit and charity provided a crucial level of research and financial support in the making of this production and this film is based on its Oral History Archive.
Featuring Aurora (Arshaluys) Mardiganian as herself (archival documentary footage), Anzhelika Hakobyan as Aurora, Arpi Petrossian as the voice of Aurora (animation)
Art Director: Tigran Arakelyan
Editor & Live Action Director: Ruben Ghazaryan
Original Music: Christine Aufderhaar, Additional Music: Andranik Berberyan, Garegin Arakelyan
Lead Illustrator: Gediminas Skyrius
Armenian with English subtitles
Run Time: 96 minutes
* Best Baltic co-production film at Tallinn’s Black Nights Flim Festival 2022
*Asia Pacific Screen Award Winner — Best Animated Film 2022
*Animation is Film- Audience Award Winner 2022
*World Premiere, Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2022, in competition
*Winner Silver Apricot- Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival 2022
* Official Selection- Fantoche International Animation Film Festival 2022,
*Official Selection- Doclisboa 2022, From the Earth to the Moon section
*Official Selection- Film Fest Hamburg 2022, Kaleidoskop section, in competition
*North American Premiere, Animation is Film Festival 2022, in competition
*Official Selection- Asian World Film 2022, in competition
*Official Selection- IDFA 2022, Best of Fests
*Official Selection — Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2022, in Baltic competition...
- 12/18/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.