Aesthetics of Displacement Topics and Issues in National Cinema volume 4 Aesthetics of Displacement: Turkey and its Minorities on Screen Series Editor: Armida de la Garza, University College Cork, Ireland Editorial Board: Mette Hjort, Chair Professor and Head, Visual Studies Lingnan University, Hong Kong Lúcia Nagib, Professor of Film, University of Reading, UK Chris Berry, Professor of Film Studies, Kings College London, UK, and Co-Director of the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre, UK Sarah Street, Professor of Film and Foundation Chair of Drama, University of Bristol, UK Jeanette Hoorn, Professor of Visual Cultures, University of Melbourne, Australia Shohini Chaudhuri, Senior Lecturer and MA Director in Film Studies, University of Essex, UK Other volumes in the series: Volume 1: Revolution and Rebellion in Mexican Film by Niamh Th ornton Volume 2: Ecology and Contemporary Nordic Cinemas: From Nation-Building to Ecocosmopolitanism by Pietari Kääpä Volume 3: Cypriot Cinemas edited by Costas Constandinides and Yiannis Papadakis Volume 4: Aesthetics of Displacement by Özlem Köksal Volume 5: Film Music in ‘Minor’ National Cinemas edited by Germán Gil-Curiel Aesthetics of Displacement: Turkey and its Minorities on Screen Özlem Köksal Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc 1385 Broadway 50 Bedford Square New York London NY 10018 WC1B 3DP USA UK www.bloomsbury.com BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2016 Paperback edition fi rst published 2017 © Özlem Köksal, 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Köksal, Özlem. Aesthetics of displacement : Turkey and its minorities on screen / Ozlem Koksal. pages cm. -- (Topics and issues in national cinema ; volume 4) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-5013-0646-4 (hardback) 1. Minorities in motion pictures. 2. Motion pictures--Turkey--History and criticism. I. Title. PN1995.9.M56K66 2016 791.43’6529009561--dc23 2015027498 ISBN: HB: 978–1–5013–0646–4 PB: 978–1–5013–2018–7 ePub: 978–1–5013–0649–5 ePDF: 978–1–5013–0648–8 Series: Topics and Issues in National Cinema Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN To Engin Köksal and Fabio Sartori Contents List of figures ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations/Acronyms xiii Introduction xv 1 Memory, Identity: The Turkish Context 1 2 Recurring Themes and Motifs 25 3 Covering and Discovering: Non-Muslim Minorities and Film 63 4 Representing the Armenian Genocide: Ararat and Beyond 93 5 The Kurdish Question in Films 131 Coda: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia 173 Notes 185 Bibliography 203 Index 215 List of figures Figure 3.1 Waiting for the Clouds (dir. Yeşim Ustaoğlu, from Silkroad Productions, 2003). The opening image. © Silkroad Productions/Flying Moon Produktion/ Ideefixe Production/Arte France Cinéma Figure 3.2 Waiting for the Clouds (dir. Yeşim Ustaoğlu, from Silkroad Productions, 2003). The closing image. © Silkroad Productions/Flying Moon Produktion/ Ideefixe Production/Arte France Cinéma Figure 3.3 Waiting for the Clouds (dir. Yeşim Ustaoğlu, from Silkroad Productions, 2003). Ayşe/Eleni in the highlands. © Silkroad Productions/Flying Moon Produktion/ Ideefixe Production/Arte France Cinéma Figure 3.4 Waiting for the Clouds (dir. Yeşim Ustaoğlu, from Silkroad Productions, 2003). Ayşe/Eleni experiencing a flashback. © Silkroad Productions//Flying Moon Produktion/ Ideefixe Production/Arte France Cinéma Figure 3.5 Waiting for the Clouds (dir. Yeşim Ustaoğlu, from Silkroad Productions, 2003). Nico and Eleni together as children. © Silkroad Productions/ Flying Moon Produktion/ Ideefixe Production/Arte France Cinéma Figure 4.1 A photograph of the painter, Arshile Gorky, and his mother, in Van, 1912. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Dr Bruce Berberian Figure 4.2 Ararat (dir. Atom Egoyan; from Miramax, 2002). The photographer touching Gorky’s mother’s hands. © Alliance Atlantis/Serendipity Point Films/ Ego Film Arts/ARP Selection Figure 4.3 Ararat (dir. Atom Egoyan; from Miramax, 2002). Gorky touching his mother’s painted hands. © Alliance Atlantis/Serendipity Point Films/ Ego Film Arts/ARP Selection. Figure 4.4 Ararat (dir. Atom Egoyan; from Miramax, 2002). Ani is challenged by Celia, about her father’s death. © Alliance Atlantis/Serendipity Point Films/ Ego Film Arts/ARP Selection Figure 5.1 Journey to the Sun (dir. Yeşim Ustaoğlu; from IFR Production; released 1999). Protagonists Berzan and Mehmet together by the Bosporus. © Gunese Yolculuk IFR Istisnai Filmler/The