- Born
- Birth nameAtom Yeghoyan
- Height5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
- Born in Egypt to Armenian parents, he was raised in Western Canada. Both his parents were painters, and he planned to be a playwright, but after making a short film, he became hooked on telling stories visually. Returned to ethnic "homeland" when he filmed Calendar (1993) in Armenia. Won attention at the Sundance Film Festival for earlier work, then broke through critically and commercially with Exotica (1994). Afterwards, The Sweet Hereafter (1997) led him to receive two Academy Award nominations, and then Chloe (2009) became his biggest moneymaker ever (after the film's DVD/Blu-ray release).- IMDb Mini Biography By: mwprods@mindspring.com
- Atom Egoyan's parents were painters and he studied International Relations and music at the University of Toronto where he began making short films: Howard in Particular (1979), After Grad with Dad (1980), Peep Show (1981) and Open House (1992).
While he has several distinguished Television and Opera works on his resume and such pictures as his debut Next of Kin (1984) , Berlin and Moscow International Film Festival-winning Family Viewing (1987) and Exotica (1994) -- his most critically acclaimed picture is The Sweet Hereafter (1997) and his biggest commercial success is the erotic thriller Chloe (2009).
Egoyan's Ararat (2002) -- about the 1915 Armenian Genocide perpetrated by Turks in the Turkish Ottoman Empire -- depicted the consequences and suffering of a child survivor Arshile Gorky, who became the pioneer of the American Abstract Expressionism. Ararat (2002) won five honors at Canada's top Genie Awards.
Egoyan has also collected numerous awards at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Annonynous
- SpouseArsinée Khanjian(19? - present) (1 child)
- Children
- ParentsJoseph YeghoyanShushan Devletian
- RelativesEve Egoyan(Sibling)
- Frequently casts Arsinée Khanjian, Elias Koteas, Don McKellar, David Hemblen, Bruce Greenwood, Maury Chaykin, and Gabrielle Rose.
- Frequently incorporates TVs, video monitors, computers, cameras and other media devices into his films.
- Frequently repeats voice-over sequences thoughout the course of a film.
- Many of his films deal with the complicated nature of human sexuality.
- Frequently tackles the subject of past wrongs and/or injustice (ex. Ararat (2002), Where the Truth Lies (2005), Exotica (1994), and Devil's Knot (2013))
- He was awarded the C.C. (Companion of the Order of Canada) on November 19, 2015 and invested on February 17, 2017 by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, for his contribution to Canadian culture. For his groundbreaking contributions to film as an internationally respected filmmaker and for his commitment to mentoring and showcasing Canadian artists. This is a promotion within the Order. He is committed to the development of homegrown talent and a vibrant cultural industry. He has built an international reputation as a filmmaker while remaining firmly rooted in Canada. His outstanding body of work often focuses on the themes of community, isolation and the role of technology in our lives. Generous with his time and talent, he serves as a mentor and teacher, and as an active member of cultural boards and film festival juries. He is also a talented visual artist and director of both theatre and opera.
- Atom Egoyan is a Canadian citizen of Armenian descent and lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- Plays classical guitar.
- According to Egoyan his thriller Chloe (2009) had made more money than any of his previous art house films. [Toronto Star, 2010].
- He and his wife, Arsinée Khanjian, have a son, Arshile Egoyan.
- I think with all directors there are ideas that recur, at least for the ones that have creative control of their films.
- This idea of clarity and that people should know at all times what's going on is obviously very attractive from a marketing perspective, but I think it would completely eviscerate the power of what these movies are about... We are still discussing what the opening sequence in Persona (1966) might mean and the wealth of possibilities that can be read into this piece of work. I believe that's why it endures.
- [on The Captive (2014)] We're sort of inside this eternal present and it becomes a torture machine, where people are playing scenes over and over in their mind.. In terms of the mood, it feels like the world we live in. That's what I'm trying to do with this film - to create an expression of the space that we live in. I understand that it will create a wide variety of criticisms.
- I started in theater and I wanted to write plays, but I never really found an original voice as a playwright. I still write plays. I still do theater and opera, but the moment I started making films, which I have to say I started in college because the college dramatic society turned down one of my plays, and out of spite, I went to the film club and said, "Okay, I'll make it as a movie." But the moment I held that camera, it just felt like "Oh, this is another character. This is someone watching the drama." It was always a character for me. I think in the really early films, it literally is the missing person. It's the person watching. So, it's what I feel most natural doing. But I love all these other worlds. I'm about to go into rehearsals for an opera. I love that world as well. [2014]
- Sometimes you get the opportunity to make a film that actually is touching or explores a part of history that is uncharted. With Ararat (2002), the transmission of trauma reverberates through four generations. How the pain of that is, and the echoes are, felt 100 years later. [2016]
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