26 08 2009 - A cinema platform that brings together Turkish and Armenian filmmakers to develop intercultural dialogue ....

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 Çi.dem Mater Utku, project assistant Sibil Çekmen and young filmmaker Zeynep Güzel 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 Kizlari.(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 Armeni's second largest city, Gyumri, which is very close to Kars. Turkish and Armenian tales will be told by real people in the documentary..

G.C