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***This text initially appeared within the January ’23 challenge of Animation Journal (No. 326)***
Inna Sahakyan’s astonishing characteristic Aurora’s Dawn has been receiving world consideration and significant raves because it premiered at Annecy in June. The movie, which makes use of archival footage and animation, can be Armenia’s official entry for the Worldwide Movie Oscar this yr. Penned by Sahakyan, Kerstin Meyer-Beetz and Peter Liakhov, it facilities on the unbelievable experiences of Aurora Mardiganian, who suffered terrible losses throughout the Armenian genocide, however escaped to New York and have become a media sensation after starring as herself within the Hollywood blockbuster Public sale of Souls. We not too long ago had the good alternative to interview the Sahakyan about her eye-opening film:
Animation Journal: Congrats on all of the acclaim your fantastic film has been receiving previously few months. Are you able to inform us how you bought concerned with this wonderful undertaking and realized about this fascinating story?
Inna Sahakyan: I used to be doing analysis for a documentary sequence at Zoryan Institute’s Armenian Genocide Oral Historical past archive again in 2014, and I found Aurora’s five-hour-long testimony recorded again in 1984, when Aurora was 83 years previous. Her story was so distinctive: She handed via the Armenian genocide as a teenage lady and have become a silent film Hollywood star, relieving her ache on the silver display, solely to assist our nation. The aged Aurora was additionally such an awesome storyteller that I knew the world wanted to listen to her story, and so I began to work on the movie concept.
When did you determine that you simply wanted to make use of animation to inform the story?
I had three nice video testimonies from the real-life Aurora, and 18 minutes of sequences from her 1919 silent film Public sale of Souls (a.ok.a. Ravished Armenia), however that was not sufficient for visualizing her story. It was right here when the thought of animation got here to us. Animation is a medium that may talk not solely the colours of the story, however even its smells, tastes and textures. It turns into the soul of the movie, and lets Aurora’s now forgotten story develop into vivid once more. It goes additional than reproducing the occasions: it interprets them, like our mind does with recollections, and permits symbols and motifs to talk loudly as an alternative of drowning them within the utter realism of lots of of particulars.
Please inform us in regards to the animation manufacturing and the cut-out approach you used?
Because of restricted finances, from the start we determined that we are going to do CG paper cutout animation. However on the similar time, understanding that we are going to have restricted actions, our creative staff determined to have practical illustrations with the mixture of Armenian colours and Hollywood stylish in an artwork nouveau type. To make actions in cutout approach and illustrations extra lifelike, we needed to movie all animated scenes over the greenscreen, after which select particular frames that have been illustrated and animated. I’m very grateful to my nice groups in Armenia and Lithuania for his or her endurance in bringing to life all our inventive concepts. I consider this type unifies all different mediums introduced within the movie.
How lengthy did it take to finish the animation?
About three years, as we needed to work distantly with our Lithuanian colleagues because of COVID. Furthermore, in September 2020, a brand new battle started over Nagorno-Karabakh — a area disputed between my nation, Armenia, and Azerbaijan for the reason that collapse of the united statesS.R.
Armenia went via 44 days of preventing, it was nothing lower than a state of whole struggle. By the point a ceasefire was signed, our tiny nation of solely 3 million had misplaced extra troopers per capita than the US did in WWII. Through the battle, the entire males on my Armenian employees have been on the entrance strains, some below direct hearth. The pressure of the struggle put all the undertaking in jeopardy, however because of the perseverance of the German and Lithuanian co-producers, the undertaking saved shifting ahead.
What are you proudest of as you look again on the film?
My main function was to let Aurora inform her personal story and rise as a robust lady function mannequin who saved her humanity regardless of the inhuman circumstances. I wished to place Aurora alongside figures corresponding to Anne Frank, Malala Yousafzai and Nadia Murad as a champion of human dignity. I hope that I used to be capable of fulfill that function.
What have been your largest challenges?
For a lot of totally different causes, the movie’s manufacturing took over seven years. This was a giant problem itself, however throughout this course of we continually confronted the problem of the right way to inform Aurora’s terribly difficult story spanning over 5 years, totally different continents and difficult historic occasions in solely 90 minutes and preserve the viewers’s curiosity. And the right way to inform this unbelievable story and, on the similar time, stay truthful as documentarians? I hope I discovered the best answer.
Who’re your largest animation influences and heroes?
My inspirations have been so totally different, ranging from the wonderful artwork of Aleksandr Petrov (The Previous Man and the Sea is my favourite) as much as anime’s nice grasp Hayao Miyazaki. However after all, they didn’t have a lot direct affect within the animation/illustration type of Aurora’s Dawn. I used to be very impressed by different animated documentaries, most of all Waltz with Bashir and Persepolis and the way they share private traumatic tales and historic occasions via animation.
The Armenian neighborhood has proven nice assist for the film … what was essentially the most shifting response you’ve gotten acquired from audiences?
The Armenian Genocide is a typical ache for all of us — because it’s not acknowledged by Turkey, it stays an unhealed wound. Probably the most touching factor is individuals sharing with me their very own private, untold tales of their great-grandparents, those that are so painful for them to share out of the household’s previous. They begin to speak … Probably the most troublesome side of exhibiting the movie to the Armenian viewers is that the movie reveals the heavy historical past of our ancestors, whereas concurrently our children face the identical horrors within the present geo-political state of affairs in my nation with the wars waged in opposition to us.
How do you’re feeling about your film being Armenia’s official entry within the Oscar race?
It’s a unprecedented honor for me and for our staff to have our movie chosen as our nation’s submission to the Academy Award. And that is symbolic, since now Aurora is again in Hollywood once more. This achievement emphasizes the significance of our film as a social assertion. In truth, participation within the Oscar race is a giant alternative to extend the media protection of Aurora Mardiganian’s story. This side is extra vital for me than any private awards or recognition. We have to maximize the movie’s viewers, and the Oscar is a wonderful platform for this.
What do you hope audiences take away out of your film?
I hope that the viewers will see Aurora the identical approach as I see her: the courageous younger lady who went via genocide, starvation, slavery and exploitation, however refused to be a sufferer. She refused to be swept away by the tides of historical past. It’s a timeless story in regards to the resilience of the human spirit, the ability of hope and the significance of by no means giving up. In our evermore unsure world, when related tales are nonetheless occurring, the message of striving for humanity and staying dedicated to your individual beliefs is crucial factor that audiences can take away.
Aurora’s Dawn is an Armenia/Germany/Lithuania co-production, produced by Bars Media, Artbox Laisvalaikio Klubas and Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion, with analysis and monetary assist from the Zoryan Institute. For extra info, go to zoryaninstitute.org/auroras-sunrise.
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