Ararat Press Kit
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"As a Canadian-Armenian filmmaker," says Atom Egoyan, "I had always contemplated a film about the unique history of the Armenian people. While it was tempting to consider an adaptation of one of several books, I realized it was crucial for me to root the film in the present day. In this way, I could trace the effects of this historic event on the present generation. My goal was to make a film that would allow the viewer to experience the reality of horror in a spiritual sense, and not just present the obvious results of material and physical loss."
"Ararat is a meditation on the spiritual role of art in the process of struggling for meaning and redemption in the aftermath of genocide," he continues. "It is a deeply personal piece of work. While there are certain motifs that I have explored in my other films, this is the first time I have directly addressed the notion of historical consciousness on such a scale. What is destroyed in genocide are not only human lives, but the very imprint of humanity in us. The challenge was to harness the epic consequences of genocide with the intimate moments shared by contemporary characters. If history is in the telling, then life is in the making."
"The film-within-the-film revisits the historic events in an attempt to recreate the past," he explains, "while the contemporary story and its present day characters reconstruct their own histories, according to their own needs, memories and imaginations. As the historical epic recreates a conventional history out of the ruins of memory and the anecdotes and accounts of the survivors (in particular, Clarence Ussher's AN AMERICAN PHYSICIAN IN TURKEY, published in 1917), it provides an environment for all of my characters to come together, desperate to find the truth and hopeful of making sense of their lives through an understanding of the story the film tells."
This is a sentiment that resonates strongly with producer Robert Lantos. "The 20th century harbours many untold stories," says Lantos. "Among them are tragic events that affected millions of people and shaped the world we live in today. As filmmakers, we use our art form to tell these stories. Making a movie demands tremendous energy, commitment and risk. This is only worthwhile if the effort is on behalf of a film that has universal appeal and tells a story that must be told. While each film I produce does not have to be about an unresolved chapter in history, in the case of Ararat, however, this is very much the case."