We are people from Turkey and Armenia whose common ground is cinema. We love cinema. Not only do we love cinema, we also believe in the power of cinema to heal, reconcile and make peace. We believe that cinema can help us say things we were not able to for decades, and help us get to know one another. Not only do we believe, we also act on it!

The idea for the Armenia-Turkey Cinema Platform (ATCP) emerged during the 4th Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival in July 2007. The official announcement of ATCP was made in a press conference held by Anadolu Kültür and Golden Apricot Film Festival with the participation of enthusiastic filmmakers from Turkey. The meeting held parallel with the Istanbul International Film Festival in April 2009.

ATCP aims to facilitate filmmakers from both countries to work together, to establish a shared vision on cinema in both countries, and to help increase the number of joint productions. With this vision in mind, the members of ATCP came together in 8 different meetings –4 in Turkey and 4 in Armenia – since April 2008.

Since 2010, ATCP started to give small funds to filmmakers from Armenia and Turkey for joint productions. In April 2010 during Istanbul meeting, 5 short and documentary film projects from two countries were decided to be supported. After that, in July 2010 in Yerevan, 3 projects were decided to get financial support. 5 films out of these 8 films made their premiere in 30th International Istanbul Film Festival: Diana Kardumyan’s love story “Galata”; Gülengül Altıntaş’s film about Tuzla Armenian Child Camp “Don’t Get Lost Children”; Arthur Sukiasyan’s film about two master of doves from Gyumri and Kars “Master of Doves”; Altan Bal and Canay Özden’s film that tells the story of Gyumri through a puppet theatre and children “Puppet Theatre” and “Neighbors”, Gor Baghdasaryan’s film about two neighbor villages that a border divides.

Supported in 2010, Artur Bakhtamyan’s film “New Year’s Eve Journey” and Nigol Bezdjian’s film “I Left my Shoes in Istanbul” is planned to be shot and finished in 2012.
Platform continued to give supports after the first 5 films. In 2011; in Istanbul meeting, Lusin Dink and Soner Alper’s documentary project inspired from William Saroyan’s voyage to Bitlis, “From Bitlis to America” and in Yerevan Meeting, Adrineh Gregorian and Vahe Ohanyan’s project about a young woman’s travel to her roots, “Back to Gürün”,  were decided to be supported. Both films are in the production stage.

ATCP brought together nearly 100 filmmakers from Turkey and Armenia in various meetings. More filmmakers are getting ready to come together in the near future. These meetings showed filmmakers the ways to work together and to put signatures under joint productions.

For further information on Anadolu Kültür, please visit www.anadolukultur.org

For further information on the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival, please visit www.gaiff.am