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Hollywood Reporter
Aug 31 2014
Venice: 'The Cut' Director Plays Down Turkish Death Threats
by Scott Roxborough
Fatih Akin's film examines the Turkish massacre of 1 million Armenians
in 1915, a genocide Turkey still denies
German-Turkish director Fatih Akin tried to play down death threats
against him issued as a result of his film, The Cut, which had its
world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday.
The movie looks at the Armenian genocide, the state-sponsored killing
in 1915 of at least 1 million ethnic Armenians in what is now Turkey.
The film is highly controversial in Turkey as the official government
line is that the well-documented genocide never occurred.
Far-right nationalists in Turkey have threatened Akin and anyone
associated with the film, that if The Cut is shown in Turkey, they
could suffer the same fate as Hrant Dink, the Armenian-Turkish
journalist shot down by a teenage Turkish nationalist in 2007.
But at the press conference following the film's premiere, Akin said
the threats didn't surprise him. "I spent 7 or 8 years working on this
movie, I had time to anticipate what the reaction would be."
While he said he felt "art is worth dying for," he downplayed the
threat of real violence.
"You have one Tweet by some group and then it kicks off a media
avalanche," Akin said. "I'm not taking it too seriously."
The political heat around the film, however, is only set to grow in
Turkey ahead of 2105, which marks the centenary of the genocide.
Despite the controversy, Akin told THR he thinks modern-day Turkey is
ready for The Cut.
"Turkey has changed a lot in the last seven years (since Dink's
assassination)," he said. "I have a feeling the society is open to
talking about this now. It's not as much of a taboo."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/venice-cut-director-plays-down-729313
Aug 31 2014
Venice: 'The Cut' Director Plays Down Turkish Death Threats
by Scott Roxborough
Fatih Akin's film examines the Turkish massacre of 1 million Armenians
in 1915, a genocide Turkey still denies
German-Turkish director Fatih Akin tried to play down death threats
against him issued as a result of his film, The Cut, which had its
world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday.
The movie looks at the Armenian genocide, the state-sponsored killing
in 1915 of at least 1 million ethnic Armenians in what is now Turkey.
The film is highly controversial in Turkey as the official government
line is that the well-documented genocide never occurred.
Far-right nationalists in Turkey have threatened Akin and anyone
associated with the film, that if The Cut is shown in Turkey, they
could suffer the same fate as Hrant Dink, the Armenian-Turkish
journalist shot down by a teenage Turkish nationalist in 2007.
But at the press conference following the film's premiere, Akin said
the threats didn't surprise him. "I spent 7 or 8 years working on this
movie, I had time to anticipate what the reaction would be."
While he said he felt "art is worth dying for," he downplayed the
threat of real violence.
"You have one Tweet by some group and then it kicks off a media
avalanche," Akin said. "I'm not taking it too seriously."
The political heat around the film, however, is only set to grow in
Turkey ahead of 2105, which marks the centenary of the genocide.
Despite the controversy, Akin told THR he thinks modern-day Turkey is
ready for The Cut.
"Turkey has changed a lot in the last seven years (since Dink's
assassination)," he said. "I have a feeling the society is open to
talking about this now. It's not as much of a taboo."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/venice-cut-director-plays-down-729313