Ararat

Filmmaker Edward Sorayan is making a non-documentary movie recounting the 1915 Armenian genocide by the Turks. This movie will be controversial if only because of the denial by the Turkish government that the genocide even exists. Regardless, Sorayan plans on using what he considers real life events and people as the basis for the movie. One character added late into the screenplay is Armenian painter Arshile Gorky. The filmmakers hire an art historian named Ani, an expert on Gorky's life, as a consultant for the film. Ani is currently having problems in her own family as her stepdaughter Celia accuses her of being the direct cause in the death of Celia's father/Ani's second husband. Celia even resorts to public outbursts to guilt Ani to tell what Celia believes to be the truth about the death. This public disagreement places Ani's son, Raffi, in an awkward position as he is Celia's lover. As filming occurs and the story of the Armenian genocide is told, Raffi travels to the former Armenia - now Turkey - to discover truths about his cultural past and his family's more immediate past. Upon his return from Turkey, Raffi has problems reentering the country, which leads to Raffi recounting much of his time in Turkey and exactly what is in the film reel canisters to the questioning customs agent named David, who has his own indirect connection to the movie.