‘Atom Egoyan’

BOZAR CINEMA welcomes Canadian director Atom Egoyan who will be giving a master class and introducing the screening of his film Ararat. His work is based around the search for an identity and the complexity of human nature. 

Atom Egoyan was born in Cairo to Armenian parents. They emigrated to Canada when he was three years old. Armenia, its genocide, difficult family relations, and the identity crisis of people in exile, are all themes which crop up in his films. These themes are not systematically placed in the forefront of his films but are always present under the surface. Even if his work is predominantly serious, Egoyan has a playful approach to cinema, by freely experimenting with temporal and narrative structures, as well as with media, materials and formats he ensures that his films don’t get weighed down by the solemn nature of the themes. One of the most striking examples of this is Ararat in which we follow an Armenian film-maker who plans to shoot a Hollywood film about the Armenian genocide, something which the Turkish authorities still refuse to officially recognise. It is an ideal subject for Atom Egoyan who has never stopped questioning the ability of images to express the truth.

On the occasion of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.