International Competition
Separation
- Onsite
- 7.15 (Mon) 11:00 Convention Hall
- 7.18(Thu) 17:00 Audio Visual Hall
- Online
- 7.20 (Sat) 10:00 - 7.24 (Wed) 23:00
©Hasan Demirtas
Director: Hasan DEMIRTAS
Cast: Mehmet Ali IZOLU, Halil DEMIR, Cicek TEKDEMIR, Serbest KALKAN
2023 / Turkey / 90min.
Mardin, a Kurdish village in eastern Turkey. The year is 1990. The elderly Hamit, who lives with his son’s family, has made it his daily routine to visit his wife’s grave since her passing five years ago. One day, disturbing events transpire in the village, and peace begins to erode. Hamit must choose between leaving or staying. Entrenched political turmoil in Turkey has forced many to flee the country. The film features restrained performances from professional actors and local residents, in addition to serene visuals, bringing a sense of reality to the story. In particular, Mehmet Ali Izolu’s wonderfully expressive portrayal of Hamit’s profound love for his wife is certain to make the audience really think about the meaning of “separation.” Already highly acclaimed for his previous film, his first feature-length documentary, director Hasan Demirtas firmly establishes his unique expressive perspective with this, his first feature-length narrative film. Separation was screened at the Salerno International Film Festival in Italy, and has been selected for screening at several other international film festivals.
Director: Hasan DEMIRTAS
Received a BA from Marmara University in Istanbul, and an MFA in Documentary Media from Northwestern University. His first documentary feature film, You Name It (20), was selected by numerous international film festivals and received the award for Best Documentary Feature film at the Collected Voices Film Festival. Separation, his first fiction feature film was screened at various international film festivals including the 77th Salerno International Film Festival, the 46th Moscow International Film Festival, the 24th Annual Phoenix Film Festival, and the 7ème Lune festival.
Message
Cinema is the best way to introduce a community. As a Kurdish filmmaker from Turkey, I believe that making films will help other people to understand Kurdish culture.
