Story of Kurdish paper at London Film Festival - Trailer
Story of Kurdish paper at London Film Festival - Trailer
It is the early 1990s, and a handful of journalists are working for the Kurdish daily Gündem (today's Yeni Özgür Gündem) newspaper’s Diyarbakýr office.They are trying to attract the world’s attention to the on- going human rights abuses in Kurdistan. Eighteen year- old Fýrat opens up and cleans the newspaper office everyday and helps with the distribution. Over time he starts typing up stories, writing stories, taking photos and finally becoming a full-time journalist. While researching the disappearance of five villagers, journalist Kadir discovers traces of a paramilitary gang linked to the Turkish state. In addition to struggling with the usual technical difficulties of a small operation, the newspaper is subjected to various at- tempts to intimidate them and prevent their courageous reports from coming to light. Press is the story of journalism courageous role in bringing out the truth about the Turkish state’s war against the Kurdish population.
Director Sedat Yýlmaz has said: "I am not Kurdish, but, I wanted to tell this story out of solidarity with the Kurdish people and with Gündem newspaper. Gündem is a very important newspaper in the press tradition of Turkey. Maybe the real meaning of its importance is becoming to be appreciated now".
As the simplicity strength of the director message, so goes the film. A low-budget, with Italian neo-realism remands, film that hit right to the heart of the question: truth can be denied, suppressed, hidden from people, but sooner or later it will prevail. In this case thanks to the work and sacrifice (literally because Kurdish papers have given 30 journalists' lives to the cause of exposing the truth) of some brave reporters. The film tells the story of the office of Gündem but reading the news in today's Turkish papers one will see that the reality portrayed in the film is not so distant from that of today. Indeed there are currently 66 journalists in Turkish jails. And the list of banned publications, intimidations, fines is as long as in the '90s.
In his film Yýlmaz never lets his characters stoop to the grandstanding of many a political movie: they are simply trying to do their job, and one journalist’s motto that the “truth is bulletproof” reveals itself to be disastrously false. What counts here are the little things, such as a broken fax machine, which becomes the team’s only way of both filing copy to Istanbul and receiving facsimiles of its banned pages, or a second-hand photo enlarger that Fýrat eventually uses to blow-up pictures of his assassinated colleague.
The production employs 16mm imagery and raw mono sound in a way that has been rarely utilized since the dawn of digital cameras. Yet the crude technique allows Yilmaz and director of photography Demir Gokdemir to provide some memorable visuals.
Press is shown today and tomorrow at the London Kurdish Film Festival.
Sedat Yilmaz was born in 1972. After attending the Middle East Technical University (METU), Computer Science Department for a while, in 1996 he started studying Cinema and Television at the Marmara University, Department of Fine Arts. Between 2000 and 2003 he conducted workshops with young moviemakers, resulting in short films. He gave lectures on editing. In 2003, he founded his own production company with a partner, Karincalar Production. In his company, he shot many advertisements, educational films, commercial documentaries and videos. He performed workshops on editing in Diyarbakir Festival for three years. He published articles on cinema in various magazines.
Filmography
The Seventieth Day (2000), The Handcuff (2002), Press (2010)
Press
Turkey
2010, 100min.
Producer: Sedat Yýlmaz
Director: Sedat Yýlmaz
Script: Sedat Yýlmaz
Director of Photography: Demir Gökdemir
Design: Nevin Dogan
Sound: Ferit Karabina
Editor: Seat Yýlmaz
Cast: Aram Dildar, Engin Emre Deger, Kadim Yasar, Sezgin Cengiz, Tayfur Aydin, Asiye Dinçsoy, Bilal Bulut
Production Company
Karincalar Production
Director Sedat Yýlmaz has said: "I am not Kurdish, but, I wanted to tell this story out of solidarity with the Kurdish people and with Gündem newspaper. Gündem is a very important newspaper in the press tradition of Turkey. Maybe the real meaning of its importance is becoming to be appreciated now".
As the simplicity strength of the director message, so goes the film. A low-budget, with Italian neo-realism remands, film that hit right to the heart of the question: truth can be denied, suppressed, hidden from people, but sooner or later it will prevail. In this case thanks to the work and sacrifice (literally because Kurdish papers have given 30 journalists' lives to the cause of exposing the truth) of some brave reporters. The film tells the story of the office of Gündem but reading the news in today's Turkish papers one will see that the reality portrayed in the film is not so distant from that of today. Indeed there are currently 66 journalists in Turkish jails. And the list of banned publications, intimidations, fines is as long as in the '90s.
In his film Yýlmaz never lets his characters stoop to the grandstanding of many a political movie: they are simply trying to do their job, and one journalist’s motto that the “truth is bulletproof” reveals itself to be disastrously false. What counts here are the little things, such as a broken fax machine, which becomes the team’s only way of both filing copy to Istanbul and receiving facsimiles of its banned pages, or a second-hand photo enlarger that Fýrat eventually uses to blow-up pictures of his assassinated colleague.
The production employs 16mm imagery and raw mono sound in a way that has been rarely utilized since the dawn of digital cameras. Yet the crude technique allows Yilmaz and director of photography Demir Gokdemir to provide some memorable visuals.
Press is shown today and tomorrow at the London Kurdish Film Festival.
Sedat Yilmaz was born in 1972. After attending the Middle East Technical University (METU), Computer Science Department for a while, in 1996 he started studying Cinema and Television at the Marmara University, Department of Fine Arts. Between 2000 and 2003 he conducted workshops with young moviemakers, resulting in short films. He gave lectures on editing. In 2003, he founded his own production company with a partner, Karincalar Production. In his company, he shot many advertisements, educational films, commercial documentaries and videos. He performed workshops on editing in Diyarbakir Festival for three years. He published articles on cinema in various magazines.
Filmography
The Seventieth Day (2000), The Handcuff (2002), Press (2010)
Press
Turkey
2010, 100min.
Producer: Sedat Yýlmaz
Director: Sedat Yýlmaz
Script: Sedat Yýlmaz
Director of Photography: Demir Gökdemir
Design: Nevin Dogan
Sound: Ferit Karabina
Editor: Seat Yýlmaz
Cast: Aram Dildar, Engin Emre Deger, Kadim Yasar, Sezgin Cengiz, Tayfur Aydin, Asiye Dinçsoy, Bilal Bulut
Production Company
Karincalar Production