Film Company/Media Res. x List of figures Figure 5.2 Journey to the Sun (dir. Yeşim Ustaoğlu; from IFR Production, released 1999). Mehmet with the coffin reflected on water. © IFR Istisnai Filmler/The Film Company/Media Res Figure 5.3 Journey to the Sun (dir. Yeşim Ustaoğlu; from IFR Production, released 1999). The house reflected on water. © Gunese Yolculuk IFR Istisnai Filmler/The Film Company/Media Res. Figure 5.4 Dol (dir. Hiner Saleem; from Hiner Saleem Production Novociné, 2007). Inscription on the mountain (“How happy is one who says I am a Turk”). © Dol Hinar Saleem Productions/ Novociné/Mitos Film Figure 5.5 Dol (dir. Hiner Saleem; from Hiner Saleem Production Novociné, 2007). Çeto with his sister’s picture. © Dol Hinar Saleem Productions/Novociné/ Mitos Film Acknowledgments Writing of this book spans to several years, which begun life as a PhD project at the London Consortium, Birkbeck College. I benefited a great deal from faculty, and my fellow students for creating an intellectually stimulating environment. I have learnt a lot from them. I am also extremely grateful for the financial support I received from the London Consortium during my PhD. I am particularly indebted to my supervisor Prof. Laura Mulvey who, throughout the duration of my PhD, thought me a great deal. She not only encouraged me and guided me but also influenced my thinking greatly. I would also like to thank Prof. Deniz Kandiyoti, Prof. Asuman Suner and Prof. Chris Berry for their comments, criticisms and support at different stages of this project. Hamid Naficy and Daniela Berghahn, who examined the final thesis, have also provided encouragement and valuable comments, which I benefited while working on the manuscript. In 2012 the thesis was awarded the best dissertation award written on Turkey by the London School of Economics’ Turkish Chair. I thank the award committee Şevket Pamuk, Deniz Kandiyoti and Hakan Seçkinelgin for giving me the final push to turn the dissertation into a manuscript. During the research and writing stages I have enjoyed the generosity of many people. I would particularly like to thank Canan Balan, Umut Tümay Arslan, Devrim Kılıçer, Ümit Ünal, Miraz Bezar, Hüseyin Karabey, Louise Spence and Mustafa Gündoğdu for their time, help and understanding. I also thank to the series editor Armida de la Garza for her suggestions. Arguments in this book were presented at various occasions. I thank the participants of Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Philadelphia (December 2009); Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis Workshop, (March 2010); Screen Conference University of Glasgow (July 2010) and Boğaziçi University ATA institute (2014). An earlier, and shorter, version of chapter 4 was published in Cinema Journal 54:1 (Fall, 2014). I thank the journal for permission to reproduce material here. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my friends and family. I thank Armagan Uslu, Ozan Varışlı and Özgür Tuncay for their friendship, to Eylem xii Acknowledgments Atakav for listening what I had to (and didn’t have to) say, to Gökçen Çamlıyurt for always being there and providing unconditional support and love, to Tuna Erdem and Seda Ergül for being who they are, and to Richard Martin and Benjamin Dawson for their intellect and for the joy they bring. I am grateful beyond words to Ipek A. Çelik for not only reading the entire manuscript and providing me with detailed comments but also for her encouragement, support and friendship. I am also thankful to Nafi Mitrani for helping me keep my self together when it was the most difficult to do so and for reminding me of the possibility of changing someone’s life without expecting anything in return. My final thanks go to my family, particularly to my sister Duygu for her support and to my cousin Sinem for her understanding and help, and to everyone else in my family who put up with me during my worst moments. This book is dedicated to my mother Engin Köksal for teaching me to be compassionate and to Fabio Sartori for the years long support, understanding and love. Without them I could not have possibly finish this project. Abbreviations/Acronyms ASALA: Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia ASAM: Centre for Eurasian Strategic Studies [Avrasya Stratejik Araştırmalar Merkezi] AKP: Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi [Justice and Development Party] AP: Adalet Partisi [Justice Party] BDP: Peace and Democracy Party [Barış ve Demokrasi Partisi] CUP: Committee of Union and Progress