Only in renting it collected 30 million USD: it was an incredible number for a silent film.
The first film telling about the Armenian Genocide was screened in 1918. It raised a big noise in a short period. “Ravished Armenia” or “Auction of Souls” film, shot even with Hollywood standards, caused a great commotion. Only in renting it collected 30 million USD: it was an incredible number for a silent film.
The author of the film is Arshaluys Martikian, a genocide survivor. On the brutal way leading from Armenia to Turkish harems, she manages to throw herself into the river and to be saved. With the help of American missionaries Arshaluys Martikian reaches the United States and becomes Aurora Mardiganian.
In the USA, the 14-year-old Aurora decides to write down everything she has seen on the way of migration. Afterward she confessed that it is the edited version of her memories. She did not know English, and those who were writing down her recollections, could not imagine the entire cruelty of what she had seen and felt. She played the leading role in the film, thus embodying herself.
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