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Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan was born in Egypt in 1960. His parents moved to Victoria BC when he was a small child. The family was of Armenian heritage but Egoyan was quickly assimilated into a West coast Canadian community. He left Victoria to go to the University of Toronto where he studied international relations and the classical guitar. His first feature film 'Next of Kin' (1984) examines the story of a WASP Canadian young man who infiltrates an Armenian family in Toronto, pretending to be their lost son Bedros. From this film onwards Egoyan manifested an interest in family dynamics and perverse desire imbrocated with questions of technology and visual representation. Through the 1980s and early 90s he continued making a series of films exploring questions about identity, home and exile ('Family Viewing' (1987), 'Speaking Parts' (1989), 'The Adjuster' (1991)). His film 'Exotica' (1994) marked a transition in his career. This intense study of sexuality and mourning focussed around a Toronto nightclub, was shown at the Cannes film festival and went on to gain wider audiences in Canada, the USA and the UK. From this point in his career Egoyan has worked with bigger budgets and has begun to take on adaptations of literary works, 'Sweet Hereafter' (1997), 'Felicia's Journey' (1999), and 'Where The Truth Lies' (2005). He has also continued his interest in his Armenian heritage, making a low budget film 'Calendar' (1993) in Armenia and making the key film to date about the Armenian Genocide 'Ararat' (2002). Starring in all his films and an integral part of his creative enterprise is his partner Arsinee Khanjian. Egoyan has also created a family of actors and technicians who return frequently to work on his projects. His latest film 'Adoration' (2008) was shown at Cannes and also at the Toronto International Film festival. Egoyan currently resides in Toronto, ON with his partner and their son Arshile.



What members say | Filmography

Atom Egoyan - what members say


  • Felicia's Journey
  • Felicia's Journey review by from Londonderry
    Rated - 4.0 stars Eerily disturbing... 14 May 2004
    ...…but none the less masterful. Atom Egoyan gives us once again an insight into the complex world of silence and psychosis of those who appear the most ordinary among us. No...   Read customer review
  • The Sweet Hereafter
  • The Sweet Hereafter review by A customer from Winchester, England
    Rated - 4.0 stars Expansive 28 October 2004
    ...Ian Holm with a whole movie to himself! And of course, he doesn't disappoint. Atom Egoyan is a subtle director with a greater sense of character and the bewildering comp...   Read customer review
  • Ararat
  • Ararat review by from Kent
    Rated - 2.0 stars Disappointing history lesson 12 July 2004
    ...Atom Egoyan's films have always been challenging for the viewer but generally they have had more substance than this heartfelt but incredibly preachy diatribe. There ar...   Read customer review

Atom Egoyan - filmography


  • Chloe - Blu-ray (2009)
    Starring: Nina Dobrev,  Amanda Seyfried,  Liam Neeson
    Director: Atom Egoyan
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
    An untrusting wife attempts to prove that her husband is cheating by hiring an escort to seduce him, inadvertently endangering her entire family in the process. Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried star in a thriller written by Erin Cressida Wilson, and directed by Atom Egoyan (THE SWEET ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 60% from 2,801 members
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  • Chloe on DVD (2009)
    Starring: Nina Dobrev,  Amanda Seyfried,  Liam Neeson
    Director: Atom Egoyan
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
    Catherine and David, she a doctor, he a professor, are at first glance the perfect couple. Happily married with a talented teenage son, they appear to have an idyllic life. But when David misses a flight and his surprise birthday party, Catherine's long simmering suspicions rise to the surface. ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 60% from 8,625 members
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  • Adoration on DVD (2008)
    Starring: Scott Speedman,  Rachel Blanchard,  Kenneth Welsh
    Director: Atom Egoyan
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
    Adoration focuses on one young man's fascination with the possibility he's the spawn of two historical figures -- and how his personal obsession is both enabled, and threatened, by technology.
    3 stars out of 5 56% from 385 members
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  • Where The Truth Lies on DVD (2005)
    Starring: Kevin Bacon,  Colin Firth,  Alison Lohman
    Director: Atom Egoyan
    Certificate: Certificate: 18
    A young female journalist tries to uncover the truth behind the breakup, years earlier, of a celebrated comedy team after the duo found a girl dead in their hotel room. Although both had airtight alibis and neither was accused, the incident put an end to their act.
    3 stars out of 5 55% from 12,850 members
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  • Ararat on DVD (2002)
    Starring: David Alpay,  Eric Bogosian,  Charles Aznavour
    Director: Atom Egoyan
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    ARARAT, Atom Egoyan's mysterious drama about the horrors of the largely unknown Armenian genocide in Turkey, unrolls through a film within the film (also titled ARARAT). Jumping back and forth in time, Egoyan weaves together the lives of several people. Ari (Arsinee Khanjian), an art historian, is ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 61% from 701 members
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  • Felicia's Journey on DVD (1999)
    Starring: Bob Hoskins,  Arsinee Khanjian,  Elaine Cassidy
    Director: Atom Egoyan
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    A solitary middle-aged bachelor and a naive Irish teenager transform one another's lives to arrive at a place of recognition, redemption and wisdom in Felicia's Journey, writer/director Atom Egoyan's adaptation of William Trevor's celebrated 1994 novel. Seventeen and pregnant, Felicia travels to ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 60% from 761 members
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  • The Sweet Hereafter on DVD (1997)
    Starring: Peter Donaldson,  Bruce Greenwood,  David Hemblen
    Director: Atom Egoyan
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    A small Canadian town is torn apart by the appearance of an ambulance-chasing lawyer after a tragic accident involving a school bus killed many of the town's children. One key witness, however, eludes the troubled attorney: a gifted young woman confined by the tragedy to a wheelchair for the rest ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 63% from 2,353 members
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  • Speaking Parts (1989)
    Starring: Michael McManus,  Arsinee Khanjian,  Gabrielle Rose
    Director: Atom Egoyan
    Certificate: Certificate: TBC
    A lonely hotel maid in love with a movie extra obsessively watches his films on video. Meanwhile, the same actor, desperate for a speaking part, romances a screenwriter who is scripting a TV movie about the life of her dead brother. The attempt of these three characters to fulfill their desires ..read more »
    3 stars out of 5 58% from 21 members
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Atom Egoyan facts

5 most recent films

Chloe - Blu-ray - 3.0 stars
Chloe - 3.0 stars
Adoration - 3.0 stars
Where The Truth Lies - 3.0 stars
Ararat - 3.0 stars

5 highest-rated films

The Sweet Hereafter - 3.0 stars
Ararat - 3.0 stars
Chloe - 3.0 stars
Felicia's Journey - 3.0 stars
Chloe - Blu-ray - 3.0 stars

5 lowest-rated films

Speaking Parts - 3.0 stars
Exotica - 2.0 stars
Where The Truth Lies - 3.0 stars
Adoration - 3.0 stars
The Adjuster - 3.0 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Arsinee Khanjian - 5 times - show films
Rachel Blanchard - 3 times - show films
Mishu Vellani - 3 times - show films
Nina Dobrev - 3 times - show films
Liam Neeson - 3 times - show films