Starz Acquires Armenian Genocide Documentary “Intent to Destroy”

LOS ANGELES — The documentary “Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial & Depiction” by Joe Berlinger is among eight exclusive first-run documentaries acquired by premium cable and satellite television network Starz, the Lionsgate company announced on Thursday, March 8, Deadline reports.

“We are acquiring an eclectic slate of documentaries that not only strategically align with Starz Original series but also present engaging subjects, provocative conflicts and authentic storytelling,” said C. Brett Marottoli, Head of Program Acquisitions for Starz.

Director Joe Berlinger embeds himself on the epic film set of Terry George’s The Promise (2016) to take an unwavering look at the Armenian Genocide. Historians, scholars and filmmakers come together in Berlinger’s cinematic exploration of the tangled web of responsibility that has driven a century of denial by the Turkish government and its strategic allies.

“Intent to Destroy” (2017) is a timely reckoning with the large-scale suppression of a historical tragedy. Berlinger confronts the fraught task of shedding light on the Armenian Genocide – whose witnesses and descendants are still fighting to be officially acknowledged as such by the international community – how it was carried out during World War I as the reign of the Ottoman Empire drew to a close, and how it laid the groundwork for the genocides that followed.
“Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial & Depiction” will premiere on April 23, 2018.