FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact
Name: Megan Reid
Contact
Phone Number:
416-250-9807
Website:
www.zoryaninstitute.org
Zoryan Institute’s Oral History
Testimony of 1915 Armenian
Genocide Survivor Comes to Life on the Big Screen Through
Animated Documentary
: Aurora’s Sunrise
is a
historical animated documentary film about the life of Aurora
Mardiganian.
At only 14 years old, in 1915, Aurora faced the horrors of the
Armenian
Genocide. Within a year, witnessing the deaths of everyone in
her family,
Aurora had lost everything, and was sold into a Turkish harem.
With
extraordinary courage and luck, Aurora escaped to America, where
her story
became a sensation. The Zoryan Institute’s objective with this
film
is to bring its oral history testimonies to life on the big
screen,
through animated documentary films, to relay the stories of the
Genocide
survivors to the younger generations, and to empower young women
and girls to
represent their communities in the face of great adversity and
violence.
In 2015, during the year of the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian
Genocide, the Zoryan Institute, signed a partnership agreement
with Bars Media
of Armenia to produce the animated documentary based on its
testimony of Aurora
Mardiganian. This film is directed by Inna Sahakyan, and
is produced by Bars Media, led by Vardan Hovhannisyan, Gebrueder
Beetz Filmproduktion & Artbox Laisvalaikio Klubas, with the
financial
partnership of Eurimages, the Zoryan Institute Armenia & the
National
Cinema Center of Armenia, and with the contributions of the
Lithuanian Film
Center, ZDF/ARTE, Public TV Armenia, and LRT. Aurora’s
Sunrise was made
possible with the academic contribution of the Zoryan Institute
Armenia, based
on its oral history archives (filmed by the Zoryan Institute on
January 29,
1984).
The Zoryan Institute is thrilled that 40 years after the
launch of the
Armenian Genocide Oral History Project, which collected
testimonies across 4
continents, the great-grandchildren of survivors can now
experience life
before, during, and after the genocide through a film that
seamlessly blends
footage from the Zoryan Institute’s original live interview with
Aurora and the
brilliant animation of Bars Media and their German and
Lithuanian co-producers,
along with scenes from the 1919 silent film “Auction of Souls”
(film starring
Aurora Mardiganian, prepared by Near East Relief).
Great credit goes to the Zoryan Institute’s founders and
staff at the
time (early 1980’s), who contextualized and carried out the
Armenian Genocide
Oral History Project, collecting over 3000 hours of oral history
testimony from
over 780 survivors in their 70s to 90s. The project was a
significant financial
undertaking, with the audiovisual equipment alone costing the
equivalent to
nearly half a million USD in today’s dollars, and employing a
work force
to conduct interviews, in cities across Europe, the Middle East,
and North
America. A questionnaire with over 100 standardized questions
was utilized,
developed by a multidisciplinary ZI team of experts,
that allowed the
Institute to extract information on social, economic, political,
and cultural
practices before, during, and after the genocide to capture
commonalities and
patterns across the testimonies. Since launching its Armenian
Genocide
Oral History Project, the Institute has worked continuously and
systematically
to protect, digitize, and index its archival collection to
ensure the quality
of the footage is maintained and usable for films like Aurora’s Sunrise.
Now, 40 years later, the Institute’s dream of utilizing
the enormous
power of film to connect future generations with their universal
history and
raise awareness about the phenomenon of genocide has become a
reality with the
generous support of the Friends of the Zoryan Institute. In
addition to initial
cost of the Oral History testimonies, Aurora’s
Sunrise film had a budget of over USD $1,000,000.00.
This is only the beginning of making these invaluable
stories of
Armenian Genocide survivors known. Ongoing
transcription and
translation efforts currently underway in partnership with the
American
University of Armenia, will make these stories more accessible
to scholars,
filmmakers, authors, institutions, and schools around the globe
who wish to use
these stories, as source materials for education in edifying the
tolerance and
understanding needed in today’s world now more than ever.
The world premiere of Aurora’s Sunrise, is taking
place at
the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival in
France this
week! Annecy is a week-long global festival that brings together
the
biggest names in animation to celebrate creative and diverse
animation styles
and techniques.
Zoryan
Institute, a
non-profit organization, serves the cause of scholarship and
public awareness
relating to issues of universal human rights, genocide, and
diaspora-homeland
relations. This is done through the systematic continued
efforts of scholars
and specialists using a comparative and multidisciplinary
approach and in
accordance with the highest academic standards.
-- Megan Reid Deputy Executive Director International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies A Division of the Zoryan Institute 255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310 Toronto, ON, Canada M3B 3H9 Tel: 416-250-9807 E-mail: