“Siyah ve Beyaz” adlı kısa filmi ile 1996 yılında 2.Antalya Kısa Film Festivali’nde en büyük ödül olan, Kültür Bakanlığı ödülünü kazanan Tigran Xmalian yapılmış olan röportaj…
30 Kasım 1996’da ödülü kazandıktan sonra Antalya’da Turkish Daily News Muhabiri Hasan Üstün ile konuşan Erivan Üniversitesi Edebiyat hocası Xmalian, “Ben buraya kendi filmimi göstermek ve diğerlerini görmek için geldim. Ülkemde film seyretmek çok zor, cünkü elektrik hep yok. Artık film yapmanın ne denli zor olduğunu siz düşünün.” demişti. Savaşın gerçek kurbanlarının ölen askerler olduğunu da söyleyen Xmalian şöyle devam ediyor: “Gerçek kurbanlar geride kalanlar, ve özellikle kadınlar. O kadınlar ki bu dünyanın tüm sorumluluğunu alıyorlar.”
İngilizce olan röportajın tamamı şöyle…
Armenian peace ambassador Tigran Xmalian
- “I came here first of all to show my film and to see other films. In
my country watching a film is sometimes difficult because of shortage of
electricity. You can imagine how difficult it is to make a film.” - “The real victim of the war is not the soldier who is killed. The
real victims are those who survive, and especially women. Women who take all
the responsibility for this world.” - “I have to explain to my government that culture is more important
than privatization and many other things, that the state should support
culture if it wants to be a state.” - “I came to the country where my parents, grandparents were forced
out, but I don’t see enemies here. I am surrounded with friends.”
By Hasan Ustun / Turkish Daily News
ANTALYA- Tigran Xmalian, whose film “Black and White” won the top
Ministry of Culture prize at the second Antalya Short Film and Video Festival,
is 33 years old and a university literature teacher by basic profession.
However, as he told the TDN during an interview before the festival ended, he
changes his job every two or three years. Between 1990 and 1992 he studied
cinematography in Moscow before returning to his native Armenia to work as a TV
reporter, journalist and political analyst. Some of his reports from
war-stricken Nagorno-Karabagh have been televised worldwide. For the last 6
months he has been working as an information assistant to the United Nations
mission in Armenia. He dreams of the day when economic conditions in his country
will enable him to become a full-time filmmaker.
TDN – What do you think about the festival competition films. Did you
get a chance to see all the films?
TX –Yes, I saw most of films. First of all I like the conception of
the Antalya Film Festival. In this world there are about 500 big or small
festivals. But Antalya has a very important niche with no commentary, wordless
movies. It is very close to my vision. I received several invitaions from
different European Film Festivals. But I have to travel using my own money. I
wasn’t able to go to France, to Germany. But when the Turkish invitation came I
decided to go for two main reasons. First, I liked the conception of the Antalya
Film Festival, because both my films, my first film “Lesson” and my
second film “Black and White” are both wordless. Because I really
believe that if a movie can be described in words, it shouldn’t be filmed. I
believe in movies which speak without words, which speak with pictures. That is
why I appreciate the Antalya Film Festival. Second, it is Turkey, and I am an
Armenian and this is the first Armenian film which has been officially presented
to Turkey. You asked me origionally about the Film Competition. After four days
of viewing, the films I have seen here, not only in competition, have made me
realise that the standard is very serious. There are twenty something films from
Germany, and I liked very much a few of the films by Turkish directors living in
Germany now. One young ladymade a film about a Turkish girl in Germany, about a
Turkish family. Especially her documentary aboutthree generations of Turkish
women was very close to my heart. In my film I was trying to understand women’s
soul, women’s nature, I don’t want to speak about my film because the question
was about the festival. But, I mean, I feel thatthis is a place that where I
should have come and I am happy that I am here.
TDN: My colleague was particularly disappointed with the competition
films.
TX: Frankly speaking, I don’t care about competition. I didn’t come
here to win anything. I came here first of all to show my film and to see other
films. In my country watching a film is something of a problem because of
shortage of electricity. You can imagine how difficult it is to make a film. But
I have seen here about a hundred films of short and medium length. A festival is
not only a competition – a festival is everything which is shown. For example,
there were several French films which were out of competition, but without them
the festival would not have been as beautiful as it was. Of course, the
competition level could have been higher. It is not only a problem of this
festival. World cinema is in crisis, a crisis of ideas, a crisis of financial
support. It is very difficult to make films now because film making is an
industry. Unfortunately it is half art, half industry. But basically I believe
the idea is great and it is very important that you brought the students from
art schools, from Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara, because by doing things like this
you are improving your country. Only culture means anything in this world. No
politics, no war, no presidents, not even economics. Sometimes economics are
important, but we leave only culture after us. Only culture.
