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EuroNews, EU
Sept 3 2014
Controversial topics at the 71st annual Venice Film Festival
Over the decades, the Venice Film Festival has earned a reputation for
tackling controversial, political and social issues head on... And this
year has been no exception.
The Cut
It was foreseeable that German-Turkish director Fatih Akin's latest
film, 'The Cut', would cause a stir at the Festival.
The 1915 mass murder of the minority Armenians by the Ottomans is
still a hugely controversial subject, particularly in Turkey. Armenia
and a number of other states classify these events as genocide.
Akin said the way 'The Cut' was made meant that both groups could
"identify themselves with the hero of the film."
"I tried to make a film where the part of the Turkish society who
acknowledge the Armenian genocide and those who deny it as a
genocide," Akin said. "Both groups identify themselves with the hero
of the film; that was the purpose. And the dream was to reach a third
group, which are the Armenians: in Armenia, in Turkey and all over the
world... That they also, from the same film, they can grab something
that they can identify with. That the film somehow pleased these two
completely enemied groups."
The film stars French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim as an Armenian
blacksmith who travels the world in search of his two daughters. He
lost touch with them after the outbreak of systematic violence, which
would eventually claim the lives of an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians.
'Far From Men'
It was a melting pot of cultures on the red carpet in Venice.
Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter Viggo
Mortensen could be seen alongside Reda Kateb, a French actor with
Algerian origins.
The two star in 'Far From Men', French director David Oelhoffen's
adaptation of the Albert Camus novel 'The Guest'.
Set in the 1950s, at the beginning of the Algerian War, the film tells
the story of a French former army major (Mortensen) who is now
teaching in a remote part of the Atlas Mountains.
He is forced to take a life-or-death desert trek with an Arab villager
(Kateb), who has been accused of murder. Their journey together
enables them to overcome cultural distrust and they learn to rely on
one another. Pursued by vengeful settlers, the two men decide to
confront the unknown. Together, they fight to gain their freedom
Mortensen's rise to fame came in the early 2000s with his role as
Aragorn in 'The Lord of the Rings'. He also won critical acclaim for
three films he made with David Cronenberg.
Reda Kateb, who featured in Kathryn Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty' - a
film about the killing of Osama Bin Laden - was nominated five times
for an Oscar in 2013
'Far From Men' is in the official competition at Venice.
http://www.euronews.com/2014/09/03/controversial-topics-at-the-71st-annual-venice-film-festival/
From: Baghdasarian
Sept 3 2014
Controversial topics at the 71st annual Venice Film Festival
Over the decades, the Venice Film Festival has earned a reputation for
tackling controversial, political and social issues head on... And this
year has been no exception.
The Cut
It was foreseeable that German-Turkish director Fatih Akin's latest
film, 'The Cut', would cause a stir at the Festival.
The 1915 mass murder of the minority Armenians by the Ottomans is
still a hugely controversial subject, particularly in Turkey. Armenia
and a number of other states classify these events as genocide.
Akin said the way 'The Cut' was made meant that both groups could
"identify themselves with the hero of the film."
"I tried to make a film where the part of the Turkish society who
acknowledge the Armenian genocide and those who deny it as a
genocide," Akin said. "Both groups identify themselves with the hero
of the film; that was the purpose. And the dream was to reach a third
group, which are the Armenians: in Armenia, in Turkey and all over the
world... That they also, from the same film, they can grab something
that they can identify with. That the film somehow pleased these two
completely enemied groups."
The film stars French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim as an Armenian
blacksmith who travels the world in search of his two daughters. He
lost touch with them after the outbreak of systematic violence, which
would eventually claim the lives of an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians.
'Far From Men'
It was a melting pot of cultures on the red carpet in Venice.
Danish-American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter Viggo
Mortensen could be seen alongside Reda Kateb, a French actor with
Algerian origins.
The two star in 'Far From Men', French director David Oelhoffen's
adaptation of the Albert Camus novel 'The Guest'.
Set in the 1950s, at the beginning of the Algerian War, the film tells
the story of a French former army major (Mortensen) who is now
teaching in a remote part of the Atlas Mountains.
He is forced to take a life-or-death desert trek with an Arab villager
(Kateb), who has been accused of murder. Their journey together
enables them to overcome cultural distrust and they learn to rely on
one another. Pursued by vengeful settlers, the two men decide to
confront the unknown. Together, they fight to gain their freedom
Mortensen's rise to fame came in the early 2000s with his role as
Aragorn in 'The Lord of the Rings'. He also won critical acclaim for
three films he made with David Cronenberg.
Reda Kateb, who featured in Kathryn Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty' - a
film about the killing of Osama Bin Laden - was nominated five times
for an Oscar in 2013
'Far From Men' is in the official competition at Venice.
http://www.euronews.com/2014/09/03/controversial-topics-at-the-71st-annual-venice-film-festival/
From: Baghdasarian