Tweet
ARMENIAN-CANADIAN DIRECTOR EGOYAN CONSIDERS FILM IN TURKEY
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=call-for-peace-and-friendship-in-50th-birthday-of-atom-egoyan-2010-07-29
July 29 2010
Turkey
World-renowned Armenian-Canadian director Atom Egoyan wants to make a
film in Turkey, saying he welcomes all manners of projects. Inviting
Turks and Armenians to engage in dialogue, Egoyan says, 'We need
to speak about the events of 1915. Because we have failed to speak,
the West has not hesitated to [exploit] our wounds out of political
interest'
Atom Egoyan
Though known the world over for his critically acclaimed independent
films, Atom Egoyan is most synonymous in Turkey with his 2002 film
"Ararat," which examined the events of 1915, attracting great anger
from Turkish nationalist circles. Now, however, the Canadian-Armenian
director says he could shoot a film in Turkey.
A joint project with Turkish directors "would be a good step toward
dialogue," Egoyan told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review
during a recent interview in Yerevan, where he was celebrating his
50th birthday along with his wife, Armenian-Canadian actress Arsinée
Khanjian.
A fan of Turkish Nobel laureate author Orhan Pamuk, and especially
his novel "Snow," Egoyan said it would "be a pleasure" to adapt the
writer's work to the silver screen.
Egoyan noted he was following a new generation of Turkish directors,
including YeÅ~_im Ustaoglu, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Semih Kaplanoglu, and
said he had had a chance to meet several Turkish directors during the
International Golden Apricot Film Festival in Yerevan two weeks ago.
'Ararat' and Dink
"Ararat," which provided a unique and artistic view of the tragedy in
eastern Anatolia during World War I, elicited a strong reaction not
only from Turks, but from the Armenian diaspora as well, Egoyan said.
"The diaspora wanted 'Ararat' to be a more striking 'genocide' film,"
Egoyan said. "I don't blame them but there was a fact that they forgot:
It was my film, not theirs. More than the incidents that took place
in 1915, their effects on the younger generation concerned me."
Despite the Turkish criticism of the film, the director said he
believed the country had begun to undergo a positive transformation
following the 2007 assassination of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist
of Armenian origin and editor of the daily Agos.
"As two publics, we need to speak about these incidents without a
mediator," he said. "Since we don't speak, the West has not hesitated
to [exploit] our wounds for political interests."
Speaking about the current situation between Turkish and Armenian
people, Egoyan said he deeply believed that the iron curtain between
both peoples would be torn down as past incidents became topics
of discussion.
In contrast to the commonly held view in the diaspora, Egoyan said
he believed opening the closed border gate between Turkey and Armenia
was a significant step toward a peaceful future.
"Lifting borders will increase peace and welfare in the region,"
the director said. "It will provide an environment for dialogue."
'I am proud of my roots'
Born in Cairo before moving to Victoria, Canada, at a young age,
Egoyan said he was proud to have family roots in Arapgir, a district
in the eastern Turkish province of Malatya. "My biggest wish is to
visit this land of my roots at least once."
Though he has long wished to visit Turkey, Egoyan said he had not
accepted any invitations from the International Istanbul Film Festival.
"The festival management set the condition that I would not use the
word 'genocide' if I came to Turkey," he said. "It was not possible
for me to accept this demand. This is why I refused all invitations."
However, a member of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture Arts, which
organizes the festival, told the Daily News that such a demand was
impossible because Egoyan had never been officially invited to the
festival. Moreover, the official said, the foundation had never any
official talk with the director.
Although known publicly as an Armenian director, Egoyan can only
understand Armenian, but does not speak the language. "It is completely
my fault to not speak Armenian. I did not put any effort to learn it,"
he said, adding that he did not have much linguistic talent.
Nonetheless, he said he could understand Turkish, even if he could
not speak it; like many Armenians from the diaspora, he said his
family occasionally spoke Turkish at home during his childhood.
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=call-for-peace-and-friendship-in-50th-birthday-of-atom-egoyan-2010-07-29
July 29 2010
Turkey
World-renowned Armenian-Canadian director Atom Egoyan wants to make a
film in Turkey, saying he welcomes all manners of projects. Inviting
Turks and Armenians to engage in dialogue, Egoyan says, 'We need
to speak about the events of 1915. Because we have failed to speak,
the West has not hesitated to [exploit] our wounds out of political
interest'
Atom Egoyan
Though known the world over for his critically acclaimed independent
films, Atom Egoyan is most synonymous in Turkey with his 2002 film
"Ararat," which examined the events of 1915, attracting great anger
from Turkish nationalist circles. Now, however, the Canadian-Armenian
director says he could shoot a film in Turkey.
A joint project with Turkish directors "would be a good step toward
dialogue," Egoyan told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review
during a recent interview in Yerevan, where he was celebrating his
50th birthday along with his wife, Armenian-Canadian actress Arsinée
Khanjian.
A fan of Turkish Nobel laureate author Orhan Pamuk, and especially
his novel "Snow," Egoyan said it would "be a pleasure" to adapt the
writer's work to the silver screen.
Egoyan noted he was following a new generation of Turkish directors,
including YeÅ~_im Ustaoglu, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Semih Kaplanoglu, and
said he had had a chance to meet several Turkish directors during the
International Golden Apricot Film Festival in Yerevan two weeks ago.
'Ararat' and Dink
"Ararat," which provided a unique and artistic view of the tragedy in
eastern Anatolia during World War I, elicited a strong reaction not
only from Turks, but from the Armenian diaspora as well, Egoyan said.
"The diaspora wanted 'Ararat' to be a more striking 'genocide' film,"
Egoyan said. "I don't blame them but there was a fact that they forgot:
It was my film, not theirs. More than the incidents that took place
in 1915, their effects on the younger generation concerned me."
Despite the Turkish criticism of the film, the director said he
believed the country had begun to undergo a positive transformation
following the 2007 assassination of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist
of Armenian origin and editor of the daily Agos.
"As two publics, we need to speak about these incidents without a
mediator," he said. "Since we don't speak, the West has not hesitated
to [exploit] our wounds for political interests."
Speaking about the current situation between Turkish and Armenian
people, Egoyan said he deeply believed that the iron curtain between
both peoples would be torn down as past incidents became topics
of discussion.
In contrast to the commonly held view in the diaspora, Egoyan said
he believed opening the closed border gate between Turkey and Armenia
was a significant step toward a peaceful future.
"Lifting borders will increase peace and welfare in the region,"
the director said. "It will provide an environment for dialogue."
'I am proud of my roots'
Born in Cairo before moving to Victoria, Canada, at a young age,
Egoyan said he was proud to have family roots in Arapgir, a district
in the eastern Turkish province of Malatya. "My biggest wish is to
visit this land of my roots at least once."
Though he has long wished to visit Turkey, Egoyan said he had not
accepted any invitations from the International Istanbul Film Festival.
"The festival management set the condition that I would not use the
word 'genocide' if I came to Turkey," he said. "It was not possible
for me to accept this demand. This is why I refused all invitations."
However, a member of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture Arts, which
organizes the festival, told the Daily News that such a demand was
impossible because Egoyan had never been officially invited to the
festival. Moreover, the official said, the foundation had never any
official talk with the director.
Although known publicly as an Armenian director, Egoyan can only
understand Armenian, but does not speak the language. "It is completely
my fault to not speak Armenian. I did not put any effort to learn it,"
he said, adding that he did not have much linguistic talent.
Nonetheless, he said he could understand Turkish, even if he could
not speak it; like many Armenians from the diaspora, he said his
family occasionally spoke Turkish at home during his childhood.
From: A. Papazian