The Armenian Genocide is a 2006 documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 exploring the accusation that the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 killed more than one million Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The documentary was broadcast by most 348 PBS affiliate stations on April 17, 2006.

Because of the controversial nature of the subject in Turkey

Genocide denial

Genocide denial occurs when an act of genocide is met with attempts to deny the occurrence and minimize the scale or death toll. The most well-known type is Holocaust denial, but its definition can extend to any genocide that has been minimized or met with excessive skepticism.Where there is near...

, PBS attempted to give both sides a voice and produced a four expert panel discussion to be aired immediately afterwards. However, due to an intense lobbying effort by Armenian groups and some members of Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

, the follow-up panel discussion was cancelled on a third of those stations broadcasting the documentary over concerns of offending human rights groups and the descendants of Armenian Genocide

Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...

 survivors.

Produced in conjunction with Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Public Broadcasting is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of Oregon as well as southern Washington. With its headquarters and television studios in Portland, OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over...

, it was written and directed by Andrew Goldberg

Andrew Goldberg (director)

Andrew Goldberg is a producer and director, and is the founder and owner of Two Cats Productions in New York City. An Emmy Award winner, Goldberg's credits include producing/directing documentaries and news and long-form programming for PBS, ABC News, MSNBC and many others. His works include...

 (who also directed The Armenians: A Story of Survival) and narrated by Hollywood celebrities Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom

Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom is an English actor. He had his break-through roles in 2001 as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings and starring in 2003 as blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, and subsequently established himself as a lead in Hollywood...

, Ed Harris

Ed Harris

Edward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...

, Laura Linney

Laura Linney

Laura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...

, Jared Leto

Jared Leto

Jared Joseph Leto is an American actor, director, producer, occasional model and musician. Leto has appeared in both big budget Hollywood films and smaller projects from independent producers and art houses. He rose to prominence for playing Jordan Catalano in the teenage drama My So-Called Life...

, Julianna Margulies

Julianna Margulies

Julianna Luisa Margulies is an American actress and producer.After several small television roles, Margulies achieved success in her regular role as Nurse Carol Hathaway on NBC's long-running medical drama ER, for which she won an Emmy Award...

 and Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman

Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...

.

External links

• Armenian Genocide, Two Cats Productions