First Turkish film to show Armenian genocide wins harsh reception

German-Turkish director Fatih Akin and the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos have been receiving death threats from nationalist Turks since Agos interviewed the director about his new film last month. The content of the messages, the outpouring of support for the threateners and the authorities’ inaction come as a grim illustration of the current atmosphere in Turkey. The death threats are an omen for the coming year, the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

Akin — the director of films such as "Head-On," "Crossing the Bridge: the Sound of Istanbul" and "Soul Kitchen" — gave a long interview to Agos on July 30 about "The Cut," his new film that focuses on the Armenian genocide. The interview was received with great interest and contained intriguing revelations.

For instance, Akin said he considered making a film about the life of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, the former Agos editor who was assassinated in 2007, but none of the Turkish actors he approached would take the role.

Akin then began to work on a new project: the story of a Turkish Armenian who embarks on a worldwide search for his daughters after surviving the 1915 massacres. Akin wrote the script in German, but later decided to shoot the film in English. He sought help from Mardik Martin, an American screenwriter with Iraqi and Armenian roots who has contributed to the scripts of Martin Scorsese films. According to Akin, Martin not only translated but modified and “intensified” the script.