The Others

In the predominantly Kurdish province of Van (Turkey), the only visible reminders of the presence of the Armenian community are the ruins of countless churches. Only a small number of inhabitants with Armenian roots remain. One of them is Ali. In an area where the Armenian people are framed as ‘the Others’ by the Kurdish people, he tries to protect the Armenian heritage. ‘The Others’ also refer to the way Kurds are being seen by the Turkish majority. This films tells an unknown and personal story of the Armenian genocide and shows that, "the past is never dead, it is not even past." (W.Faulkner)

Ayşe Polat (Germany)
Turkey | 2016 | 66 min
Turkish, Kurdish spoken, English subtitled

Awards:

Istanbul Film Festival 2016: Special Mention, Prize of the United Services Trade Union Ver.Di, Leipzig, 2016, Nominated for DEFA Sponsoring Prize and Goethe Institute Documentary Film Prize

Ayşe Polat is born in Malatya, the Kurdish part of Turkey. She grew up in Germany, where she studied philosophy, cultural science and German literature. She lives and works in Berlin and Istanbul.