Donation

Arsinée Khanjian, a famous Canadian actress, and Günther, an archivist, meet for an interview. The occasion is a donation: Arsinée wants to donate historical costumes from the film Ararat (2002) by her husband, the filmmaker Atom Egoyan. These costumes commemorate the Armenian genocide of 1915.  Since her »health scare«, she has become even more determined to keep alive the memory of the genocide embodied in these very costumes. But Günther seems perplexed. Just recently, in 2023, 100 and 10 years after the genocide, history has repeated itself: over a hundred thousand Armenians have been expelled from Artsakh. In this light, Günther begins to question not only the cultural and commemorative value of the artifacts, but also Arsinée's motives. Is the donation a silent indictment of the international community's inaction? His questioning has an emotional impact on Arsinée, especially as she has come under intense public pressure for her work as an activist and »prominent figure in the Armenian diaspora« in the wake of Armenia's Velvet Revolution of 2018. What should have been a routine interview turns into a confrontation. With her recent past. With the recent invasion of Armenia and her body. In this showdown, Arsinée grapples with her version of a repressed reality and her sense of self.

In addition to their successful films, which have been screened at festivals including Cannes, the Berlinale and Venice, the duo Egoyan-Khanjianis are returning to making works for the theatre at the Gorki. Following Auction of Souls (2015), Donation takes to the mainstage ten years later.

World Premiere 25/April 2025

As part of 100 + 10 - Armenian Allegories

Photo: Esra Rotthoff