- Island where the History is Accelerated
- Sea Needler
- The Wound of Pomegranate
- Make-up
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| Cast and Credits |  |
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Script: Gürkan Uluçhan-Can Sarvan |
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Statement of the Director |
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French cultural theorist Paul Virilio speaks of our generation as being the generation of ‘accelerated realities’. ‘The acceleration of reality’ is directly related to the acceleration of history. World history, the altogether invitation to war of capitalist countries against the Former Soviet Union, the year when the Cold War began, has been accelerated since 1947. Remarkable discoveries of particle physics seem to be an inspiration for the formation of political engineering and the acceleration of history in Cold War period as well as in the New World Order epoch.
The Cold War gives the island of Cyprus ethnic conflicts, a republic, a coup, a landing of troops and division as a present. The Cold War comes to an end with the Former Soviet Union’s break down in 1991. A new world will be established and this new world will have the New World Order. This new order will quickly be adapted in Cyprus.
In the New World Order, the military coup strategy of the cold war period is dropped and with the support given to the local non-governmental organizations creating ‘colour and flower revolutions’ has become a new vehicle of accelerating histoy as it did in the divided island of Cyprus.
The documentary is dedicated in loving memory of Ulus Baker taking as a base of his opinions about Cyprus Issue and his roots in Cyprus. |
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| Cast and Credits |  |
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Script: Gürkan Uluçhan-Can Sarvan |
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Statement of the Director |
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| All of our ‘national opinions’ which we inclined to believe have been violated. Film is dedicated to Turkish Cypriot thinker, Ulus Baker. | |||||||
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| Cast and Credits |  |
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Script: Gürkan Uluçhan-Can Sarvan |
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Cypriot society with its north and south together have still serious problems in the context of understanding of the others. Guest workers, sex workers and different sexual oriented people are facing somewhat similar discriminations on both sides of the divided island. Besides inter-communal misperceptions between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, both societies have digestion problems against the others in itself.
The social contradictions that produce conditions of guest workers, Asian workers, sex workers and homosexuals or transvestites to be part of otherness can not be grasped without referring anxiety towards foreigners and individuals tendencies to dominate their culture over the others in the social hierarchal scheme. One of the reasons for that probably related to unsettled confused Cypriot identity developing a depending existence to post colonial political influences. This identity problem creates the main cause of rising ethnical chauvinism contrary to European countries where ethnical chauvinism stems from interest contradictions, cultural and nowadays religious differences. On the other hand ethnical otherness and sexism feeding from the same roots taking self-indulgence and etnocentricism as a basis to protect Cypriot identity of which is still unable to express itself uniquely in front of ‘mother countries’ and determinant strategies of the powerful countries in the island.
Consequently strong otherness points out another crucial issue: How Turkish and Greek Cypriots who see each other as the ‘other’ would establish structures for peace and reconciliation efforts together with possessing such strong otherness towards foreigners in their divided regions by ‘Green line’?
With these ideas in my mind, we wrote the scenario. But it was not easy to shoot such bi-communal film in the island since you have to fight for military status quo, communities prejudices to each other etc. On the other at the first time Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots, Turkish people, a Hindu and a Maronite were playing in the same film and I have to convince all sides to be part of the film.
Definitely there are many things to be written on behind the scenes of ‘Nar Yarası’, the first bi-communal professional themed film shot in Cyprus. We had such moments before and during the filming that what happened behind the scenes became abundant enough to set material for a new film script. First, unexpected developments concerning the official permissions caused shootings to be delayed to January. The dog I got from the Kyrenia Animal Rescue Centre to play in the film disappeared after 20-days of work, and just when it was ready for the film. Two days before the filming, I was thinking to have my dog to take the part in the film when I was able to contact with the Raben K9 Training Centre with a veterinary’s suggestion. The dog training firms joined at the last moment to the project just for contributing and literally saved the film.
At last shootings started on January 13. The weather chopping and changing from a sunny to a rainy day during January made the film crew wait. Dearest Mehmet Özgür from the City Theatre in Turkey stood in the breach when one of our friends broke his leg during the shots. He only had the chance to read the script during his 5-hours flight on his way. We had to search for another actress until 3 am for placing the one who got ill at the last moment. For this reason, some parts of the film were postponed. When actress with the desired specifications was not found, Cansev Günsoy from the Cyprus Turkish State Theatre was aged 20 years older with make up and then she took her place at the stage. Trainers from Raben K9 Training Centre directed our dog Tetra, who bedazzled us with its sensational performance of the first half of the ‘The Wound of Pomegranate’, with walkie-talkie for its scenes while walking with a bone in its mouth, running, and while falling a victim to a traffic accident. Tetra performed wonderfully at the accident scene by pretending dead just with command of its trainers without requiring any medications for putting it to sleep. As a women director, I had almost no problems while realising the project. When compared with the film I worked on in Turkey I can easily say that the island made a big progress on digesting women directors incomparably to Turkey.
Although at the same time being the producer of the film and that there was no one in North Cyprus experienced enough to assist me caused some problems during some of the shootings, the crew, instead of criticising this situation helped me as much as they can. Within this context, I must thank to Hüseyin Özinal, the Art Director of the film, for having to assist me from time to time. Although each unexpected disturbing development during the filming initially caused big difficulties, it brought opportunities afterwards, which enabled me to reach better results. Entire crew witnessed this situation of ‘secret of life’ alongside me. As a matter of fact, our motto during the last days was: ‘Let’s have a problem for achieving a better result!” |
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Synopsis of the Film |
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Film’s main point is: Turkish and Greek Cypriots remember their common cultural values in front of the others. When they meet a sex worker, a transvestite or foreign workers they feel more close to each other. In the absence of the others they are as scattered pomegranate pieces in the divided Cyprus island. |
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| Cast and Credits | |
Script: Can Sarvan
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