• Director: Atom Egoyan
  • Release Year: 2002
  • Production Country: Canada, France
  • Language: English, Armenian, French, German, Turkish

Ararát (Ararat)

Description

An Armenian director trying to make a film about the Armenian Genocide struggles with all the people involved: Turkish actors who prefer to forget the "troublesome" history, Armenian actors who suddenly recall painful family histories, and an over-zealous customs official who is superimposing his own struggles with his son's homosexuality onto the film's production. In the end, it's hard to say what the historical truth even is and, even if there is one, which historical truth will prevail in the film.

Themes

Holocaust (Armenian), Ottoman Empire (1299 – 1922), World War I (1914 – 1918), Siege of Van "Van Resistance" (19 April – 17 May 1915), Resistance, Religion, Islam, Christianity, Refugees, Nationalism, Balkans, Forced relocations, Personal violence, Survivors, Death camps, Public History, Public memory, Death camps, Primary sources, Oral history, Young Turks, Historiography, Political uses of film, Homosexuality, Diaspora, Family relationships, Banned films