''Aurora's Sunrise'' (

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

: ''Արշալույսի լուսաբացը'') is a 2022

adult An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...

animated documentary The animated documentary (also known as anidoc) is a moving image form that combines animation and documentary. This form should not be confused with documentaries about movie and TV animation history that feature excerpts. History The fi ...

film directed by Inna Sahakyan. It is based on the life of

Aurora Mardiganian Aurora (Arshaluys) Mardiganian (; January 12, 1901 – February 6, 1994) was an Armenian-American author, actress, and a survivor of the Armenian genocide. Biography Aurora Mardiganian was the daughter of a prosperous Armenian family living in ...

, an

Armenian Genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

survivor who after her escape became an actress in the United States. The film includes short scenes of the film ''Auction of Souls'', a silent film from 1919 on the Armenian Genocide, in which Aurora Mardiganian had the leading role.

Synopsis

The film is primarily animated, intercut with the remaining footage of ''Auction of Souls,'' an interview with Mardiganian, and other historical footage. Arshaluys Mardiganian is born into a wealthy Armenian family in

Eastern Anatolia The Eastern Anatolia region () is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ. It is bordered by the Black Sea Region and Georgia in th ...

in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Their neighbor, a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

shepherd, warns them of Armenians rounded up and killed by the Ottomans, but her father refuses to leave, but then he and her brother are drafted to fight in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Soon after, her family, along with thousands of other Armenians, are forced onto a

death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...

across the

Syrian desert The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...

, in which her mother and siblings all perish. Mardiganian is sold into

sexual slavery Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership rights, right over one or more people with the intent of Coercion, coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activities. This includ ...

, but she flees by diving into a river. She witnesses the family of her two-year-old cousin killed, and she escapes with the baby and they are taken in by a kind Kurdish family. She leaves the baby with the family, believing that he will be safer with them. She finds shelter at a monastery, which is then attacked, and she is captured and sold into a Turkish

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

. She flees back home to Armenia and finds her neighbor, the shepherd, who informs her that her uncle is alive, but very ill with

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, and is hiding in a village in the mountains. Once he recovers, he joins the resistance and leaves Mardiganian in Russian-controlled

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

. With the help of American missionaries, she leaves Armenia for

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, then

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, and then to

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in the United States. Armenian military leader

Andranik Ozanian Andranik Ozanian, commonly known as General Andranik or simply Andranik (25 February 186531 August 1927), was an Armenian military commander and statesman, the best known '' fedayi'' and a key figure of the Armenian national liberation movem ...

gives her the mission of informing the United States of what is happening to her people; she also hopes to find her brother who lives in the States. She is taken in by journalist Henry Leyford Gates and his novelist wife Eleanor Brown Gates, whom becomes her legal guardian. She writes and publishes an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

, entitled '' Ravished Armenia,'' under the Anglicized name of "Aurora." The book gains the attention of a director who wants to turn it into a film. The film, ''Auction of Souls,'' is made and used to raise funds for American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief. She tours the country promoting the film, but repeatedly reliving the trauma of the genocide takes a toll on her well-being, and despite her efforts, she never finds her brother. At a screening in Buffalo, she collapses from exhaustion. Gates sends her to live at a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

, until she receives a letter from her uncle revealing that her sister Arusyak was found alive in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, and has arranged to come to the United States. She finds new hope upon learning this, along with seeing the amount of Armenian orphans rescued by the Far East Relief. A ship arrives at the harbor, where Mardiganian awaits her sister. Text details that Mardiganian later became a wife and mother, and lived in obscurity until her death in 1994. Shortly after, the remaining footage of the once fully lost ''Auction of Souls'' was discovered. The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is named in honor of her. Since then, the United States has acknowledged the Armenian genocide while the government of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

continues to deny it. The film ends with a dedication to all genocide survivors, and a message to "never forget."

Production

Inna Sahakyan began its development in 2014 but she had no prior experience in making an animated film. Since 2015 the Zoryan Institute supported the realization of the film by signing an agreement with Bars Media. The Zoryan Institute provided interviews with Aurora Mardiganian, recorded before Mardiganian's death. The decision to make an animated documentary from her story, was motivated because animation enabled much more freedom in expression techniques. Armenian colors and symbols were included in the film and the paper cutout CG animation technique was used, where only a few frames per second are animated. The film began to be produced in 2019, but the process was disrupted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and then also the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020. At the time of the conflict the production was helped strongly by Lithuanians and the Germans. The film is a co-production of Bars Media from Armenia, Broom Films from Lithuania and the Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion from Germany.

Release

The film premiered in June 2022 when it was shown at the

Annecy International Animation Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

. It premiered in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, the capital of Armenia in November. It is Armenia's entry to the Academy Awards for International Feature Film in 2023, becoming the second animated documentary film to be nominated for that section after ''Flee'' from Denmark in 2022. Unlike ''Flee'', it was not selected as a nominee for the

Academy Award for Best International Feature Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

. On October 23, 2023, the film was scheduled to be broadcast on the American channel

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

through its '' POV'' television series.

Awards and recognition

* Audience Award at Animation Is Film, 2022 *

Asia Pacific Screen Award The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative overseen by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and headquartered in Australia, sometimes called "Asia-Pacific Oscars". In order to realise UNESCO's goals of promoting ...

, 2022, Australia — Best Animated Feature Film * Armenia's entry to the Academy Awards, 2022 *

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (BNFF), or PÖFF (Pimedate Ööde filmifestival), is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. PÖFF is one of the largest film festivals in Northern Europe. In 2014, it was ...

, 2022, Estonia – Baltic Competition
Award for the Best Baltic Producer for Co-production
*

Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival The ''Golden Apricot'' Yerevan International Film Festival (GAIFF; ) is an annual film festival held in Yerevan, Armenia. The festival was founded in 2004 with the co-operation of the "Golden Apricot" Fund for Cinema Development, the Armenian A ...

2022, Armenia, International Competition �
Silver Apricot Winner
* MiradasDoc, 2023, Spain – Best Feature Length Documentary Award Winner * Movies that Matter Festival, 2023, Netherlands – Audience Award Winner * 21st International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, 2023, Switzerland, — Grand Prix de Geneve Winner * Europa! Europa Film Festival, 2023, Australia — Audience Choice Award Winner Critical Response Since premiering in June 2022 the film has had mostly positive reviews from critics, currently holding a high score on film and television review-aggregation websites

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and

Letterboxd Letterboxd ( ) is an online social cataloging service for film founded (partially with investment company Tiny since 2023) and owned by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow in 2011, and headquartered in New Zealand. Members can rate and review ...

. Brian Tallerico, managing editor of

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

, awarded ''Aurora's Sunrise'' three and a half out of four stars, describing the film as 'a stunning hybrid that melds animation, interview footage with its subject, and a 1919 silent film once thought lost to history that’s about her life' and 'a reminder that film doesn't just record history, it can transport us through it.' The film made ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' "Critic's Pick" list prior to the start of its limited theatrical run in North America, with critic Teo Bugbee calling Aurora's Sunrise a 'standout documentary.'

References

External links

Official Website
* *
Aurora's Sunrise
' at