F\u0131rat \u00d6zeler, our 4th year student from the Department of Radio, Television and Cinema, has achieved a great success. \u00d6zeler’s documentary film \u201cKavur\u201d, which he has been working on for three years, will have its world premiere at the 52nd Rotterdam International Film Festival, one of the world’s most prestigious festivals, which will be held between January 25-February 5, 2023, as part of the \u201cCinema Regained\u201d program, which features restored classics, film culture documentaries and archival discoveries.<\/p>\n\n
Along with this documentary focusing on director and screenwriter \u00d6mer Kavur, who is one of the most important names of Turkish cinema with many films such as \u201cAnayurt Oteli\u201d, \u201cNight Journey\u201d, \u201cThe Hidden Face\u201d and \u201cThe Scorpion’s Journey\u201d, \u00d6mer Kavur’s short film \u201cHamal\u201d, which has never been shown anywhere before, will also meet the audience in Cinema Regained program. Another previously unseen film of the director, \u201cSuicide\u201d, will be screened in the \u201cKavur\u201d documentary along with the story of the discovery of these two short films.<\/p>\n\n
F\u0131rat describes the journey of the documentary \u201cKavur\u201d from the idea stage to the world premiere in Rotterdam in the following words:<\/p>\n\n
\u201cKavur’s adventure started 3 years ago. \u00d6mer Kavur was a person I had been interested in for many years, both with his films and his personality, and I believed that he really needed to be told. After the idea had been growing in my head for a while, I told this idea to Elif Ak\u00e7al\u0131 for the first time in the documentary course I was taking at the time. And at that point, the concrete development process of the project actually began. She and Ms. Melis Behlil have been the ones who have been the biggest supporters of the project from the very beginning.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cOn the one hand, we started to improve the development of the film on paper with the support of many people, and on the other hand, we started to fund the film. At this point, Kadir Has University Creative Industries Platform (YEP) was the igniter for us by giving the first support to the film. Ms. Sezgi \u00d6zent\u00fcrk and dear Melisa Artan from YEP made our work very easy with their help. Since this was the first support for the film, it was also very important for us on a moral level. Later, we received the support of many institutions, especially the Ministry of Culture, and we realized our shootings. We shot in 3 countries and 21 cities, and the shootings were completed in about a year. During this research, we found and digitized two short films by \u00d6mer Kavur that had never been shown anywhere before and that no one knew about (\u201cHamal\u201d, 13\u2032, Turkey, 1971; \u201cSuicide\u201d, 9′, Turkey, 1971).
\u201cDear Cem Y\u0131lmaz, Funda Eryi\u011fit and our dear teacher Tilbe Saran from the Theater Department of our school voiced 3 different characters who are the narrators in the film. This was a big step for us and for the movie. We are currently in post-production; by the end of December the film will be completely finished and will have its world premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival. At the same time, we will also be presenting the two short films we found there, and we will present them to the audience for the first time in 52 years after they were made. ‘Hamal’ will have its world premiere in a separate screening, and ‘Suicide’ will be included in our documentary with the story of the discovery of these two short films. I must say that I am also proud of this.
\u201cBir\u00e7ok kurumun ve ki\u015finin deste\u011fiyle ve b\u00fct\u00fcn ekip arkada\u015flar\u0131m\u0131n \u00e7ok b\u00fcy\u00fck eme\u011fiyle ger\u00e7ekle\u015fmi\u015f bir film Kavur. B\u00f6yle bir ekiple \u00e7al\u0131\u015fm\u0131\u015f olman\u0131n \u015fans\u0131n\u0131 hissediyorum ve herkese minnettar\u0131m. Ayn\u0131 zamanda \u00d6mer Kavur gibi bir insan\u0131n hak etti\u011fi ilgiyi g\u00f6rmesine ufak da olsa bir katk\u0131 sunmaktan da b\u00fcy\u00fck bir mutluluk duyuyorum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
We congratulate our student F\u0131rat and look forward to his and his documentary’s new achievements.<\/p>\n\n
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Kavur<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>Y\u00f6n.\u00a0F\u0131rat \u00d6zeler<\/strong>, 89\u2032, T\u00fcrkiye, 2023<\/p>\n\n