It is estimated that one and a half million Armenians died between 1915 and 1923 in the Ottoman Empire. This genocide was planned and carried out by the Turkish government against the largest Christian minority in the country — an entire civilian population, many of whom were systematically slaughtered. Some United States diplomatic representatives, American missionaries, and German officers were aware of these crimes against humanity but, despite the outrage abroad, no reprisals were ever taken against the Ottoman Empire nor was there any effort to require postwar Turkish governments to make restitution to the Armenian people for the immense loss of lives, possessions, and property. To this day, the present Republic of Turkey states that no genocide was committed against the Armenians during World War I. And, although hundreds of films and documentaries have been made about the Jewish Holocaust, very little has been done on the Armenian Holocaust.

Canadian-Armenian writer and director Atom Egoyan has waited for the right moment to present his cinematic masterwork on this complex and multi-layered tragedy. He has stated: "I had always contemplated a film about the unique history of the Armenian people. While it was tempting to consider an adaptation of one of several books, I realized it was crucial for me to root the film in the present day. In this way, I could trace the effects of this historic event on the present generation. My goal was to make a film that would allow the viewer to experience the reality of horror in a spiritual sense, and not just present the obvious results of material and physical loss. Ararat is a meditation on the spiritual role of art in the process of struggling for meaning and redemption in the aftermath of genocide." Those familiar with the director's cerebral and morally rich dramas including Calendar, Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter, and Felicia's Journey will appreciate the nuances in this look at the impact of the horrific slaughter of their people on some contemporary Armenians living in Toronto and processing its meanings through art and film.

Art history professor Ani (Arsinee Khanjian) teaches in Toronto and is feeling caught in the crossfire of the past when her son Raffi (David Alpay) refuses to give up his love affair with her step-daughter Celia (Marie-Josee Croze), who is convinced that she is responsible for the death of her father. Ani is the author of a biography of the Armenian painter Arshile Gorky who moved to New York but never was able to shed his vivid memories of his homeland. She accepts a job as a consultant on the epic film Ararat, directed by Edward Saroyan (Charles Aznavour) and written by Rouben (Eric Bogosian).

This film-within-a-film portrays the efforts of an American physician, Clarence Ussher (Bruce Greenwood), to let the world know about the 1915 Siege of Van, an Armenian community in Eastern Turkey and the violence perpetrated against them. One of the lead actors in the film, Ali (Elias Koteas), plays a Turkish operative carrying out his orders. When Raffi, who is visiting the set, asks this actor what he really thinks happened, he expresses doubt about the Ottoman Empire's involvement with genocide. In another subplot of this multidimensional drama, Raffi is stopped, searched, and finally interrogated at the Toronto airport after returning from Turkey with several cans of film containing background shots for the film. David (Christopher Plummer), a soon-to-retire customs official grills him about the places he has visited and the feelings he has about his roots in Armenia.

Atom Egoyan's thought-provoking film compels us to experience the toxicity of genocide and the ways it continues to cast shadows on the lives of Armenians and others years after its bloody unfolding. Its harrowing aftershocks animate a movie maker, an art history professor, a confused young Armenian, and a screenplay writer as explore what it means to them. Their ideas and ideals are tested by others who have no connection with the genocide but who serve as catalysts to their struggle to come to terms with what happened so long ago.