Calendar

In this, one of his most personal films, Atom Egoyan plays a photographer hired to capture images of Armenian churches for a calendar. He takes his wife (real-life wife and frequent star Arsinée Khanjian) along as a translator, and as they travel with their Armenian guide, their relationship begins to unravel. While he struggles to connect to the history that surrounds them, his wife forms a deep bond with the place. Ultimately, the photographer returns to Canada with his pictures, but without his wife, who has gradually been drawn to her own ethnic roots and has fallen in love with their guide.

In a series of flash-forwards, the photographer struggles to accept the end of his relationship while his now-estranged wife leaves messages on his answering machine, asking why he doesn’t contact her. Visually arresting, thought-provoking and emotionally charged, Calendar is one of Egoyan’s greatest films, and won the Genie for Best Director and Screenplay.