TDN – Is this first competition entry with “Black and
White”?
TX –Yes. You know for financial reasons, the film which was
completed7-9 months ago was not developed, and actually this is only copy of the
film and the quality of this copy is not good, because every professional film
maker knows you should make four, five copies to get one good one. For example,
the sound is not good. But it is expensive and I made this copy only four weeks
ago just for this Festival. It is a world premiere of my short, modest film.
Armenian television screened it last month but on the big screen It has been
shown for the first time here.
TDN –You have said that your film is dedicated to women’s life and it
is a universal story. Can you explain a little more?
TX
– I was trying to make a universal story. I don’t know if I succeeded. You
know there are no direct links between your own personal experience and the art
you create. But there is some link. I was a teacher in the university. Maybe my
first film, “Lesson”, was influencedand affected by my personal
experience. Then I saw war when I was in Karabagh as a war correspondent, and I
made reports for Russian TV. And then I understood, I realized a simple thing,
that the real victim of the war is not the soldier who is killed. The real
victims are those who survive, and especially women. Women who take all the
responsibility for this world. Unfortunately we have made this a man’s world,
that is why this world is so imperfect, so crazy. I believe that women could
handle this world, would handle it better than we are doing. And I believe that
art, man-made art, is dedicated to women. All the poetry, all the cinema,
literature, everything. This is my modest attempt to pay a tribute to women.
Because I saw women in war, I saw women in love, I saw women who are trying to
improve this world, who are trying to survive. They are waiting for their
husbands, and they are forced to live alone and to carry this world by
themselves.
TDN – What kind of response did you get from the audience after your
film was presented?
TX- There was some applause. I don’t know, people are very kind here.
Some people approached me. The majority of them said they liked my film but
probably that’s because people who didn’t like my film wouldn’t come to say
that. One of them said, “There are two camps. Some people like your film
very much, some hate it.” I saw a young guy who said, “I hate your
film.” He asked me “Are you Marxist?” I said”Why? No, I have
never been a Marxist. In my student years, I was anti-communist, I had problems
because ofthat.” He said, “You are making film with Marxist
aesthetics.” I said “I don’t know if there are Marxist
aesthetics.” But that was his opinion. I said “Fine, thank you for
your honesty.” I noticed that women liked this film more than men because
I’m trying to understand women.
TDN – Honestly, I liked your film very much, but when I shared my
feelings about your film with a woman friend, I saw that we were in different
camps.
TX – You know, I was trying to make a simple story. It is not
something sensational. There were mountain people, villagers in Russia, Armenia,
especially after the war. There were only women left, and sometimes no man, or
one or two men, sometimes disabled. So the idea was about how women managed to
survive. And when I was thinking about the film, about the script, I didn’t
know, I had no idea what to do with the men. I was asking women. Try to imagine
this situation. I was asking grandmothers who tasted these experiences. It is
based on real stories, not one single story . There were many stories like this.
They were saying, “Well, we had no husbands, and we realized that we needed
children.” Especially in Russia they told me this. “We had to get
pregnant by the soldiers because we had no other chance, and there is no meaning
to life without children.” At the end of film women force a man to commit
suicide. He came as a cop. He was dead when he came. He was walking and talking
but he was dead. It is an attempt to show a war without war, without showing
combat, without showing death because death is part of life. It is an attempt to
show that life is unbearable after war. The women force him to commit suicide
because they are all pregnant and it is impossible for all of them to live with
only one husband. They used him and they killed him. They didn’t need him
anymore. It was not my original idea. Some of the women gave me that. But the
film is not about this. This is just the surface. I was trying to make a film
about an attempt to love and the failure of this attempt. Love is impossible,
life is impossible after war. It is not a coincidence that the music for the
last part of the film is an aria from Gounod’s opera “Faust”, Faust
who returned from hell. … Women killed Faust because he couldn’t love anymore.
So somehow it is an ancient legend, often repeated, but I hide it, because even
this not important.
