Film by Fatih Akin (Germany, 2014)
Considered the third installment of German-born, Turkish writer/director FATIH AKIN’S cinematic trilogy of “Love, Death and the Devil,” The Cut travels back 100 years to the Armenian Genocide (“Medz Yeghern”) of the Ottoman Empire in 1915. This significant moment in history is focused around one man, Nazareth Manoogian (TAHAR RAHIM), and his trials while surviving the horror, but losing his family, faith, and even his voice along the way. When he then learns that his two daughters may still be alive, the film takes the audience on a journey of discovery across the epic backdrops of Mesopotamia through Havana and then into the lone prairies of North Dakota in America. Lauded by Martin Scorsese as a film with “great intensity, beauty and impressive grandeur”, it deservedly garnered a Special Mention win of the Vittorio Veneto Award for director following its premiere at the 2014 Venice International Film Festival. -Drew Waller
