Hurriyet / Turkish Daily News
February 12, 2009 Thursday

FILM INSPIRED BY DINK’S ARTICLE

Volunteer actors and actresses coming together under the slogan, "Our
struggle is until this country becomes the land of brotherhood," have
shot a 32-minute short film in honor of slain journalist Hrant Dink

The product of months of work the film, "Kertenkel" (Lizard), was
inspired by a column published in daily Birgun in October 2004 written
by Agos editor-in-chief Dink, who was assassinated on Jan. 19, 2007.

Ozgur Aryk, a documentary maker who holds many national and
international awards, directed the film. The films budget was 40,000
Turkish liras, provided by the Green Agency and it was shot in the
Mediterranean city of Antalya

[HH] No movie theater to screen the film

Although the film cannot find a movie theater that will screen it,
there are plans to show it to audiences this year in many national and
international film festivals, including the International Istanbul
Film Festival that will be organized by the Istanbul Foundation for
Culture and Arts, or IKSV, in April.

One of the most important planned destinations for the film is the
International Golden Apricot Film Festival to be organized in Armenian
capital, Yerevan in July. From Feb. 17, the film will be screened with
English and Turkish subtitles at the Nazym Hikmet Culture Center on
Istanbuls Asian side in Kadykoy.

"Being inspired by the painful events Armenians went through and with
the words of Dink, this film aims to draw attention to the pain people
are experiencing throughout the world. Unfortunately, we fight to live
in an environment in which people are moving away from each other and
becoming enemies," said Aryk.

[HH] Abdullahs traumatic story

Aryk said the film was based around a character named Abdullah. "A
lizard, when it feels danger, it shelters in the smallest hole it can
find, just like Abdullah." He said the content of the story was
traumatic, "Yes, there is violence in the story but it is based on
causality. We wanted to highlight once again the cost of excess in
this film."

"I have read almost all articles written by Dink," said Aryk. He said
"Lizard" was very important to him, "As soon as I took the paper and
started reading the article, scenes from the film took shape in my
mind."

[HH] Supporting characters from local to general

Even though Aryk sticks to the original story in the film, he also
backs it up with supporting characters. "Rather than localizing the
story, we wanted to draw attention to pain in the world by showing
incidents in our own land. Materiality is what lies behind pain all
around the world. I think economic worries nourish nationalism," Aryk
said.

Aryk added a hodja character to the film. He said the character,
hiding behind religion, behaves cruelly toward people and confiscates
their land. "The hodja prays five times a day but all he thinks about
is owning more."

[HH] This film is not agitation but a call for brotherhood

Aryk said the film was set in the time of World War I, "While watching
the film, viewers will be able to see events that happened during the
war and the effect on people’s psychology."

He said he intentionally shot a short film and that its message was
very short and certain. He added the film had a mission in addition to
commemorating Dink. "With this film, rather than agitate, we try to
highlight once again that everyone who shares this land is a brother."

BOX BOX

The film depicts the end of World War I. A young Armenian person, who
survived the painful events of 1915, shelters in a village in the
slopes of Mount Suphan in eastern Anatolia. He does not play on the
streets like the other young people. He lives in the shed of a
villager named Ismail and tells people nothing except that his name is
Abdullah. One day when he is in the toilet, other children see he is
uncircumcised, and start throwing stones at him. With fear, Abdullah
shelters in the shed and circumcises himself with a sharp tool and
then throws the bloody piece of skin at the people.