As a Kurdish director, I was born in Diyarbakir, Turkey, in the same country where the Armenian people fell victim to the genocide, 90 years after the fact. The Armenian Genocide was ignored for many years, while many genocides around the world went through a process of historical reappraisal or recognition as genocide.
Although this genocide was committed in my birthplace, Diyarbakir, it was never mentioned in our childhood. But we learned it over the years of study, we learned it by talking to eyewitnesses. But my generation has unearthed this cruel part of our country’s history again, we meet eyewitnesses and feel responsible for coming to terms with this time and ending the oblivion.
When I first discussed the idea of this documentary with Onur Güler, I was very excited. Because it is our duty to tell this story and reflect on it today. Uncle Asadur, our main character, really impressed me. Our uncle, who is almost 81 years old, tried to live as an Armenian in Malatya, which today is a society that is strongly politically Islamist. For many years he distributed the Armenian newspaper AGOS free of charge and organized genocide commemorations every 24 April. This political activity attracted attention in Turkey and he was arrested several times.
We will see our characters at work, making traditional morning coffee, traveling by train, at church and on film similar places. The documentary is often supported by Armenian music in the background.
The quintessence of the documentary film is that the viewer is not only intellectually but also emotionally touched by Asadur’s life story. In each scene we will stimulate curiosity about the next scene and keep the audience interested in the story.