Mrs. Salkım's Diamonds (Turkish: Salkım Hanım'ın Taneleri) is a 1999 Turkish drama film, directed by Tomris Giritlioğlu. It is based on the historical novel Mrs. Salkim's Diamonds by Yılmaz Karakoyunlu. The film, which went on nationwide general release across Turkey on 19 November 1999, won awards at film festivals in Antalya and Istanbul, including the Golden Orange Award for Best Film. This film was submitted to Turkey's 72nd Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.
| Mrs. Salkım's Diamonds | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tomris Giritlioğlu |
| Written by | Screenplay: Tamer Baran Etyen Mahçupyan Novel: Yılmaz Karakoyunlu |
| Starring | Hülya Avşar Kamran Usluer Zuhal Olcay Uğur Polat Derya Alabora Güven Kıraç Zafer Algöz Murat Daltaban Nurseli İdiz Yavuz Bingöl |
| Cinematography | Yavuz Türkeri Ercan Yılmaz |
| Edited by | Avşar Film |
| Music by | Tamer Çıray |
| Distributed by | Avşar Film |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 min. |
| Country | Turkey |
| Language | Turkish |
Novel
editThe novel Mrs. Salkım's Diamonds (Salkım Hanımın Taneleri), written by Turkish author and ANAP party member Yilmaz Karakoyunlu in 1990, recounts stories and witnesses of the non-Muslims during the Varlik Vergisi.[1] The novel was developed into a film in 1999.
Film
editThe film is set during the period of the Varlik Vergisi where many non-Muslims were forced to pay higher taxes, often in an arbitrary and unrealistic way.[2] Around two thousand non-Muslims, who could not pay the amount demanded for the tax within the time-limit of thirty days, were arrested and sent to a forced labor camp in Aşkale in the Erzurum Province of eastern Turkey. Twenty-one of these laborers died there.
The movie language is in Turkish, however some scenes include Armenian. The film follows the plight of one family and traces how they were affected by the tax and other policies directed at non-Muslim ethnic minorities.[3] The plot has a young Armenian man named Levon who is sent to Askale along with a man who considered himself ethnic Turkish, only to find out that there was Jewish ancestry in his bloodline (donme). Nora, an Armenian woman who was raped, kills herself and her baby because she did not want to bear a child of an involuntary pregnancy.
Production
editThe film was shot on location in Aşkale, Büyükada and Mardin.
Cast
edit- Hülya Avşar as Nora
- Kamran Usluer as Halit Bey
- Zuhal Olcay as Nefise
- Uğur Polat as Levon
- Derya Alabora as Nimet
- Güven Kıraç as Bekir
- Zafer Algöz as Durmuş
- Murat Daltaban as Clarinetist Artin
Awards
edit- Best Picture (Golden Orange): Tomris Giritlioğlu
- Best Actor: Uğur Polat
- Best Music: Tamer Çıray
- Best Art Direction: Ziya Ulkenciler
- Best Film Editing: Mevlüt Kocak
- Best Actor: Güven Kıraç[4]
Reactions
editAhmet Çakar, a member of Parliament from the MHP, was outraged at the screening and believed it is indecent and unacceptable under the guidance of nationalism.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Ararat". Armenian General Benevolent Union. 45. 2004.
- ^ "Varlik vergisi (asset tax) - one of the many black chapters of Turkish history..." Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Association. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
- ^ "Salkım Hanımın Taneleri / Mrs. Salkım's Diam". Moon and Stars Project. August 8, 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- ^ Istanbul Film Festival awards Archived 2007-10-25 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2008-08-08
- ^ "MHP's Cakar blames Karakoyunlu for being, a 'Traitor'". Turkish Daily News. Ankara. Nov 28, 2001.
This scene insults Turkish officers and they try to show our officers as a indecent people. As Turkish nationalists, it is not possible for us to accept it,