The 23rd Rendezvous Istanbul International Film Festival provided cinema lovers who spent the weekend at home with a beautiful selection of films. The directors of the films in the “Shorts from the Filmmakers of the Future” section of the Film Festival and Nazif Tunç, the director of the film The Ant, which is featured in the “A Glance at Turkish Cinema” section, answered some questions about their films during online interviews on TÜRSAK Foundation’s YouTube channel.
On the second day of the weekend during the 23rd Rendezvous Istanbul International Film Festival organized and held online until December 23rd by the Turkish Foundation of Cinema and Audiovisual Culture (TÜRSAK) with the contributions of the Directorate General of Cinema of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the directors had the opportunity to tell the story of their films. Film lovers who followed the online interviews on TÜRSAK Foundation’s YouTube channel were inspired by the stories of the directors.
Under the moderation of TÜRSAK Foundation Board Member and Producer Bulut Reyhanoğlu, the first interviews of the day were with Melih Önder, the director of the film Fly Me To The Moon! in Shorts from the Filmmakers of the Future section; Feyzi Baran, the director of the film, Offside Again?; İrem Berrak Günen, the director of the film Remaining; Doğan Belge, the director of his film Hesitate; and Ferit Göktaş, the director of the film Woman in the Painting.
“The Feeling of Moving Underlies My Story”
Director of the film Remaining İrem Berrak Günen stated that although they shot the film right at the beginning of the pandemic, the process was not too hard for them. The young director stated that she had doubts at first, about working with child actors on set. But she added that the shooting was not as troubling as she had assumed, and that they had it quite smoothly with the help of the children’s families. Günen said that she first wrote the story of her film within the scope of a course, and then when she wanted to make a script out of it, the Cinema of the Future Competition organized by the TÜRSAK Foundation was her helping hand. She explained that the basis of the story was the feeling of moving as the child of a civil servant father.
“I Wrote My Script Based On The Events I Observed Over Time”
Doğan Belge, the director of the movie Hesitate, said that he shot his film in a short period of two days. Belge, who also talked about something they experienced during filming, said that the police gave them a fine, but it was canceled later on when they explained it was a student made film and showed the necessary permits. Basing the writing process of his script on collecting the events he observed, the director explained that the most difficult part of the writing process was the ending of the film.
“The Short Notes I Took Merged into a Film”
Another director who took part in the interview was Ferit Göktaş, the director of the film Woman in the Painting. Göktaş said that although the shooting process coincided with the pandemic, he always tried to approach the situation positively, emphasizing that the lack of too many people outside made a positive contribution to the shooting. Mentioning that he saw, wandered around and read while writing the script, the director stated that the inspiration for his film was a painting. Göktaş stated that the small notes he took turned into a film when combined with the release process and added that he did not think the budget through in the first writing of his script, thus, he made changes on the scenes accordingly when they exceeded the budget.
“I Did All My Shooting At Home Away From The Pandemic”
Melih Önder, the director of the film Fly Me to the Moon!, explained that he thought of shooting the short film in the animation genre as stop motion in the first place, but he followed a different path since there were many technical difficulties. Önder stated that the pandemic did not affect his production much as he carried out the whole process at home and by spreading it over time. He also added that he managed the whole process by planning for character design, setting and stage design.
“A Good Sound and Visual Team Is Everything”
Feyzi Baran, the director of the film Offside Again? said that he had conducted long interviews and a thorough research before the script was written and added that the calculations he had in mind all changed due to the documentary genre. Saying that he had a 60-page text when he made a fair copy of all the interviews he had made for his documentary, Baran underlined that he shortened it later, but it was a very difficult shortening process for him. Pointing out that they had a 6–7-hour footage when they finished filming, the young director stated that they reduced it to 18 minutes thanks to the good work of the editor. Stating that he completely trusted his editor in the shortening of the film and left the whole process to him, the director added that the most important part of a film is finding a good sound and visual team.
“Shooting a Film Requires a Great Deal of Patience From the Director”
The second event of the day, moderated by director Bora Talat Oyacı, was held with Nazif Tunç, the director of the film The Ant, which was featured in the A Glance at Turkish Cinema section of the festival. Nazif Tunç, who started by saying the filming process takes a lot of patience for a director, stated that the pure dream was diminished by factors other than itself and a film emerged as a result. Tunç, who also mentioned that this feeling of diminishing was not at all due to the feelings of goodness and beauty since the beginning of the film The Ant, stated that on the contrary, the film matured from its beginning to the last moment.
Due to the pandemic, all events will be held online on Zoom and TÜRSAK Foundation YouTube channel, and the social media accounts of the TÜRSAK Foundation can be followed for information on the events.
