PLATFORM TO BRING ARMENIAN, TURKISH FILMMAKERS TOGETHER

Hurriyet
July 10 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – A cinema platform that brings together Turkish and Armenian
filmmakers to develop intercultural dialogue and cooperation will
once again unite the artists next week at the International Golden
Apricot Film Festival in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.

The seventh art cinema has brought together Turkish and Armenian
filmmakers under the same roof for the Turkey-Armenia Cinema Platform.

Both countries’ filmmakers will once again gather during the
International Golden Apricot Film Festival, one of the largest
festivals in the Caucasus, from July 12 to 19 in the Armenian capital
of Yerevan.

The Turkey-Armenia Cinema Platform stemmed from Anadolu Kultur
(Anatolian Culture), which was formed in 2002 to develop intercultural
dialogue and cooperation. The organization has so far initiated many
projects with artists from Caucasus countries, including Armenia.

Among these projects, the most important one was the project
named "Merhabarev," which was put together by Turkish and Armenian
photographers in 2006. As part of the project, organized jointly by
Turkish Nar Photos and Armenian Badger Photos, Armenian photographers
worked in Istanbul and Turkish photographers worked in Yerevan.

The exhibition featuring the photos taken by both countries’
photographers opened in Istanbul in 2006 and then in Yerevan. The
exhibition received much interest and right after it, the idea to
form a cinema platform came up.

Contact was made with young Armenian filmmakers via the Internet, and
with the initiation of Anadolu Kultur, the Istanbul Foundation for
Culture and Arts, or IKSV, invited 12 Armenian filmmakers to attend
the International Istanbul Film Festival in April 2008. In July of
the same year, Turkish filmmakers went to Armenia for the first time
for the fifth Golden Apricot Film Festival.

Platform calls for Turkish Culture Ministry

Project manager Cigdem Mater Utku, project assistant Sibil Cekmen
and young filmmaker Zeynep Guzel spoke to the Hurriyet Daily News &
Economic Review about the works of the platform.

"If our Culture Ministry finances us, we can make a Turkey
retrospective with a 50-person team next year in Armenia. And in
return, we can make an Armenia retrospective at the International
Istanbul Film Festival. There is no need for diplomatic relations to
do all these things," Mater said.

Speaking about the main reasons for the formation of the platform,
Mater said, "We are two publics closed to each other. Cinema is a
significant tool to make us closer. It is very important that an
Armenian viewer hears a Turkish name while watching a film, and
vice versa."

Largest festival in the region

Cooperation between the filmmakers in the platform started in
2007. Mater saidArmenian cinema was successful and compared it to
Turkish cinema. "Armenian cinema comes from a deep-rooted culture,"
she said. "There is the culture of the former Soviet Union behind
it. Turkish cinema is the one that is newly becoming popular."

Mater said the Golden Apricot Film Festival was one of the most
notable festivals in the region, and that it had similarities with
the Sarajevo Film Festival. "Both countries had many difficulties in
a closed geography," she said. "They want to make their voice heard
and produce more successful things."

As a result of sessions organized as part of the platform, filmmakers
from both countries have produced many interesting projects since
December, said Cekmen. According to Cekmen, the most interesting
documentaries of the project are Kurdish documentary maker Mujde
Arslan’s "Kafir’in Kızları" (Daughters of the Faithless) and Zeynep
Guzel’s "Masal" (Tale). Arslan has done exclusive interviews with
Kurdish families with Armenian ancestors.

‘Tale within a tale’

While making "Tale," Guzel conducted research with young Armenian
filmmaker Arman Tatevosyon. "We compiled tales for the project. I
compiled tales from the eastern city of Kars, and Arman compiled
tales from Armenia’s second largest city, Gyumri, which is very close
to Kars. Turkish and Armenian tales will be told by real people in
the documentary."