ArmInfo. For the first time, the Eurimages European Cinema support fund_will finance a film project with an Armenian <passport>. Head of the National Cinema Center of the Republic of Armenia Shushanik Mirzakhanyan stated this at a press conference on March 29.
She said that during the meeting of the Management Board of Eurimages which was held from March 12 to 16 in Bucharest, the film project "Avrora's Sunrise" presented unanimously by 38 members of the Council was commended. Eurimages will send 140 thousand Euros to support the film, which is about 24% of the total budget of the film. The film is directed by Inna Sahakyan, producer Vardan Hovhannisyan. The script for the motion picture was written by Inna Sahakyan together with Peter Lyakov (Canadian screenwriter of Russian origin). The film will be shot together with the German film company Gebruder Beetz, which will provide 27.15% of the picture budget. It is expected that the film will be released in 2021.
The plot of the documentary-animated film will be based on the story of Aurora Mardiganyan, who, at the age of 14, miraculously survived the genocide and, after several years of wandering, reached America. There, in 1919, on the basis of her life story and her ordeal, the film "Auction of Souls" was shot, in which Aurora played herself.
According to Sahakyan, the preserved fragments of this film, as well as archival materials of the Canadian- Armenian Genocide institutes will be used in the motion pictures. <Work on the film project was carried out over 4 years. The most difficult task was to provide the Armenian component in the film. And in the case, we really hope, if we succeed at various international film festivals, the film will be presented as Armenian. This is very important for us, because, unfortunately, there is practically no Armenian films on the international film market, "the director said.
Answering the question of ArmInfo, she noted that the shooting will take place mainly in Turkey, some fragments will be filmed in St. Petersburg. <Since this is a documentary film, there will be a little filming, but we want to show the main places and roads that Aurora went through>, she said. The director noted that at the moment, only half of the composition of the creative team that will work on the film is approved. In this vein, she noted that the composer and cameraman of the film will be representatives from Germany.
The total budget of the film, according to her, is about 580 thousand euros. However, the amount of funding may change depending on the amount of work. In addition, the director of the painting does not exclude the accession of a third country.
<For us the most important thing is to talk about that terrible tragedy on behalf of the victor. Aurora in this regard is just such a person. The young girl, who went through all the trials, fought to the last and reached the goal. Using exactly this approach, I want to tell the world about the Armenian Genocide>, Inna Sahakyan emphasized.
To note, the previous film of Inna Sahakyan < The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia> (2010) won the Golden Apricot award at the same-name international film festival in Yerevan, the awards in the nomination "Best feature film" of the Russia Documentary Film Festival, etc. Inna Sahakyan is also a producer many successful films. <Eurimages> - Fund for the support of joint film production and distribution of cinematographic and audiovisual works, established under the Council of Europe in 1988 and currently has 38 participating countries. Armenia became a member of the Foundation in 2016. During this time, Evrimage rendered assistance to 4 films, in the creation of which Armenia participated. As part of its activities, Evrimage provides assistance in creating co-products; assists in the distribution of pictures, supports cinema shows and partially compensates for the costs of converting films to digital format.