Mrs. Salkım's Diamonds

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 byTomris Giritlioğlu
Written byScreenplay:
Tamer Baran
Etyen Mahçupyan
Novel:
Yılmaz Karakoyunlu
StarringHülya Avşar
Kamran Usluer
Zuhal Olcay
Uğur Polat
Derya Alabora
Güven Kıraç
Zafer Algöz
Murat Daltaban
Nurseli İdiz
Yavuz Bingöl
Music byTamer Çıray
CinematographyYavuz Türkeri
Ercan Yılmaz
Edited byAvşar Film
Distributed byAvşar Film
Release date
19 November 1999
Running time
120 min.
CountryTurkey
LanguageTurkish

Novel

The 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

The 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

The film was shot on location in Aşkale, Büyükada and Mardin.

Cast

Awards

Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival
  • Best Picture (Golden Orange): Tomris Giritlioğlu
  • Best Actor: Uğur Polat
  • Best Music: Tamer Çıray
  • Best Art Direction: Ziya Ulkenciler
  • Best Film Editing: Mevlüt Kocak

Istanbul International Film Festival
  • Best Actor: Güven Kıraç[4]

Reactions

Ahmet 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
  • List of Turkish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References
  1. "Ararat". Armenian General Benevolent Union. 45. 2004.
  2. "Varlik vergisi (asset tax) - one of the many black chapters of Turkish history..." Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Association. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  3. "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.
  4. Istanbul Film Festival awards Archived 2007-10-25 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2008-08-08
  5. "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,
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