French Film About the Armenian Genocide Starring Gerard Darmon and Samy Naceri

Director Artak Igityan is at the moment shooting the film “Anatolian History” in France, which is based on the novel “Where wild roses blossom: Anatolian history” by Mark Aren (born Karen Margaryan). The composer of the film is a French musical composer Michel Legrand.

“Anatolian History” stars such renowned French actors as Samy Naceri (known for his main role in the French comedy franchise “Taxi”), Gerard Darmon, and Hermine Stepanyan in the leading female role. Stepanyan shared her yet scarce experience of working with the director:

“I met director Artak Igityan during the premiere of the film ‘’Dawn of the Van sea’. We didn’t manage to chat too much, I only congratulated him and left. Two years later, we met again at the “Moscow” cinema in Yerevan at the premiere of another film. This time, Igityan was with his wife Anna. I approached them and said that I loved the film. Artak’s wife looked at me and said: ‘Artak, she is an excellent character.’ Thus began a conversation about the film, as well as some other topics.

We met again next day and discussed another project, which would be shortly postponed. We then began to discuss “Anatolian history”. Several days later, he showed me the dream cast of the film. A dream cast is a list of actors who, as the director thinks, have the right features for the roles in the film. The list can include both already approved and potential actors who approximately correspond to the characters.

When I saw the names of Gerard Darmon and Samy Naceri, I asked whether they had already been approved for the film or not, and Artak said that they are approved for their roles, just like me. I was honored and thanked Anna because it was her who noticed me.”

Stepanyan didn’t reveal the features of her heroine due to her contractual obligations. But she viewed her future cooperation with Naceri and Darmon quite enthusiastically:

“Of course, I have seen films starring Darmon and Naceri, and after I realized that we will be playing in the same film, I began to watch their every single movie and read their interviews to learn more about them. During the shooting, I will get acquainted with them better because of easier direct communication,” said Stepanyan, and then added that the shooting is planned for 2018.

Tizer_rus_Анатолийская история. Рабочий тизер, режисcер Артак Игитян, сценарий Марк Арен