ARMENIANS ANTICIPATE NEW MOVIE GENOCIDE STORY TOLD IN ATOM EGOYAN FILM.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

GLENDALE - The first major motion picture to touch on the Armenian Genocide opens today in Glendale and two other Southland communities, and intense interest by local Armenians is expected to yield sell-out crowds.

Tickets for ``Ararat,'' written and directed by Atom Egoyan, a Canadian, were sold out in advance for weekend screenings in Glendale and Beverly Hills, with near sellouts reported in Hollywood.

``This is at the extreme end of the spectrum in interest because it is a movie about identity politics, and it is an underexplored topic,'' said Jordan Moore, director of publicity and marketing for the Laemmle Theaters. ``Plus, the director is one of the best in the world.''

By Thursday night, more than 10,000 tickets had been sold for shows at the Mann 10 Theaters in Glendale, Laemmle Music Hall 3 in Beverly Hills and ArcLight Theater in Hollywood.

For Armenian-Americans - more than 50,000 of whom live in Glendale - the movie marks the first national recognition of the genocide of 1915, in which they estimate that more than 1 million Armenians died at the hands of Turks.

``Being the grandson of genocide survivors, this movie is very important to me,'' said Arty Kassakhian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, Western Region.

``I no longer need to explain why I have to take off work April 24th, the official day of commemoration for the Armenian Genocide,'' he said.

Glendale resident Areen Ibranossian, 20, who works part time for the Armenian National Committee of America, said the movie is a way of countering 87 years of official Turkish denial of the genocide.

``It is difficult to describe what this movie means to me. I've been waiting for this for my whole life,'' Ibranossian said.

Turkish-American groups, however, are denouncing the film as a ``perpetuation of hatred,'' as it was worded by Gular Koknar, executive director of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations in Washington, D.C.

In America, Armenian and Turkish immigrants and their descendants would be better off if ``Ararat'' were never screened, Koknar said.

``By giving such a gruesome and gratuitous recollection of the events from nearly 100 years ago, it makes Armenians think: Let's kill those damn Turks,'' Koknar said Thursday. ``I would not want to live in California, particularly near Glendale.''

The film's producer, Rober Lantos, called Koknar's comments ``absurd.''

``Our film is precisely about the opposite of condoning (violence),'' Lantos said.

``Ararat'' is set in contemporary Toronto and is about the making of a historical movie on the Armenian Genocide. The movie within the movie depicts events of the genocide, but the contemporary film focuses on the issues that affect Armenians and Turks today, said director Egoyan, whose credits include Oscar-nominated ``The Sweet Hereafter.''

Egoyan, who said he has received personal threats since he started work on ``Ararat,'' called his film too complex and subtle to be dismissed as Armenian propaganda.

``This movie is a progressive attempt to reformat the entire conversation and discussion about the Armenian Genocide,'' he said.

Moviegoers in Toronto and New York, where ``Ararat'' also opens today in limited release, were exhibiting the same anticipation as Southland ticket buyers, Lantos said.

The film will go into wider release Nov. 29 in 11 American cities and at more theaters in the Los Angeles area.

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Photo:

Areen Ibranossian, 20, who works for the Western Armenian National Committee, stands next to a poster for the movie ``Ararat'' in Glendale.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer