American Documentary

Overview

New York, N.Y. — August 22, 2023 — Multi Emmy® Awards and Peabody Award winning series POV recounts the harrowing tale of Aurora, a survivor of the 1915 Armenian genocide, who lost her family, fled slavery and after escaping to America becomes the face of a massive humanitarian campaign, in the semi-animated documentary, Aurora’s Sunrise. Based on the real-life story of Arshaluys (aka Aurora) Mardiganian, director Inna Sahakyan’s film focuses on five years of her life; on the events shortly before-, during and after the genocide. Aurora’s Sunrise, an Armenian-German-Lithuanian co-production, is the first-ever animated documentary film made in Armenia, and was Armenia’s official selection for the 95th Academy® Awards “Best International Feature Film'' category. The documentary was produced by Vardan Hovhannisyan, Christian Beetz, Juste Michailinaite, Kestutis Drazdauskas, Eric Esrailian and Sahakyan.

Aurora’s Sunrise will make its national broadcast premiere on Monday, October 23, 2023 at 10pmET/9C (check local listings) and will be available to stream until January 23, 2024 at pbs.org, and the PBS App. In addition to standard closed captioning for the film, POV, in partnership with audio description serviceDiCapta, provides real time audio interpretations for audiences with sensory disabilities. POV, currently in its 36th season, is America's longest running non-fiction television series.

Director Inna Sahakyan said: “Anne Frank once said: ‘What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it from happening again.’ Aurora’s story happened more than 100 years ago, but sadly the world did not change. Genocides and wars take place today in Ukraine, in Syria, and – very heavy for me personally – in Armenia. Right now more than 120,000 Armenians in Artsakh, known internationally as Nagorno Karabakh, have been besieged for over 8 months now face starvation and ethnic cleansing. I know that this sounds naive and too optimistic, but after watching this film, I hope people will not just learn, but feel and embrace the lessons from the past. And that it will help persuade individual minds not to be pushed into participating in yet more wars and genocides. That way, I would feel all that Aurora did was not in vain.”

Chris White, Executive Producer POV and America ReFramed said: “We’re proud to share this remarkable story of resilience and courage in the face of insurmountable odds. Inna Sahakyan’s imaginative interpretation of lived trauma brings into sharp focus the horrors of the Armenian Genocide and its rippling effect on descendants. The film honors the life of Aurora Madriganian and all survivors of war and raises awareness of historical atrocities we hope to never see again.”

In 1915, as WWI raged on, the Ottoman Empire singled out its entire Armenian population for destruction. At only 14 years old, Aurora Mardiganian was forced to a death march towards the Syrian desert. There, she lost her entire family before being kidnapped and sold into slavery. Four years later, through luck and extraordinary courage, she escaped to New York, where her odyssey became a media sensation. Her newfound fame led to her starring as herself in the 1919 silent film, Auction of Souls, based on her published memoir, Ravished Armenia. Directed by Oscar Apfel, the film became one of Hollywood's earliest blockbusters.

As the massacres in Armenia continued, Aurora was engulfed by waves of re-lived trauma whipped up by the callous Hollywood publicity machine. In the hope of saving her people, she was one of the first women activists fighting against the injustices of war. Because of her efforts, she became the face of one of the largest charity campaigns in American history.

Aurora’s Sunrise premiered in competition at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2022 and then became a festival favorite winning more than 10 awards, including the Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2022 for Best Animated Film, Movies that Matter 2023 Audience Award and Special Mention Winner, Audience Favorites at IDFA 2022, Audience Awards at Animation is Film 2022 and FIFDH Geneva International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights 2023 for Grand Prix, among others.

Press Quotes:

“The film’s coherence is a reflection of both the skill of the filmmaker, and the heroic efforts of Aurora herself to ensure that her view of history would not be forgotten.”
-Teo Bugbee, The New York Times

“A reminder that film doesn't just record history, it can transport us through it.”
-Brian Tallerico,RogerEbert.com

“Aurora’s Sunrise is resolutely her tale, but its storybook aesthetic evokes the loss of innocence. It makes the tragedy doubly piercing.”
- Pat Mullen, POV Magazine

Aurora’s Sunrise is a co-production between Armenia, Germany and Lithuania, produced by Bars Media, Artbox Laisvalaikio Klubas and Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion, in co-production with ZD, in collaboration with Arte. The film was written and directed by Inna Sahakyan, with Gediminas Skyrius as lead illustrator, Ruben Ghazaryan as live-action director & editor, Tigran Arakelyan as art director and music composed by Christine Aufderhaar. The producers are Vardan Hovhannisyan, Christian Beetz, Justė Michailinaitė, Kęstutis Drazdauskas, Eric Esrailian and Sahakyan. The Executive Producers are Erika Dilday and Chris White for American Documentary | POV. Aurora’s Sunrise was made possible with the academic contribution of the Zoryan Institute and is based on its Oral History Archive.

