New Kurdish Film Focuses on Turkish Genocide
26/11/2012 05:30:00By ALLAN KAYAN
Dogan told Rudaw that the idea of the film has been in his mind for
several years; however, he couldn’t pursue it due to financial issues.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdish film `My Father’s Voice’ is
screening in Turkey and Germany. Based on a true story, the film is
about the genocide committed against Kurds in Marash, Turkey.
`The Kurdish Kurmanji dialect is the language of the film,’ says
Zeynel Dogan, the film’s producer.
`My Father’s Voice’ was first screened in Amsterdam, Holland. The film
won the Adana International Cinema Award and was also awarded best
film scenario at the Istanbul Film Festival.
The film focuses on a family who escapes during the genocide; it is
the story of Dogan’s own family.
Dogan told Rudaw that the idea of the film has been in his mind for
several years; however, he couldn’t pursue it due to financial issues.
`At first, I wanted to create a documentary. After discussing it with
my friends, they encouraged me to make a movie,’ Dogan said.
The movie features a man listening to a tape recording which tells the
story of his family. `The tape recording is very special as it reveals
many things, especially what happened to my father and my family,’
Dogan said.
Dogan says that Orhan Eskiköy wrote the screenplay.
In his film, Dogan used the original dialect of the area where the
genocide occurred.
`Using the original dialect is very important, because it is a little
bit different from standard Kurmanji,’ Dogan said. `People who speak
this dialect are embarrassed to speak it as they are made fun of by
others.’
`One of our goals was to change this mindset,’ he said, adding that
having variety of dialects makes the Kurdish language rich.
Dogan spoke about the new Kurdish generation in Turkey. `This
generation was born in the 1980s when the military coup happened in
Turkey,’ he said. `They have experienced the ban of their culture and
language. They had been imprisoned. They grew up in war and conflict.
Some of them joined the guerrillas, while others chose to fight for
Kurdish rights in other ways.’
Dogan added, `This generation is very active and holds their
oppressors accountable.’
The film is a product of this generation and Dogan feels it has been
successful. `If we continue this way, we will have a bright future in
cinema,’ he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
