AURORA'S SUNRISE

FESTIVALS:
* Annecy Festival
* Yerevan Golden Aprico
* Fantoche International Animation Film Festival
* Hamburg FilmFest
* Doclisboa
* Animation is Film
* Asian World Film Festival
* Talinn Black Nights Film Festival
* Tbislisi
* Cinéma Vérité - Iran
* Sommets du cinéma d'animation
* Impacte
* Göteborg International Film Festival (Sweden)
* IDFA (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
* It's All True (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
* Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival (Greece)
* Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hong Kong)
* DocPoint – Helsinki Documentary Film Festival (Finland)
* Movies that Matter (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
* FIFDH - Festival du film et Forum sur les Droits Humains (Geneve, Switzerland)
* Trieste Film Festival (Italy)
* Asia Pacific Screen Awards - APSA (Brisbane, Australia)
* Cinéma Vérité - Iran International Documentary Film Festival (Tehran, Iran)
* Black Nights Film Festival (BNFF) / Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival (PÖFF) (Tallinn, Estonia)
* HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival (Oslo, Norway)
* Cartagena De Indias Film Festival - FICCI (Colombia)
* Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival (Armenia)
* Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival (Poland)
* Miradasdoc - Festival Internacional de Cine Documental de Guía de Isora (Guía de Isora - Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain)
* Tbilisi International Film Festival (Georgia)

AWARDS:
* Best Animated Film - Asia Pacific Screen Awards
* Audience Award - Asian World Film Festival
* Best Baltic Coproduction - Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
* Grand Geneva Award at FIFDH - Genève
Grant of CHF 10’000, offered by the City of Geneva
"The reconstitution of memories through a mise en scène that combines the strength of testimony, images from a film that was thought to be lost and the use of watercolour animation that carries the weight of tragic events. A cinematographic work that aims to prevent the Armenian genocide from being forgotten."

*Silver Apricot
* Animation is Film Audience Award
* Best full-length documentary film at Miradasdoc Festival 2023
* Audience Choice Award Winner - Europa Film Festival
Australia conclusion:
"Unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Incredibly powerful and insightful story and also visually stunning - the blend of animation, recovered footage and new interview was so unique."
"It was a poignant film that gives hope to humanity. The resilience of the protagonist Aurora (Arshaluys) Mardiganian is an inspiration to all people on this planet and is a stellar example of the Armenian spirit. Thank you Inna for making such a beautiful film!"


AURORA'S SUNRISE

* Special Mention Camera Justitia Prize - Movies that Matter
* Audience Award - Movies That Matter Film Festival
* Editing and Cinematography Awards - Beldocs




Aurora’s Sunrise

Category |Conflicts, History, Human Interest, Migration, Poltitics, Women
Year | 2022
Country | Armenia, Germany, Lithuania
Running time | 96’
Format |
Production | Bars Media Documentary Film Studio, Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion, Artbox Laisvalaikio Klubas
Director | Inna Sahakyan


At only 14 years old, Aurora lost everything during the horror of the Armenian Genocide. But with luck and extraordinary courage she escaped to New York, where her story became a media sensation. Starring in one of the first Hollywood blockbusters as herself in 1919, Auction of Souls, Aurora would become the face of the largest charity campaign in American history. With a blend of vivid animation, aged Aurora’s video testimony, and 18-minute rediscovered footage from her original lost silent epic, Aurora's Sunrise revives Aurora her inspiring forgotten story.

In the aftermath of World War I, Aurora Mardiganian survives the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. She flees to Hollywood, where she becomes a figurehead of the fight for justice. The film blends animation with archive footage to tell a tragic story from contemporary history.

PRESS PHOTOS

AURORA'S SUNRISE AURORA'S SUNRISE

Movies That Matter Film Festival - Audience Award AURORA'S SUNRISE



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