Tweet
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Sept 1 2014
Fatih Akın says he is ready for polemics over his film on 'Armenian genocide'
VENICE ` Anadolu Agency
Turkish-German director Fatih Akın's recent film `The Cut,' which
takes the Ottoman killings of Armenians in 1915 as its starting point,
is one of the films competing for the coveted Golden Lion award at the
71st Venice Film Festival.
Speaking at the festival after its premiere, Akın said he was "ready
for the polemics" that would inevitably follow a film about such a
sensitive subject.
`There are not many films on the Armenian genocide. This is why this
film is necessary ... I have spent seven years of my life preparing
for all of the polemics that may be caused by the film. I can say that
I have already received threats, but it is worth dying for art,' he
said.
Akın, along with the screenwriter of the film, Mardik Martin, and
artists Tahar Rahim, Simon Abkarian, Arevik Martirosyan, Numan Acar,
Hindi Zahra, Nurhan Sekerci and Lara Heller attended a press
conference over the weekend in Venice.
In the film, Rahim, a French actor of Algerian origin, plays an
Armenian man living in the southeastern province of Mardin, who
survived the killings of 1915 and begins a journey that takes him to
the United States in a search for his two daughters.
When asked why he linked the Armenian issue with the killings of
native Americans, Akın said it would help Turks empathize with the
story.
`I know very well that Turks cannot accept a film about an Armenian
hero. This is why I used the genocide of native Americans to develop
empathy with them,' he said.
September/01/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/fatih-akin-says-he-is-ready-for-polemics-over-his-film-on-armenian-genocide.aspx?pageID=238&nID=71172&NewsCatID=381
From: Baghdasarian
Sept 1 2014
Fatih Akın says he is ready for polemics over his film on 'Armenian genocide'
VENICE ` Anadolu Agency
Turkish-German director Fatih Akın's recent film `The Cut,' which
takes the Ottoman killings of Armenians in 1915 as its starting point,
is one of the films competing for the coveted Golden Lion award at the
71st Venice Film Festival.
Speaking at the festival after its premiere, Akın said he was "ready
for the polemics" that would inevitably follow a film about such a
sensitive subject.
`There are not many films on the Armenian genocide. This is why this
film is necessary ... I have spent seven years of my life preparing
for all of the polemics that may be caused by the film. I can say that
I have already received threats, but it is worth dying for art,' he
said.
Akın, along with the screenwriter of the film, Mardik Martin, and
artists Tahar Rahim, Simon Abkarian, Arevik Martirosyan, Numan Acar,
Hindi Zahra, Nurhan Sekerci and Lara Heller attended a press
conference over the weekend in Venice.
In the film, Rahim, a French actor of Algerian origin, plays an
Armenian man living in the southeastern province of Mardin, who
survived the killings of 1915 and begins a journey that takes him to
the United States in a search for his two daughters.
When asked why he linked the Armenian issue with the killings of
native Americans, Akın said it would help Turks empathize with the
story.
`I know very well that Turks cannot accept a film about an Armenian
hero. This is why I used the genocide of native Americans to develop
empathy with them,' he said.
September/01/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/fatih-akin-says-he-is-ready-for-polemics-over-his-film-on-armenian-genocide.aspx?pageID=238&nID=71172&NewsCatID=381
From: Baghdasarian