Eric Bogosian, Christopher Plummer and Elias Koteas have joined the cast of Atom Egoyan's Ararat which is set to shoot mid-May in Toronto.

The Serendipity Point film, backed by Alliance Atlantis, follows the production ofa historical drama about the Armenian Genocide and the ripple effect of the production on the cast and crew as well as the incidental people with whom they come in contact.

As reported earlier (Screen Daily, Jan 24), French crooner Charles Aznavor playsthe Armenian-French auteur who arrives in Canada to shoot the film. Bogosian plays the film's screenwriter while Koteas, who won critical praise for his performance in Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, plays an actor ofTurkish descent conflicted by his role as the film's villain, a brutal Turkish military officer who oversaw massacres.

The theme has particular resonance for three of the principals: Egoyan, Aznavor and Bogosian are of Armenian descent.

Plummer plays a Canadian customs agent. Other confirmed cast include Marie-Josee Croze,Brent Carver and Egoyan regulars Arsinee Khanjian and Bruce Greenwood. Koteas starred in Egoyan's The Adjuster.

Technical roles are also filled by Egoyan stalwarts including cinematographer PaulSarossy, composer Mychael Danna and editor Susan Shipton.