New on DVD:
Ararat directed by Atom Egoyan (Momentum Pictures)
The core story is of the Armenian genocide in Turkey in 1915, based on an eyewitness account by the American Consul in Van, told as a film being made by characters in “Ararat”. As the story of the genocide unfolds during the shooting of the film within the film, we follow the conflicts in relationships in two families. One of them is directly involved in the making of the film, the other becomes connected because the grandfather is the custom official who interrogates the teenage son of the other family who has just come back from Turkey with film footage of Ararat, Aghtamar and so on. Also woven in is the story of a boy who witnessed the genocide and the death of his family, later an artist in America famous for his painting of himself and his mother at the time of the genocide.
What is truth? The denial of truth, the opening to truth and the possibility of reconciliation underlie this powerful film.