Credits

Aurora’s Sunrise

Director: Inna Sahakyan

Writers: Inna Sahakyan, Peter Liakhov

Cinematographer: Vardan Brutyan

Live-Action Director & Editor: Ruben Ghazaryan

Producers: Vardan Hovhannisyan Christian Beetz, Justė Michailinaitė, Kęstutis Drazdauskas, Eric Esrailian, Inna Sahakyan

Executive Producers: Erika Dilday and Chris White for American Documentary | POV

Lead Illustrator: Gediminas Skyrius

Art Director: Tigran Arakelyan

Composer: Christine Aufderhaar

Running time: 82 min

Countries: Armenia, Germany and Lithuania

Year: 2022

Photos

Download Aurora’s Sunrise photos here.

About the Filmmakers

Inna Sahakyan, Director/Writer, Aurora’s Sunrise

For over fifteen years, Inna Sahakyan has directed and produced feature-length documentaries, doc series, and shorts that have broadcasted internationally. She focuses on uncovering untold and forgotten stories while exploring the nature of humanity through intimate and innovative filmmaking. Her feature-length debut was the award-winning The Armenia’s Last Tightrope Dancer in 2010. Recently, she completed Mel, a story about a transgender weightlifter from Armenia. In 2022, her animated documentary about Armenian Genocide survivor and early Hollywood star Aurora Mardiganyan, Aurora’s Sunrise, became a festival favorite screening at over 50 international festival and winning numerous awards. At present, besides promoting “Aurora’s Sunrise”, Inna is working on a new feature-length documentary titled Shakespeare Goes Armenian (co-directed with Lilit Movsisyan), a film where the daily strains of old age facing elderly residents of a decrepit Soviet-era retirement home disappear, as they lose themselves staging the timeless world of Shakespeare to thrilled audiences.

Vardan Hovhannisyan, Producer/Cinematographer, Aurora’s Sunrise

Vardan Hovhannisyan began his film career as a freelance camera operator covering the conflicts triggered by the collapse of the USSR. In 1993 he established Bars Media Documentary Film Studio, one of the first independent film companies in Armenia. His films have won awards around the world including the FIPRESCI prize, and the Best New Documentary Filmmaker Award at Tribeca Film Festival for A Story of People in War & Peace. Always seeking out a new adventurous and thought-provoking story, he has filmed in Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Nagorno Karabakh, Syria and elsewhere to witness how human beings endure and get by in the hardest environments.

About

About POV

Produced by American Documentary, POV is the longest-running independent documentary showcase on American television. Since 1988, POV has presented films on PBS that capture the full spectrum of the human experience, with a long commitment to centering women and people of color in front of, and behind, the camera. The series is known for introducing generations of viewers to groundbreaking works like Tongues Untied, American Promise, Minding The Gap and Not Going Quietly, and innovative filmmakers including Jonathan Demme, Laura Poitras and Nanfu Wang. In 2018, POV Shorts launched as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. All POV programs are available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS App, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website.

POV goes “beyond the broadcast” to bring powerful nonfiction storytelling to viewers wherever they are. Free educational resources accompany every film and a community network of thousands of partners nationwide work with POV to spark dialogue around today’s most pressing issues. POV continues to explore the future of documentary through innovative productions with partners such as The New York Times and The National Film Board of Canada and on platforms including Snapchat and Instagram.

POV films and projects have won 46 Emmy® Awards, 27 George Foster Peabody Awards, 15 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards® and the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award. Learn more at pbs.org/pov and follow @povdocs on social media.

About American Documentary, Inc.

American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.

Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, the Open Society Foundations, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Park Foundation, and Perspective Fund. Additional funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Chasing the Dream and Peril and Promise public media initiatives of The WNET Group, Chris and Nancy Plaut, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.

About PBS

PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 120 million people through television and 26 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. Decades of research confirm that PBS’s premier children’s media service, PBS KIDS, helps children build critical literacy, math and social-emotional skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality educational content on TV – including a 24/7 channel, online at pbskids.org, via an array of mobile apps and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, or by following PBS on Twitter, Facebook or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Communications on Twitter.