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David: [takes out pomegranate] You can't bring this in.
Edward Saroyan: [endearingly] Please.
David: No fruit or vegetables, that includes pomegranates. it's on your form.
Edward Saroyan: I like to eat the seed of this fruit. One each day. For luck.
David: I'm sorry, that's not allowed.
[Mr Saroyan takes out his penknife and cuts the fruit open]
David: What are you doing?
Edward Saroyan: This way, I don't need to bring it in. I eat it here, at the gate of your country. Look
[takes a bite and nods agreeingly]
Edward Saroyan: So, I bring luck in my stomach. Will you try it?
-
Raffi: Were you serious about what you told him?
Ali, actor playing Jevdet Bey: What?
Raffi: That you don't think it happened?
Ali, actor playing Jevdet Bey: What, the genocide?
Raffi: Yeah.
Ali, actor playing Jevdet Bey: Are you gonna shoot me or something? Look, I never heard about any of this stuff when I was growing up. You know? I did some research for the part. From what I read there were deportations and lots of people died. Armenians and Turks. It was World War I.
Raffi: But Turkey wasn't at war with the Armenians. I mean, just like Germany wasn't at war with the Jews. They were citizens. They were expecting to be protected. That scene you just shot was based on an eyewitness account. Your character Jevdet Bey, the only reason they put him in Van was to carry out the complete extermination of the Armenian population in Van. There were telegrams, there were communicators...
Ali, actor playing Jevdet Bey: Look I'm not saying that something didn't happen.
Raffi: Something...
Ali, actor playing Jevdet Bey: Look, I was born here. So were you right?
Raffi: Yeah.
Ali, actor playing Jevdet Bey: This is a new country. So let's just drop the fucking history and get on with it. Noone's gonna wreck your home. Noone's gonna destroy you family. Hmm? So let's go inside and uncork this thing and celebrate. Hmm?
Raffi: Do you know what Adolf Hitler told his military commanders to convince them that his plan would work? "Who remembers the extermination of the Armenians?"
Ali, actor playing Jevdet Bey: And nobody did. Nobody does.
Nikki Barran
Extended Reading
