A Review of Ararat Screening in Turkey

So Ararat was finally screened in Turkey, it was screened on KanalTurk TV station, which would give the opportunity to more viewers to watch it, certainly more viewers than if it would've been screened in a movie theater!

Although it was published few days ago, I still find the article in NorMarmara daily that was published April 14, the most interesting article that reviewed in details the screening of Egoyan's Ararat and the post screening discussion.

Before the screening of the movie started, Tuncay Ozkan appeared to on the screen to warn the viewers, now one would expect that to be a warning about an age limit to view the movie or something like that, but that was not what happened, although it was necessary to make a note that the movie is 18+ rated, but no that wasn't the kind of warning the viewers watched.

"Tuncay Ozkan, tried his best to influence and convince the Turkish TV viewers by classifying the movie as a propaganda preachings, and by telling the viewers that they should never never forget as they watch this movie that it was based on lies! Tunca also begged the viewers not to feel uncomfortable while watching some of the tough scenes in the movie, because those are all lies and things that never happened."

As reported the newspaper. And after that speech started the screening of the movie.

KanalTurk promised, and it's officials repeatedly stated that Ararat will be screened "uncensored and uncut," of course that did not happen, I am yet to see a Turk keep a promise he make about anything related to Armenians! I mean really, how anyone can trust KanalTurk (in this case) anymore if they can't keep their promises?

NorMarmara reported that:

"Unlike to what was announced, that the movie will be screened without censorship or cut, two important scenes, the one in which Turkish soldiers set on fire a group of Armenian girls and the scene that shows a Turkish soldier raping an Armenian woman, those scenes were removed. And the scenes that included swearing and insults, were simply silenced. No Turkish company was agreed to do the translation of the movie, therefore the Turkish translation [subtitle] was prepared by KanalTurk itself."


After the movie, and as planned a discussion panel started. The discussion announced to be featuring well known political columnist Orgeneral Kemal Yavuz, Agos editor Hrant Dink and Movie Critic Necati Sonmez, but at the begnning of the discussion program which was titled "Facts", by the way, came the announcement that "Hrant Dink is not going to partecipate in the discussion, and he had came all the way to the station's headquarters, then in the last minute he changed his mind and did not attend the show."

Anyway, the discussion program continued with Tuncay Ozkan adding that " in order to make this show more colorful we wished the Halil Brektay and Baskin Oran would also join this show, but they also refused to participate."

"Controling the discussion most of the time, columnist Orgeneral Kemal Yavuz, and as expected comprehensively critizing the movie, and classifiying it as preaching to serve the Armenian thesis. Yavuz continued his solo speech for a long time… he started by repeated all the well known [Turkish government's official] arguments, which were hardly approaching the subject in discussion . Offering various types of testimonials , he continuously argued that neither the International Court, nor even the American archives could find any evidence whatsoever to condemn with the charge of committing a Genocide, the Turkish officials who were presented to trial, and they were released as not guilty."

I don't know where did this General got his information from, but it must be from and ignorant source. The chief perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide were all "Sentenced to Death in absentia," because they were too coward to show up and face their crimes, and many others were sentenced with prison times varies from few years to life in prison. Yet, there were others, who were released after being condemned and found accomplice in the crimes against the Armenians, only to take part in building and ruling of the new Turkish republic.

And what Yavuz told his audience about United States' unability to find any evidence about the Armenian Genocide was simply "Misleading" and fabricated, because the United States Senate had already recognized those crimes against the Armenians in May 1920 [Harut Sassounian, THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE : The World Speaks Out 1915 - 2005. p.51]

From a different source, I learned that what did he present was "Turkish translation" of the "British Ambassador in Washington" letter, sent to the British Foreign Office in 1921... And I don't know how did the General found those Five Years LATE reports so conclusive to judge that there was no Genocide against the Armenians, by 1921 Armenians of Ottoman Empire WERE HISTORY!!

Coming to movie critic Necati Sonmez, he started by criticizing Tuncay Ozkan for his pre-movie speech, arguing that it was trying to influence the audience even before they start watching the movie, and that is a mistake and unfair against the movie. Sonmez said he also didn't like the movie which ,in his opinion, can be considered to be the most unsuccessful work of a very creative director like Atom Egoyan.

He also admired the movie's artistic techniques, and the creating of another movie within the movie, and the in keeping the balance and interaction between the two.

Reading more of Turks reactions to the screening of the movie, I read that many of them expressed that they movie was vague, too complicated, and contains mistakes … etc.

I had watched the movie some time ago, & in my opinion, Ararat is not a movie telling the story of the Armenian Genocide, and it's certainly not a WWI epic film. Ararat is a movie about "Feelings," each and every scene in the movie is an expression of feelings… It's about love, hate, anger, fear, unjust and all basic human feelings from an Armenian point of view. It's not a movie about the Genocide, it's a movie about the Survivors of the Genocide & their children, how they were adjusting and fitting in their new societies, how much the Genocide did changed their lives forever. Ararat is a symbolic movie, it's a message to "Remember" those people who were so needed to be remembered [as the comment about Gorky's photo]. It's a tribute to all the Armenian Genocide survivors, and to the great Armenian-American painter Arshel Gorky.

No one expected that after the screening of Ararat on Turkish TV, Erdogan or Gull will come out saying "Oh yes, we were wrong, Armenian Genocide did actually happen." But that screening was important, to put a picture to words, for example, when any Turk today hear the word "deportation" he might not imagine how was it like to Armenian women and children, how was the atmosphere of fear and terror among them …

But today, thanks to the screening of Ararat on Turkish TV, some Turks might have a picture in mind to connect to words like deportation, Armenian freedom fighters, terrified Armenian women and children, missionaries and the cruelty of Turkish soldiers.