June 5, 2023: The Zoryan Institute is pleased to invite academic institutions and community organizations to host non-theatrical screenings of the award-winning animated film, Aurora’s Sunrise, in partnership with the Zoryan Institute and the film’s co-production partners.

Aurora’s Sunrise tells the brave story of survival of Aurora Mardiganian, a young Armenian Genocide survivor who overcame so much to tell the world about her story. The film seamlessly blends footage from the Zoryan Institute’s original interview with Aurora conducted in 1984, the brilliant animation of Bars Media and their German and Lithuanian co-producers, along with scenes from the 1919 silent film “Auction of Souls”, the very first film on genocide in Hollywood starring Aurora Mardiganian as herself.

Since entering the festival circuit, Aurora’s Sunrise has premiered in over 20 international film festivals around the world, and has won over a dozen awards, including the Grand Prize at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) of Switzerland.  The film was also selected as the Armenian submission for the 2023 Oscars.

As a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness on issues relating to human rights and genocide through education and scholarship, the Zoryan Institute is very pleased to be able to partner with educational institutions and community level organizations around the world to screen this film. Through these screenings, we hope that this film can be used as an effective resource to relay stories of genocide survivors to younger generations, and to help empower young women and girls around the world to follow in Aurora’s footsteps and represent their own communities in the face of adversity.

Organizations and institutions interested in hosting non-theatrical exhibitions of the film at their respective venues in partnership with the Zoryan Institute, must fall within one of the categories listed below:

• Educational Screenings: screenings in schools, colleges, universities, public and academic libraries, community and non-profit organizations, museums, and houses of worship world-wide.
• Armenian Community Screenings: screenings held in the Armenian Diaspora throughout the entire world.

Educational institutions, including high school classrooms and universities, have the option of receiving an educational package along with the organized screening. This will provide educators and faculty members with a lesson plan, classroom activities, handouts, a screening guide and online resources to think critically and comparatively about the film.

Due to the nature of the film’s content, including graphic imagery, scenes of sexual violence, and violence, viewer discretion is advised. High school educators have the option of working with the Zoryan Institute to host its Promoting Equity, Tolerance, Reconciliation and Awareness Through Genocide Education Program in their classrooms, which includes an abbreviated 15-minute, age-appropriate clip from Aurora’s Sunrise.

If you are interested in booking a screening of the film for your school, university, community centre, church, museum and more, click on the here: Make a Booking! 

To book a presentation of Promoting Equity, Tolerance, Reconciliation and Awareness Through Genocide Education Program for your classroom, Sign up Today!

For more information on the film, or for specific questions about the screenings, please contact zoryan@zoryaninstitute.org.
**REMINDER: Tickets for the Toronto Armenian Community Screening of Aurora’s Sunrise are still available! Click on the link here to purchase yours today!**

The film is co-produced by Bars Media, Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion & Artbox Laisvalaikio Klubas, directed by Inna Sahakyan, with the financial partnership of Eurimages, the Zoryan Institute & the National Cinema Center of Armenia, and with the contributions of the Lithuanian Film Center, ZDF/ARTE, Public TV Armenia, and LRT. Aurora’s Sunrise was made possible with the academic contribution of the Zoryan Institute Armenia and is based on its oral history archives.
 
The Zoryan Institute is a non-profit organization that serves the cause of scholarship and public awareness relating to issues of universal human rights, genocide, and diaspora-homeland relations.