Synopsis & Film Details
A historical epic seven years in the making, “The Cut” concludes acclaimed filmmaker Fatih Akin’s trilogy on love, death, and the devil — preceded by 2004’s “Head-On” and 2007’s “The Edge of Heaven.” The drama tells the story of Nazaret, a young blacksmith from Mardin, Turkey, after he miraculously survives the 1915 Armenian genocide. Years later, still reeling from the horrors of the genocide, Nazaret learns his twin daughters are alive and he begins an epic odyssey — from the Mesopotamian deserts, across the Atlantic to Havana, and to the desolate prairies of North Dakota — to try and reunite with them. On his journey, he meets an array of people, from merciful and angelic beings to the devil incarnate. Co-written by Akin, a Turkish German, with screenwriter Mardik Martin, an Armenian American. Starring Tahar Rahim. In Armenian, Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Spanish, and English, with English subtitles.
Director: Fatih Akin
Germany / France / Poland / Italy / Canada / Turkey (2014)
138 minutes, Not Rated
Distributor: Strand Releasing
Screening Sponsor
Armenian Studies Program — Fresno State
Filmmaker Q&A
After the screening, join visiting screenwriter Mardik Martin to talk about the movie. Martin immigrated to the United States from Iraq in the 1950s and attended New York University, where he later met and soon became friends with fellow student and now iconic director Martin Scorsese. Martin graduated with a Master’s degree and then went on to teach screenwriting at NYU from 1968 to 1973. In the years following, he wrote and co-wrote screenplays that led to some of the most distinguished American films of the 20th Century: Scorsese’s “Mean Streets,” “New York, New York” and the Oscar-winner “Raging Bull.” Martin teaches as a Senior Lecturer at the renowned USC film school and came out of semi-retirement to collaborate with Turkish director Fatih Akin on “The Cut.”
Additional support for this special filmmaker appearance comes from: Dr. Lillian Faderman & Dr. Phyllis Irwin, and Paul E. Pierce & Patience Milrod.