TURKISH-ARMENIAN MOVIE PREMIERE HELD IN ANKARA
Today’s Zaman
Dec 24 2009
Turkey
Ankara’s Buyulu Fener Theater was the venue for an evening hosted
by the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC), the
Armenian Marketing Association and the United States Embassy in Turkey
on Tuesday.
The reason for the event was the premiere of a new film, "Aras
KıyılarÄ 1;nda," or "On the Banks of the Aras," a joint venture
involving all the institutions and organizations mentioned above as
well as the US Embassy in Armenia.
Co-directed by Gevorg Nazaryan and Serdar Dinler, and based on a
story written by Dinler and Aram Navasardyan, the movie’s two major
characters are Tamer (played by Sabina Muradyan) and Aras (played by
Bulut Onguner), with Tamer living in Armenia and Aras in Turkey.
Tamer’s work brings her into contact with Aras, and the two begin an
Internet-based exchange of viewpoints about their countries, their
history as well as the present.
The river Aras is used both as a symbol of today’s border separating
Armenia from Turkey and a manifestation of its people’s common heritage
and future.
The film leaves its end open, allowing for speculation about whether
one day Tamer will be able to meet Aras. Filmed on location and using
the magnificent countryside as its background, the movie does not
point fingers and does not try to put blame on any one side. It is
much more than a movie about a potential future romance — it is a
film that creates awareness about two countries living side by side
with a closed border separating them from each other.
Upon welcoming guests, Dinler, a member of the TABDC executive team,
stressed the relevance of engaging civil society, noting that the
movie is not of a commercial nature.
Speaking with Today’s Zaman, Nergis Ozturk, one of the two
scriptwriters and editors and also a member of the TABDC executive
team, stated that opening the border is not only a civil society
requirement but would bring along much needed trade and business. She
said both peoples must learn more about each other and described how
exciting it had been to shoot the movie on location.
Thomas M. Leary, public affairs counselor at the US Embassy in Ankara,
who addressed the guests before the screening, later told Today’s
Zaman that the US Embassy in Ankara and the US Embassy in Yerevan
had co-sponsored the making of the film as part of their civil
society engagement and that further civil society projects and the
dissemination of their results — albeit not necessarily linked with
Armenia — were in the pipeline for 2010.
Suat Kınıklıoglu, deputy chairman of external affairs for the
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and spokesman for the Turkish
Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, was also in attendance.
The uniqueness of this film premiere can be attributed to the fact
that individuals and their stories — even if scripted — often allow
for a better understanding of the wider picture. While statesmen must
continue to meet and create the regulatory framework for rapprochement
between both nations, ultimately citizens must learn how to live
with each other more closely again. "Aras Kıyılarında" is much
more than a movie!