Aurora's Sunrise

Aurora Mardiganian was born into a large family in Eastern Anatolia. After her father was killed, her family was sent on to death marches where many of her relatives died. She was then sold into a Turkish harem from where she eventually manages to flee first to St.Petersburg in Russia and later to New York. There, her biography became some sort of a success and a book was written about it and a film was produced about the Armenian Genocide in which Mardiganian played the leading role.[2]

Inna Sahakyan began its development in 2014 but she had no prior experience in making an animated film.[1] Since 2015 the Zoryan Institute supported the realization of the film by signing an agreement with Bars Media.[3] The Zoryan Institute provided interviews with Aurora Mardiganian, recorded before Mardiganian's death.[4] The decision to make an animated documentary from her story, was motivated because animation enabled much more freedom in expression techniques.[1] Armenian colors and symbols were included in the film[1] and the paper cutout CG animation technique was used, where only a few frames per second are animated.[5] The film began to be produced in 2019, but the process was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and then also the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020.[1] At the time of the conflict the production was helped strongly by Lithuanians and the Germans.[6] The film is a co-production of Bars Media from Armenia, Broom Films from Lithuania and the Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion from Germany.[7]

The film premiered in June 2022 when it was shown at the Annecy International Animation Festival.[8] It premiered in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia in November.[6] 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.[6][5][9] Unlike Flee, it was not selected as a nominee for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

On October 23, 2023, the film will be broadcast on the American channel PBS through its POV television series.[10]

• Audience Award at Animation Is Film,[11] 2022
• Asia Pacific Screen Award, 2022, Australia — Best Animated Feature Film[12]
• Armenia's entry to the Academy Awards, 2022
• Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, 2022, Estonia – Baltic Competition, Award for the Best Baltic Producer for Co-production
• Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival 2022, Armenia, International Competition – Silver Apricot Winner
• MiradasDoc, 2023, Spain – Best Feature Length Documentary Award Winner[13]
• Movies that Matter Festival, 2023, Netherlands – Audience Award Winner[14][15]
• 21st International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, 2023, Switzerland, — Grand Prix de Geneve Winner[16]
• Europa! Europa Film Festival, 2023, Australia — Audience Choice Award Winner[17]

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 Rotten Tomatoes and Letterboxd.[18][19] Brian Tallerico, managing editor of RogerEbert.com, 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.'[20] The film made The New York Times "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.'[21]

• List of submissions to the 95th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
• List of Armenian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

• Official Website
• Aurora's Sunrise at IMDb
• Aurora's Sunrise at Rotten Tomatoes