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Ravished Armenia: Representing Genocide in Early American Cinema
Marie-Aude Baronian

Ravished Armenia: Representing Genocide in Early American Cinema
Ravished Armenia, the 1919 Hollywood film based on survivor Aurora Mardiganian’s memoir, was the first in the history of cinema to depict genocide on the big screen. Reaching critical and financial success in the US and abroad, the film helped raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide as well as funds to help Armenian orphans, yet it mysteriously disappeared in the 1930s and was all but forgotten until fragments reappeared decades later. Dr. Baronian explores the implications of this film, the making of it, its impact at the time, and the challenges of representing violence and mass atrocity through cinema.

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