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FILM ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WILL BE CHALLENGING: SHEKHAR KAPUR (INTERVIEW)
Indo-Asian News Service
Northern Voices Online
India
By Rajat Ghai
New Delhi, Nov. 1 -- The man who gave us the sensitive "Masoom", the
hilariously thrilling "Mr. India", the gripping "Bandit Queen" and the
grand period drama "Elizabeth" has not lost any of his creative zeal.
The latest topic to catch Shekhar Kapur's fancy is the Armenian
genocide, and he knows it's going to be challenging.
The film deals with the systematic extermination of minority Armenians
in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) by the Ottoman Empire during and
after the Great War (1915-1923). (The Armenians had been settled in
Anatolia for generations after their tiny country in the Caucusus
region northeast of Turkey was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1514)
The event, termed genocide by Armenians the world over, caused the
deaths of 1 to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians in Anatolia.
Kapur had recently tweeted that he was going to Yerevan, Armenia's
capital, to collect material on the event. The idea, he said, came
to him from a script sent by the man who wrote "Motorcyle Diaries".
"It is a part of world history though a very shameful one," Kapur
told IANS during a candid conversation here.
"The idea came to me based on a script sent to me by the screenwriter
of 'Motorcycle Diaries' (Puerto Rican Jose Rivera). I fell in love
with the script. It is a challenging project though. It will require
lots of money, lots of passion and organisation. But there are a lot
of passionate people behind this project. So it will hopefully see
the light of day," he said.
However, filming of the movie will not start before another year,
says Kapur, who is yet to begin work on his long-pending movie on
water wars, "Paani".
The Armenian genocide is a particularly touchy topic in the political
state that succeeded the Ottoman Sultanate in 1923, Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk's Republic of Turkey.
So taboo is the topic for both - the Turkish government and ordinary
Turks, that a Nobel laureate like Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted and
found himself on the hit list of a far-right Turkish group for openly
stating that Turkey had committed genocide against the Armenians.
Does Kapur fear inviting similar censure?
"I invited the wrath of upper castes, the government and the censor
board with 'Bandit Queen'. But I did not back down. I believe in
fighting for what I believe in," he said with a wry smile.
"Moreover," he added, "there has been a shift in Turkish society.
Nobody from that period is alive today. The new generation believes
that their nation is great and has to move on. They say, 'Why can't
we accept what happened'?"
Controversy is not new to Kapur. He had drawn flak from British
tabloids in 2002, when he directed his own version of A.E.W. Mason's
novel "The Four Feathers", starring the late Heath Ledger. The novel is
centred on the Mahdist War in Sudan, sparked by the death of Charles
Gordon (Gordon Pasha). Kapur was accused of being 'anti-British'
when the film released.
"I was not anti-British. I was anti-colonisation. That is why I made
the film. I made my own version because the novel and the previous
film versions were heavily pro-colonial. It was colonial arrogance
that led the British to intervene in Sudan. It was this that I wanted
to show," clarified Kapur.
The 66-year-old is the only Indian to have made a successful Hollywood
film. "Elizabeth" (1998) won Cate Blanchett the Bafta and the Golden
Globe for best actress though she lost out on the Oscar. The film,
however, received an Oscar for best makeup. The sequel "Elizabeth:
The Golden Age" (2007) was also well received.
With the two period dramas behind him, is there anything special
about history that attracts him?
"A society that does not learn from its past is condemned to repeat
its mistakes. As a filmmaker, history for me is like sci-fi. I can
create an entire world of my own," said Kapur.
http://nvonews.com/2012/11/02/film-on-armenian-genocide-will-be-challenging-shekhar-kapur-interview/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Indo-Asian News Service
Northern Voices Online
India
By Rajat Ghai
New Delhi, Nov. 1 -- The man who gave us the sensitive "Masoom", the
hilariously thrilling "Mr. India", the gripping "Bandit Queen" and the
grand period drama "Elizabeth" has not lost any of his creative zeal.
The latest topic to catch Shekhar Kapur's fancy is the Armenian
genocide, and he knows it's going to be challenging.
The film deals with the systematic extermination of minority Armenians
in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) by the Ottoman Empire during and
after the Great War (1915-1923). (The Armenians had been settled in
Anatolia for generations after their tiny country in the Caucusus
region northeast of Turkey was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1514)
The event, termed genocide by Armenians the world over, caused the
deaths of 1 to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians in Anatolia.
Kapur had recently tweeted that he was going to Yerevan, Armenia's
capital, to collect material on the event. The idea, he said, came
to him from a script sent by the man who wrote "Motorcyle Diaries".
"It is a part of world history though a very shameful one," Kapur
told IANS during a candid conversation here.
"The idea came to me based on a script sent to me by the screenwriter
of 'Motorcycle Diaries' (Puerto Rican Jose Rivera). I fell in love
with the script. It is a challenging project though. It will require
lots of money, lots of passion and organisation. But there are a lot
of passionate people behind this project. So it will hopefully see
the light of day," he said.
However, filming of the movie will not start before another year,
says Kapur, who is yet to begin work on his long-pending movie on
water wars, "Paani".
The Armenian genocide is a particularly touchy topic in the political
state that succeeded the Ottoman Sultanate in 1923, Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk's Republic of Turkey.
So taboo is the topic for both - the Turkish government and ordinary
Turks, that a Nobel laureate like Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted and
found himself on the hit list of a far-right Turkish group for openly
stating that Turkey had committed genocide against the Armenians.
Does Kapur fear inviting similar censure?
"I invited the wrath of upper castes, the government and the censor
board with 'Bandit Queen'. But I did not back down. I believe in
fighting for what I believe in," he said with a wry smile.
"Moreover," he added, "there has been a shift in Turkish society.
Nobody from that period is alive today. The new generation believes
that their nation is great and has to move on. They say, 'Why can't
we accept what happened'?"
Controversy is not new to Kapur. He had drawn flak from British
tabloids in 2002, when he directed his own version of A.E.W. Mason's
novel "The Four Feathers", starring the late Heath Ledger. The novel is
centred on the Mahdist War in Sudan, sparked by the death of Charles
Gordon (Gordon Pasha). Kapur was accused of being 'anti-British'
when the film released.
"I was not anti-British. I was anti-colonisation. That is why I made
the film. I made my own version because the novel and the previous
film versions were heavily pro-colonial. It was colonial arrogance
that led the British to intervene in Sudan. It was this that I wanted
to show," clarified Kapur.
The 66-year-old is the only Indian to have made a successful Hollywood
film. "Elizabeth" (1998) won Cate Blanchett the Bafta and the Golden
Globe for best actress though she lost out on the Oscar. The film,
however, received an Oscar for best makeup. The sequel "Elizabeth:
The Golden Age" (2007) was also well received.
With the two period dramas behind him, is there anything special
about history that attracts him?
"A society that does not learn from its past is condemned to repeat
its mistakes. As a filmmaker, history for me is like sci-fi. I can
create an entire world of my own," said Kapur.
http://nvonews.com/2012/11/02/film-on-armenian-genocide-will-be-challenging-shekhar-kapur-interview/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress