• Aurora's Sunrise

    Aurora's Sunrise



  • Aurora's Sunrise

    Aurora's Sunrise



  • Aurora's Sunrise

    Aurora's Sunrise



  • Aurora's Sunrise

    Aurora's Sunrise



  • Aurora's Sunrise

    Aurora's Sunrise



  • Aurora's Sunrise

    Aurora's Sunrise



Aurora's Sunrise

by Inna Sahakyan

Aurora's Sunrise

Armenia, Germany, Lithuania | 2022 | 96:00 min

Content Categories

Animation Documentary Hybrid
Synopsis
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.
The film blends animation with archive footage to tell a tragic story from contemporary history.


PRESS REVIEWS:

The remarkable life of Armenian genocide survivor Aurora Mardiganian is turned into a gripping animation
[WENDY IDE, SCREENDAILY]

Inna Sahakyan’s animated doc is a heartbreaking tale of survival on two continents and a vivid re-examination of the Armenian genocide [David Katz, CINEUROPA]

A powerful tribute to survival, the film both commemorates the horrors of genocide and paints a hopeful vision of a brighter future. [ISABEL JACOBS, East European Film Bulletin]

A survivor of the 1915 Armenian genocide, the story of Aurora Mardiganin is the harrowing true story of a teenager who, after seeing her family murdered, embarked on a remarkable journey that involved incarceration within a Turkish harem and escape to the US. [Mark Adams, Business Doc Europe]

One of the more compelling productions on the Armenian Genocide of 1915 [Grace Han, Asian Movie Pulse.com]
Festivals/Awards
Armenia's submission 95th Academy Awards 2023 – Best International Feature Film

2021
Sunny Side of the Doc Prize E-Meeting Point Vilnius

2022
Silver Apricot – GAIFF
FFHH22 – 30 Filmfest Hamburg
Festival Carrefour du cinéma d'animation, France
20 doclisboa IFF
Annecy IAFF
ANNEOY – long metrage
Asian Pacific Screen Awards Nominee
Fantoche IAFF
35 IDFA – Best of Fests

2023
46 Göteborg IFF
25 TiDF – 25th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival
Grand Geneva Award – 21 FIFDH GENEVA
movies that matter festival, The Netherlands
HKIFF47 – Hong Kong IFF
28 IDFF It's All True | É Tudo Verdade Sao Paulo
Millenium DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY
Raindance Film Festival, London
15 DMZ Korea
Cast and Crew
  • Director Inna Sahakyan
  • Producer Christian Beetz, Inna Sahakyan, Vardan Hovhannisyan, Juste Michailinaite
  • Screenwriter Inna Sahakyan, Kerstin Meyer-Beetz, Peter Liakhov
  • Editor Ruben Ghazaryan
  • Score Christine Aufderhaar
  • Animation Gediminas Skyrius
Original Languages

Armenian

English

Turkish

German

Co-Production Company
beetz brothers film production
Germany
gebrueder-beetz.de/en/
Links / Reference
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