Turkish Director Fatih Akın says can’t visit Turkey because of Armenian Genocide film VIDEO

April 5, 2018 By administrator

Fatih Akın The Cut

Director Fatih Akın said he has not visited Turkey after the premiere of his film, “The Cut,” which depicts the Armenian Genocide, reported Turkish new site Artı Gerçek, according to Ahval.

“I am a German with Turkish origins and have always felt that I have been a potential victim,” said Akın, who recently won a Golden Globe with his film “In The Fade”, during an interview with the Turkish magazine.

“I have not been to Turkey since the premiere of my film “The Cut” about the Armenian Genocide three years ago,” said Akın and added “I really love Turkey”.

“I am really saddened by the fact that Turkey has been going through difficult times. Hatred and racism are poisoning the whole country; hatred and racism have been taking root in Turkey for a long time. The elites used to exploit the townsmen in old times, now townsmen have seized power and started taking revenge,” he continued.

“Nowadays I have to stay away from Turkey and I don’t have any plans to shoot a film there at the moment. Even if I had such plans, probably I would be arrested,” he said, noting that after directing “The Cut”, he thinks he is probably perceived in Turkey as an enemy of the people.

#armeniangenocide FATIH AKIN: THE TRUTH IS THAT GENOCIDE WAS COMMITTED IN 1915

February 3, 2015 By administrator

By Mane Yepremyan

The Cut, a film by Fatih Akin, a German director of Turkish descent, centers on a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, Nazaret Manoogian, who lost his family and learnt years later that his twin daughters may have been left alive. He goes on a quest to find them and eventually reaches North Dakota. The 138-minute English-language film is scribed by Akin and ethnic Armenian Mardik Martin. On January 30, Yerevan hosted a private screening of The Cut. In a conversation with ArmenianGenocide100.org, Akin spoke about the film, his position on the Armenian Genocide and more.

When did you first hear about the Armenian Genocide?

I think I first heard of the Armenian Genocide when I was in high school – I was a teenager of 15 or 16 years.

What’s your personal position on the Armenian Genocide?

When I went to Turkey with the film, people kept asking me why I had shown just one side of the history. I said that this is not a football game with two sides. There is just one truth and I believe in that. I believe that events that took place in 1915 and the following years, are a genocide. But this is just my position, this is what I believe in.

Before screening the film, you said that Turkey is ready to watch a movie about the Genocide. Are you of the same opinion now?

Yes, I am. The film runs in Turkish movie theaters now, and people have access to it. If they want to have it on DVD, they will have it. If they want to stream it later, they can stream it later. Another question is if there is enough interest. Sadly enough, those who are interested are in the minority.

Do you think your movie changed anything in the Turkish society?

Some things have changed, of course. The other day an Armenian politician came to me and said that now he can forgive certain people. Or young people in Turkey who watched the movie were astonished as they had never heard of what the Ottoman Empire had done. So the film changed the reality of certain people. And maybe this is the right way to make some changes. Nobody can change the world altogether, but I can change my world. So, this change occurred not in the whole society, but in an individual.

If Turkey recognizes the Armenian Genocide, what should be done after that?

I have my own position, my own opinion regarding this question. I think that the word genocide is just a word misapplied by certain politicians due to some geopolitical issues. You should use this word when you really understand what has happened. I have nothing to do with politics whatsoever, and it is up to them whether to recognize the genocide or not. I think that it is more important for a cab driver, or a waiter, or the students, or the common people to know about the genocide, and I don’t care whether politicians accept it or not.

What film about the Armenian Genocide impressed you the most?

I like Ararat by Atom Egoyan. It was a great inspiration. I like America, America by Elia Kazan which is not about the Armenian Genocide. In many aspects this film is the godfather of my film. There are even some direct references to America, America.

What did you feel during your first visit to the Armenian Genocide Museum, where numerous photos reflect the atrocities committed by the Ottoman Empire?

The first time I visited the museum was 5 years ago, in 2010. I felt sorry, and I felt the burden of responsibility, I felt the grief in the air. When you are at the Genocide museum, the only thing you think about is the genocide, and nothing else.

Is it possible for you to come back to Armenia on April 24?

I don’t know. I will be at the United States promoting the film. I know that physical presence is important but if this not possible I will definitely be here with all my mind and spirit.

Source: ArmenianGenocide100.org / Mane Yepremyan

Interview: Fatih Akin, Turkey was ‘ready’ for a film on Armenian genocide (Video)

January 15, 2015 By administrator

By Achren ALLAHVERDIAN France24

German-Turkish director Fatih Akin spent seven years working on “The Cut”, a film that depicts the Armenian genocide of 1915. He first had the idea after the assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul in 2007, which sparked protests across Turkey. “There was an open discussion about the Armenian genocide in Turkey after Hrant was shot”, he recalls.

