Threats of legal action and boycotts await the premiere of Ararat, RAY CONLOGUE writes, for its depiction of the Armenian genocide

TORONTO -- The possible premiere of Canadian director Atom Egoyan's new film Ararat at Cannes next month is hotly awaited by cinephiles around the world -- plus one very angry government.

Since last December, the Turkish government has been threatening legal action against the film's producers if the film asserts that Turkey was guilty of genocide against the Armenian community in 1915. There is also a chance the film will be banned in Turkey, as the movie Midnight Express (also considered anti-Turkish) has been banned for more than 20 years.

Ararat is the story of a contemporary film director who goes to Turkey to make a movie about the events of 1915. It contains scenes set in 1915 portraying the massacre of the people of the Armenian town of Van.

There is also a scene inspired by an Armenian poem about the genocide, in which Turks order 20 young brides to dance, and then burn them to death using kerosene.

Turkish groups are threatening to boycott the film unless it is changed to remove elements Turks find offensive. Web sites have been set up urging readers to e-mail the U.S. distributor, Walt Disney Co. (and its subsidiary Miramax). One Web site (http://www.ermenisorunu.gen. tr/trukce/kampanyalar/miramax. html) suggests viewers copy and send a sample letter, which it translates into English.

"I am vigorously protesting your company because of producing a film fomenting hatred," reads the sample letter, which is found on the large Turkish-language Web site called Forsnet. "Your actions run the serious risk of motivating me and other Turkish audience to see other companies' films instead of Miramax and Walt Disney productions."

Forsnet appears to be a government-sponsored Web site, with extensive news reports, together with political editorials reflecting the Turkish government's point of view.

But the Turkish consulate in New York says that the government is not behind the Web campaign against Egoyan's film. "I have no idea about any official or unofficial campaign or any remarks about it [the film]," says Unver Tevsik, the consulate's press officer.

It is also unclear how effective the campaign has been. Matthew Hilting, a Miramax spokesman in New York, said that "there have been some e-mails. I can't confirm that it's thousands. But there have definitely been a number of them. Miramax didn't get many, but Disney received a bunch."

However, Andreas Maroza, a spokeswoman for Disney, says that the company has received no e-mails at all. "Had there been mail of this sort, it would have passed through my office."

At issue is the death of more than 1.3 million Armenians in a slaughter that the Armenian community, and most observers including major Western governments, have called an attempted genocide. The Turkish government maintains that its predecessor, the Ottoman government, merely deported the Armenians to prevent them helping the invading Russian army. Turkey acknowledges that as many as 300,000 Armenians were killed in the "deportation," but says the killings were carried out by militias the government did not control.

Egoyan, who lives in Toronto, will not comment on the matter, but is reported to be upset by the letter-writing campaign. Robert Lantos, president of Toronto-based Serendipity Point Films, the producer of the $15.5-million movie, refuses to comment.

Egemen Bagis, president of the Federation of Turkish American Associations in New York, states that none of the groups in the FTAA is behind the e-mail campaign. "Egoyan has every right to freedom of expression. I know there was no genocide, but he is as strong probably in his belief that it was a genocide. We should respect each other's opinions." Bagis suggests the film should contain "an acknowledgment that the facts are still disputed by historians."

According to an article published in the French newspaper Le Monde on Feb. 7, the Turkish government will take legal action against the movie on the day of its first screening to a public audience. This follows the strategy it used against Alan Parker's 1978 movie Midnight Express. Turkish groups in Canada also lobbied the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in an unsuccessful attempt to have that film removed from TV broadcast in this country.

But Bagis sees a difference between the films. "Midnight Express was orchestrated to damage the image of Turks. Even 20 years later, it haunts every Turkish person. But in Ararat, according to what I've read, there are some good Turkish characters."

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Globe & Mail 4/18/02