TDN – Although the film reflects the women’s world, at the same time
it also reflects man’s tragedy. I saw a soldier having sex with a prostitute
during the war, then when he returned home he couldn’tget sex.
TX –Yes, he couldn’t be a man, he couldn’t be important. I saw so many
things like this in Karabagh when people are forced, the peasant becomes a
soldier, he becomes a professional killer, he is forced to kill to defend his
family, to defend life. But when he returns there is no life, because life
couldn’t be defended by death, by murder, by assassination, and when you kill
someone you are killing yourself. That is another idea. I don’t say that it is
the message of my film, but I meant this also. It is a complex of ideas of my
own. I don’t try to declare, “This is that, that is this,”but I was
thinking about those sorts of things. That is why man is so weak, women are so
strong in my film.
TDN –You said this is the first Armenian film on show in Turkey. We
agree that to understand each other art is a useful medium. Do you have any
future plans like this?
TX –I have plans to make films. I have 2 scenarios which I am ready to
start right now. I am trying to find money. These films are expensive, luxuries,
and I have to explain to my government that culture is more important than
privatization and many other things, that the state should support culture if it
wants to be a state. They understand this, but they can’t find money for film
making. Film is the shortestmessage to the world. In terms of Armenian film in
Turkey, I believe that only in this way, not just in films, in music…. Today I
heard Khachaturian’s music in this hall. I am not even sure that they know that
it is the music of Khachaturian. It was from “Spartacus”. It is music.
It is not Armenian music, it is for the world. So the governments never
understand each other. We, the people, the common people, should start. Maybe
artists should start, because we have a special responsibility. I came to the
country where my parents, grandparents were forced out, but I don’t see enemies
here. I am surrounded with friends. They don’t care that I come fromArmenia.
They are surprised sometimes. “Oh, Romania,” they say. “No,
Armenia,” I say, and they reply, “Armenia, are you crazy?” My
friends in Armenia were asking the same questions. “Are you crazy? You are
going to Turkey?” But, I said, “No, you are crazy.” We should
start. We can’t wait for governments, and, it’s a silly thing, to come Turkey I
was forced to go to Moscow. We have no diplomatic relations. I didn’t know how
to come to Antalya. There is one flight, Erevan-Istanbul but the time doesn’t
fit the Festival. I am going in the opposite direction, to Russia. Turkey is 20
km from Erevan. It’s ridiculous.
TDN – Are there any film festivals in Armenia. And is there any
possibility of inviting Turkish Film makers there?
TX – A festival is an expensive thing. I don’t know about festivals. I
think we can think about it and we can do special programs of Turkish films. For
example, these films which were made by young film makers from Germany. It could
be not only printed films, it could be video programs. Because people will see
people. Because we are living with myth. Turkey, Turks for us means absolutely
different things. It is history. It is not real people. It is not you. It is not
Tamer, my roommate, it is not Levent (Assistant Festival Director), I didn’t
know them. So, I had an abstract, imaginary idea of what a Turk is. Because it
is a tribal memory for us. Millions of people killed. Yes, it is a tragedy, but
we have to live. We can’t sit and cry for years and years. We should continue to
live. It is very important. The movie is the shortest message to the world. I
could bring video copies of several Turkishfilms to present them in Armenia.
That would be great. People will see and they will not be afraid of Turks any
more, because they will see that they are people just like us.
TDN – We have just learned together that you are the winner of the
Festival. What are you feeling?Is it the right decision?
TX – OK, “Black and White” is the first film in the
competition. But I cannot say because I cannot compare my film. I don’t see my
film as you can see it. I am looking for things which I missed, which I did the
wrong way or right way. I absolutely didn’t expect this.
TDN – Will this prize promote your film?
TX – I don’t think about the future of this film. I am thinking about
making another film. I don’t care much about this film. On doing it you forget
it. We should have promoters. Producers who will take care of the film. I am not
a producer. I am not a promoter. I don’t care much about it. I am happy that
people here appreciated it. I hope this not because I am Armenian, but because
of the film. I am very glad my story reached people here. Not only the jury. For
me, it’s more important that average people are coming to say thank you.
Because, actually we don’t think about them when we are making films. In the end
we understand that we are doing this job for only these people, for the people
we love, for the people we don’t even know.
TDN – Good luck for your future work.
TX – Thanks.
Yorumlar kapatıldı.