Turkey does not recognise the Armenian genocide, only acknowledging a “massacre”. Nevertheless, Fatih Akin says he has witnessed a change in mentalities in Turkey.

Even though he was insulted and received deaths for making “The Cut”, the director “did not get any trouble” from the government and describes a “live and let live” response from the authorities. Turkey was “ready for such a film”, he concludes.

Source: France24

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, majority of U.S. states, parliaments of Greece, Cyprus, Argentina, Belgium and Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Chamber of Commons of Canada, Polish Sejm, Vatican, European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.

German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin: I recognize 1915 as genocide

December 20, 2014 By administrator

German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin, who directed the film The Cut, which is about the Armenian Genocide and its consequences, reacted strongly against Germany’s former Turkish MP Hakki Keskin, who attempted to “teach” him history. report news.am

Akin responded publicly to Keskin, the former president of Germany’s Turkish community organization, and asked Keskin to remove his Email address from his mailing list and to no longer send him Emails, Marksist.org website of Turkey reported.

“I don’t want to receive your political content Emails. I recognize 1915 as genocide. I believe you are familiar with the content of the film The Cut. But you haven’t read my comments on it in various media; I hope you’ll be attentive,” Fatih Akin said.

The Cut, Fatih Akin, the film is going to cringe in Turkey

November 9, 2014 By administrator

Presented for the first November 7 in Paris, the film German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin, may grind more than one tooth in Turkey. It should indeed out on the screens of 5 cities, 5 December, Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya and Eskişehir.

In France, the film will be screened in 120 theaters, on January 15, 2015, with dialogue dubbed in Armenian, Turkish and Arabic subtitled in French. Distribution Pyramid Films.

At the end of the projection preview, Fatih Akin was willing to bend the game of questions and answers asked by reporters about the shooting conditions and the Turkish-Armenian issue (see here). Of these, the question of whether he was worried for directing this film, Fatih Akin says that only “fascists” Turkish threatened.

Jean Eckian

German-Turkish director Fatih Akın threatened by ultranationalists “The Cut,”

August 4, 2014 By administrator

An ultranationalist Turkish group has threatened famous director Fatih Akın for his upcoming movie “The Cut,” which explores controversial themes regarding the Armenian issue.

A magazine named Ötüken, the publication of the Turkish Turanist Association, has released an online statement, saying it would not allow the movie to be released in Turkey after it discovered that the German-Turkish director conducted an interview with the Armenian weekly Agos.

“We openly threaten Agos Newspaper, Armenian fascists and so-called intellectuals,” the message read. “That movie will not be released in a single movie theater in Turkey. We are following the developments with our white caps and Azerbaijani flags.”

The white cap is a clear reference to the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was killed in broad daylight in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007, as the hit-man, Ogün Samast, was wearing a white cap when he murdered the editor-in-chief of Agos.

In the new Akın movie, Tahar Rahim, a French actor of Algerian origin, plays an Armenian man living in Mardin, located in the southeastern part of Turkey, who survived the killings of 1915 and begins a journey that takes him to America in a search for his two daughters.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their forebears were killed in 1915 and 1916 by the forces of the Ottoman Empire in what many around the world have termed a “genocide,” which Ankara denies. Meanwhile, Turkey disputes the figure, arguing that only 500,000 died while also denying that the killings amounted to genocide, attributing the toll to fighting and starvation during World War I.

Earlier this year, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a statement of condolences on the eve of the 99th anniversary of the deeply contested deaths, unexpectedly describing the events of 1915 as “inhumane.” However, some U.S.-based Armenian advocacy groups continue to claim that the words were “cold-hearted and cynical.”

The Turkish ultranationalists have claimed that the movie was the “first step of several steps to make Turkey accept the so-called lie of the Armenian genocide,” a statement by the group read.
The movie is expected to be out in the fall.

In his interview with Agos, the 40-year-old filmmaker said he was preparing a movie on the life of Dink. However, Akın, best known for his movies depicting Germany’s cross-cultural lives, such as “Short Sharp Shock,” “Head-On” and “The Edge of Heaven,” said he failed to find a Turkish actor willing to depict the influential writer.

“I planned to shoot a movie about Hrant Dink after ‘Soul Kitchen’ [in 2009]. I wrote a scenario based on 12 articles by Hrant Dink, which were published in Agos. I don’t know whether it would have been a good movie. But I could not persuade any Turkish actor to perform as Hrant. They all found the situation too heavy [to handle]. Then I had to freeze the project,” he said. Hamburg-born Akın won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival with “Head-On” and the Best Screenplay award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival with “The Edge of Heaven.”

August/04/2014