When a ‘Turkish Passport’ saved thousands of lives

The recent documentary movie ‘Turkish Passport’ is the unlikely story of Turkish diplomats who helped save tens of thousands of lives by issuing passports to Jews during World War II. The new documentary contains extensive research and an impressive production, which hits the right nerves, especially in these trying times. 

The Holocaust might have been an accurate indicator of how low humanity could go and of the atrocities humans were capable of. Great tragedies make good stories, and the Holocaust has been an unfaltering source for storytellers for decades.

Jewish and non-Jewish filmmakers alike have turned to World War II for real stories that were more often than not more gruesome than the sickest mind could imagine. First came the stories of war. Then came the human stories of tragedies of families fallen and families forced to break apart, none spared for the sickest game the modern world has seen.

Schindler’s List, Spielberg’s magnum opus to many, was one of the first in exercising hope and praise for unsung heroes of WW II. It was the story of one powerful man who had clung to his humanity and saved over a thousand Jewish lives.

Just when one thinks that every story about the Holocaust has already been told, an unlikely tale of hope, optimism and heroism, or “the only Holocaust story with a happy ending,” enters our lives.

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'The Son' looks harrowingly at fathers and sons

Director and writer Atilla Cengiz’s ‘Oğul’ (The Son) tackles war in southeastern Turkey through two fathers’ tragedy. While the story feels half-baked at times, the film reflects the grim atmosphere of war. 

As the deliberate attempts to remove taboo status from the guerilla war in the southeast Turkey brought new rights and initiatives for the freedom for the Kurds, Turkish cinema immediately jumped on the bandwagon.

Mainstream cinema, exemplified most famously by Mahsun Kırmızıgül’s Güneşi Gördüm (I Saw the Sun), opted for the safe road of being more sympathetic and less condemning towards the past. A number of Kurdish filmmakers, on the other hand, offered an independent Turkish cinema, more fresh and aiming straight at the heart of the issues. Hüseyin Karabey, Kazım Öz and Özgür Doğan are notable filmmakers coming from a background of documentary and docu-drama.

This week’s Oğul (The Son) falls closer to the second category, offering a uniquely heartbreaking story and a promising new director, despite the shortcomings of the film. Oğul is director and writer Atilla Cengiz’s debut feature. Aficionados of the Turkish TV series will know some of Cengiz’s work as director and assistant director from TV in projects like Hayat Apartmanı (The Apartment of Life) and Aşk Yeniden (Love Again).

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Mothers, daughters and real women on Turkish TV

The boom in Turkish TV series might have created a whole new economy, but they continue to rely on the cardboard female characters of the soap opera tradition, victims or vixens.

Turkey’s growing economy and its newfound role as a political powerhouse in near regions might be up for dispute, but it sure is moving headstrong in becoming a global superpower in one area: the popularity of its TV series.

The boom in TV series in Turkey the last couple of years has definitely gone out of control. It is almost impossible to find a TV channel not running a series when you sit down with the remote control, save for football. The productions are becoming bigger by the day with their cast ensemble, flashy costumes and set decorations, as well as safe scripts that border on soap opera-like.

The popularity of nearly 100 TV series has crossed borders to the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus and some other Arab countries. Old and new favorites like Yaprak Dökümü (Fallen Leaves), Bir Istanbul Masalı (An Istanbul Tale), Gümüş (Silver) and Kurtlar Vadisi (Valley of the Wolves) have found their way into primetime TV in such countries like Iraq, Iran, Bulgaria, Greece, Russia and Kazakhstan.

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Loneliness and urban decay take center stage at ‘Eylül’

‘Eylül’ brings yet another male protagonist with a mid-life crisis. Cemil Ağacıkoğlu’s award-winner film features lonely characters against the backdrop of the decaying city

Hot on the heels of winning four awards at the recent Golden Boll Film Festival just little more than a week ago, Cemil Ağacıkoğlu’s Eylül hit theaters this week. While "Eylül” means September, there is no direct link to the month nor the Sept. 12 coup of 1980, a favorite topic of Turkish filmmakers.

Eylül is Ağacıkoğlu’s debut feature. Like the internationally renowned filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Ağacıkoğlu’s foray into cinema began after a long career in photography. The photographer within the director is heavily felt throughout the film with long sequences, minimum dialogue and some beautiful cinematography, drawing the viewers into stillness.

The film tells the story of a man’s quest to deal with his wife’s sickness as he falls into the arms of another woman. When Yusuf’s wife, Aslı, is taken to hospital for a serious illness, he meets with Elena, a sex worker from one of the ex-Soviet countries staying in the same hospital room as his wife.

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