Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 2 2007

Turkish film directors warn about violent films

While the role of the media in inciting racial hatred is still under
discussion in the aftermath of the assassination of Armenian-Turkish
journalist Hrant Dink, Turkish directors engaged in self-criticism at
the `Meetings at the Center of the World’ conference organized by
Kültür AÞ last weekend.
`We are all responsible for Hrant Dink’s death,’ Turkish director
Derviþ Zaim noted. `Making films that glorify violence gives rise to
this kind of mentality.’ Recalling that cinema and other branches of
art could not eradicate such horrific incidents overnight, Zaim said
they could, however, prove beneficial in establishing a mutual
understanding in the long run.
Speeches delivered at the awards ceremony of the Association of
Screenwriters (SÝYAD) on Monday night expounded on Zaim’s theory.
Taking the stage to present an award, young director Çaðan Irmak
said: `Films and TV series in recent years that outwardly criticize
but inwardly exploit violence for their interests and the productions
that abuse a hollow and cheap nationalism as its trump card and that
knowingly or unknowingly praise militarist remarks will earn their
producers money in the short run. But they will soon turn into guns
directed at Turkey’s heart. I should remind those producers who want
to win masses through such films of the fact that masses don’t have a
conscience. And the people that pull the trigger are mostly dummies
emerging from such masses.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress