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SHEKHAR KAPUR'S NEXT ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Hindustan Times
Nov 2 2012
India
The latest topic to catch filmmaker Shekhar Kapur's fancy is the
Armenian genocide, and he knows it's going to be challenging. Kapur's
latest 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
said. "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, adding, "Moreover 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."
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/Shekhar-Kapur-s-next-on-Armenian-genocide/Article1-953905.aspx
From: Baghdasarian
Hindustan Times
Nov 2 2012
India
The latest topic to catch filmmaker Shekhar Kapur's fancy is the
Armenian genocide, and he knows it's going to be challenging. Kapur's
latest 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
said. "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, adding, "Moreover 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."
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/Shekhar-Kapur-s-next-on-Armenian-genocide/Article1-953905.aspx
From: Baghdasarian