''Mrs. Salkım's Diamonds'' () is a 1999 Turkish

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

, directed by

Tomris Giritlioğlu Tomris Giritlioğlu (1957 – 23 September 2024) was a Turkish film director and producer, who directed the 1999 film '' Mrs. Salkım's Diamonds''. Early life and education Giritlioğlu was born in 1957 in Kadınhanı, Konya, and educated at ...

. It is based on the

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

Mrs. Salkim's Diamonds by

Yılmaz Karakoyunlu Yılmaz Karakoyunlu (26 April 1936 – 11 February 2024) was a Turkish writer and politician. He served as minister of state of Turkey from 2001 to 2002. Born on 26 April 1936, Karakoyunlu died on 11 February 2024, at the age of 87. He was burie ...

. 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 The 72nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored 1999 in film, films released in 1999 and took place on March 26, 2000, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30&nb ...

for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Novel

The novel ''Mrs. Salkım's Diamonds'' (''Salkım Hanımın Taneleri''), written by

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

author and ANAP party member Yilmaz Karakoyunlu in 1990, recounts stories and witnesses of the non-Muslims during the Varlik Vergisi. 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. 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 A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

Aşkale Aşkale is a municipality and district of Erzurum Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,507 km2, and its population is 21,494 (2022). The mayor is Şenor Polat (AKP). The majority of the district is populated by Turks and a small minority by Kurd ...

in the

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

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. 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

Büyükada Büyükada (, rendered ''Prinkipos'' or ''Prinkipo''), meaning "Big Island" in Turkish, is the largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul, with an area of about . It is made up of the Maden and Nizam neighbourhoods in ...

and

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

Cast

*''

Hülya Avşar Hülya Avşar (born 10 October 1963) is a Turkish-Kurdish actress, singer, businesswoman and former beauty pageant titleholder. She is best known for numerous films and hit revenge series "Kadın İsterse". Her international roles include Safiye ...

'' as ''Nora'' *''

Kamran Usluer Kamran Usluer (1937 – 26 July 2004) was a Turkish film actor. He appeared in more than fifty films from 1966 to 2004. Selected filmography References External links * 1937 births 2004 deaths Male actors from İzmir Turkish ma ...

'' as ''Halit Bey'' *''

Zuhal Olcay Zuhal Olcay (; born 10 August 1957) is a Turkish people, Turkish actress and singer. Biography Graduated from Ankara State Conservatory in 1976, she first started as a stage actress. She played in hit series :tr:Yeditepe İstanbul, Yeditepe İst ...

'' as ''Nefise'' *''

Uğur Polat Uğur Polat (born 4 September 1961) is a Turkish actor. Early life and career He graduated from theatre department of Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. He was lecturer in Anadolu University. He joined the Ankara Art Theatre (Ankara Sanat Tiyatro ...

'' as ''Levon'' *''

Derya Alabora Derya Alabora (born Derya Harupçi, August 19, 1959) is a Turkish actress. She was born in Istanbul. She graduated from the theater department at the conservatory of Mimar Sinan University in 1982. She has won two Golden Orange awards for her ...

'' as ''Nimet'' *''

Güven Kıraç Güven Kıraç (born 5 April 1960) is a Turkish actor. He won the IFFI Best Actor Award (Male) at the 41st International Film Festival of India. Biography Kıraç was born on 5 April 1960 in Istanbul, Turkey. He studied theater at the conserv ...

'' as ''Bekir'' *''

Zafer Algöz Zafer Algöz (born 30 August 1961) is a Turkish actor, best known for his films '' Salkım Hanımın Taneleri'' (1999), '' A.R.O.G'' (2008) and ''Yahşi Batı'' (2010). Biography He began acting classes in 1975, which were held by Bursa State ...

'' as ''Durmuş'' *'' Murat Daltaban'' as ''Clarinetist Artin''

Awards

Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (), known for a few years from 2015 as Antalya International Film Festival, is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, and is the second most important film festival in Turkey. Since 2009, t ...

*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 The Istanbul Film Festival () is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, Turkey. As mentioned in its reg ...

*Best Actor: Güven Kıraç Istanbul Film Festival awards
, retrieved 2008-08-08

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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mrs. Salkim's Diamonds 1999 drama films Turkish drama films Films set in 1942 Films set in Istanbul Films shot in Turkey Golden Orange Award for Best Film winners Films based on Turkish novels 1999 films 1990s Turkish-language films