Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan (Աթոմ Եղոյեան; born July 19, 1960) is a Canadian filmmaker.

Egoyan was born Atom Yeghoyan on July 19, 1960, in Cairo in what was then the United Arab Republic to Armenian-Egyptian painters Shushan (Devletian) and Joseph Yeghoyan.

He was named Atom to mark the completion of Egypt's first nuclear reactor.

Egoyan has a younger sister, Eve.

In 1963, the family moved to Victoria in the Canadian province of British Columbia due to the rise of Arab nationalism, and changed their last name to Egoyan.

As a teenager, Egoyan became interested in reading and writing plays.

Influences included Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter.

He also attributes his future in the film industry to Persona (1966), which he viewed at age 14, according to an interview he had with journalist Robert K. Elder for The Film That Changed My Life:

"It gave me an incredible respect for the medium and its possibilities. To me, Persona marries a pure form and a very profound vision with absolute conviction. It's very inspiring. I felt that it was able to open a door that wasn't there before."

Egoyan graduated from Trinity College at the University of Toronto.

It was at Trinity College that he came into contact with Harold Nahabedian, the Armenian-Canadian Anglican Chaplain of Trinity College.

In interviews, Egoyan credited Nahabedian for introducing him to the language and history of his ethnic heritage.

Egoyan also wrote for the University of Toronto's independent weekly, The Newspaper, during his time at the school.

Emerging in the 1980s as part of the Toronto New Wave, he made his career breakthrough with Exotica (1994), a film set in a strip club.

Egoyan began making films in the early 1980s; his debut film Next of Kin (1984) world-premiered at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg and won a major prize.

He directed the 1985 Twilight Zone episode "The Wall".

After Henri Verneuil's French-language film Mayrig (1991), it was the first major motion picture to deal directly with the Armenian genocide.

Ararat later won the award for Best Motion Picture at the Canadian Screen Awards, marking his third win.

The film was released in over 30 countries around the world.

His commercial breakthrough came with the film Exotica (1994).

He received the Grand Prix (Belgian Film Critics Association) in Brussels, the FIPRESCI Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and Best Motion Picture at the Canadian Screen Awards (then called the Genie Awards).

Egoyan's most critically acclaimed film is the drama The Sweet Hereafter (1997), for which he received two Academy Award nominations.

However, it was Egoyan's first attempt at adapted material that resulted in his best-known work, The Sweet Hereafter (1997), which earned him three prizes at the 50th Cannes Film Festival: the Grand Prix, the FIPRESCI Jury Prize, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.

The film also earned Egoyan Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The film Ararat (2002) generated much publicity for Egoyan.

In 2004, Egoyan opened Camera Bar, a 50-seat cinema-lounge on Queen Street West in Toronto.

The bar has since closed.

Beginning in September 2006, Egoyan taught at the University of Toronto for three years.

He joined the Faculty of Arts and Science as the Dean's Distinguished Visitor in theatre, film, music, and visual studies.

He subsequently taught at Ryerson University.

In 2006, he received the Master of Cinema Award of the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg.

He received the 2008 Dan David Prize for "Creative Rendering of the Past" and the 2015 Governor General's Performing Arts Award.

Egoyan is married to actress Arsinée Khanjian, whom he has often cast in his films.

His biggest commercial success is the erotic thriller Chloe (2009).

Egoyan's works often explore themes of alienation and isolation, featuring characters whose interactions are mediated through technology, bureaucracy, or other power structures.

His films often follow non-linear plot structures, in which events are placed out of sequence in order to elicit specific emotional reactions from the audience by withholding key information.

In 2009, he directed the erotic thriller Chloe, which was theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics on March 26, 2010.

This film grossed $3 million in box office sales in the United States and became one of the higher-grossing specialty films of the year in the United States.

Several months after the DVD/Blu-ray release of Chloe, Egoyan said that Chloe had made more money than any of his previous films.

The success of Chloe led Egoyan to receive many scripts of erotic thrillers.