Calendar (1993)

Director:

Atom Egoyan

Writer:

Atom Egoyan (written by)

Release Date:

3 June 1993 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A photographer and his wife take photographs of Armenian churches for use in a calendar. Their driver...

Plot Keywords:

Photographer | Driver | Photograph | Armenian | Calendar

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Arsinée Khanjian	...	Translator
Ashot Adamyan	...	Driver (as Ashot Adamian)
Atom Egoyan	...	Photographer
Michelle Bellerose	...	Guest
Natalia Jasen	...	Guest
Susan Hamann	...	Guest
Sveta Kohli	...	Guest
Viva Tsvetnova	...	Guest
Roula Said	...	Guest (as Rula Said)
Annie Szamosi	...	Guest
Anna Pappas	...	Guest
Amanda Martínez	...	Guest (as Amanda Martinez)
Diane Kofri	...	Guest

Directed by
Atom Egoyan

Writing credits
Atom Egoyan		(written by)

Produced by
Atom Egoyan	....	producer
Arsinée Khanjian	....	co-producer: Armenia
Robert Lantos	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Norayr Kasper		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Atom Egoyan

Production Management
Garegin Zakoian	....	production manager: Armenia

Sound Department
Tyler Allen	....	trainee assistant editor
Yuri Hakobian	....	sound recordist: Armenia
Steve Munro	....	foley artist
Steve Munro	....	sound designer
Steve Munro	....	sound effects
Daniel Pellerin	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ross Redfern	....	sound recordist: Toronto
Paul Shikata	....	assistant sound editor

Visual Effects by
Chris Wallace	....	hi-def colourist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Atom Egoyan	....	camera operator: 8mm video images, Armenia
David Owen	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Doris Hepp	....	commissioning editor
Chris Hinton	....	film timer (as Christopher Hinton)
Paul Shikata	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Eve Egoyan	....	musician: piano
Jivan Gasparyan	....	musician: duduk
Hovhanness Tarpinian	....	musician: tar
Garo Tchaliguian	....	vocalist

Other crew
Norair Aslanian	....	title designer: Armenian titles
Alek Bayandoor	....	production assistant: Armenia
Daniel Bekerman	....	production assistant: Toronto
Kaspar Derderian	....	production assistant: Armenia
Norayr Kasper	....	production coordinator: Armenia
Zaven Sarkissian	....	location director: Armenia
Grigor Troyan	....	co-production coordinator: Armenia
Simone Urdl	....	production coordinator: Toronto
Gurgen Zakoian	....	production assistant: Armenia
Laurence Petit	....	press attache: France (uncredited)

Thanks
Wouter Barendrecht	....	thanks
Silva Basmajian	....	thanks
Mychael Danna	....	thanks
Sheila de la Varende	....	thanks (as Sheila de La Varende)
Niv Fichman	....	massive thanks
Gabrielle Rose	....	massive thanks

Production Companies

• Armenian National Cinematheque, The
• Ego Film Arts
• ZDF Television (as ZDF German Television)

Distributors

• Haut et Court (1995) (France) (theatrical)
• Alliance Atlantis Home Video (2001) (Canada) (DVD)
• Zeitgeist Films (1994) (USA)

Other Companies

• Film House  sound re-recording
• Film Opticals  titles (as Film Opticals of Canada)
• Francont Film  negative cutting
• Medallion/PFA  laboratory

Also Known As:

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

Armenia | Canada | Germany

Language:

English | German | Russian | Armenian | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Hong Kong:I | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Armenia

Company:

Armenian National Cinematheque, The

Trivia:

Film was mostly improvised, and made for barely $80,000.

Soundtrack:

Without You

Perhaps not entirely successful, but definitely good and well worth seeing

A small project wedged between his first two more mainstream products, The Adjuster and Exotica, Calendar stars the director and his wife, Arsinée Khanjian as a photographer and his wife. They are traveling to different Armenian churches in order to photograph them for a calendar. Both of them are Armenian by heritage, but he is disconnected from it, while she speaks the language (and acts as translator). During the trip, their Armenian guide begins to grow closer to the wife. The film actually takes place much later, as Egoyan, now no longer with his wife, is trying to duplicate her by holding "auditions" with women, presumably re-enacting the first meeting with his ex. It's all rather confusing. I never quite figured it all out. I'm not sure the film works. I liked all the stuff about the Armenian churches (some beautiful images here, and the film's style in these scenes is great), but the whole narrative about the dates never seemed to come to fruition. However, it is an extremely interesting film, and it's rather haunting at the end. Calendar itself may feel somewhat incomplete, but Egoyan is definitely a fully-fledged artist here. The only earlier film of his I've seen, Speaking Parts, did not communicate his talent. This is definitely worth seeing, especially as it only runs at 75 minutes.