HE TWO FINALISTS OF THE NATIONAL COMPETITION;

“TAVŞAN İMPARATORLUĞU” AND “ALDIĞIMIZ NEFES” MET THE AUDIENCE IN ANTALTA

Today, the excitement of the Golden Orange Film Festival turned to the films “Tavşan İmparatorluğu” and “Aldığımız Nefes” Following the screenings, the film crews answered questions from the audience.

The excitement of the National Competition continued today at the 62nd International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival with the films “Tavşan İmparatorluğu” directed by Seyfettin Tokmak, and “Aldığımız Nefes,” directed by Şeyhmus Altun.

“Tavşan İmparatorluğu,” which had its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, brings to the big screen the struggle of Musa, who is forced by his father Beko to pretend to be disabled to receive a state salary, to save wild rabbits that, like himself, have been torn from their natural habitat and used as bait in greyhound races.

“Without women, the wild nature of the male world becomes even more apparent.”

Following the screening at the Aspendos Hall of the Atatürk Cultural Centre (AKM), a discussion was held with screenwriter-producer-director Seyfettin Tokmak and child actors Perla Palamutçuoğulları and Alpay Kaya. Director Seyfettin Tokmak, who recalled working with children in his first film, “Broken Shells,” explained the origin of the children's story in this film as follows:

“Before the pandemic, I started volunteering as a film teacher for children at Ümraniye Prison. There, I felt a very harsh and incomprehensible melancholy about childhood. I started with the question of how a child experiences melancholy. When you remove women from life and geography, what remains? For me, the answer was this: the wild nature of the male world becomes even more apparent."

However, Tokmak stated that he did not stop there, saying, “I tried to create a circle where hounds, adults, rabbits, and children were all together.” He added, “Along with this, I wanted to make a film without a specific location. I wanted a film that did not belong to a particular geography or place.”,

The child actors shared their feelings after watching the film three years after filming. Perla Palamutçuoğulları said, “It was like looking at old photo albums. I felt proud to have made such a film.” At the same time, Alpay Kaya expressed his feelings by saying, “Watching it today, after three years, makes me even prouder.”

“We forget death very quickly.”

Directed and written by Şeyhmus Altun, the film “Aldığımız Nefes” tells the story of Esma, a 12-year-old girl who lost her mother in a fire in an Anatolian town in the early 2000s and had to grow up too quickly. Following the screening of the film at the AKM Aspendos Hall, a discussion was held with Director Şeyhmus Altun and actor Defne.

Zeynep Enci, Hakan Karsak, and producer Fevziye Hazal Yazan.

Director Şeyhmus Altun, who stated that the film is his sister's story, described the film as “a story about my childhood and also about not being able to emigrate, not being able to leave.”

Defne Zeynep Enci, who plays the lead role in the film, said the following about her character: “I play a girl who has lost her mother and taken on her mother's role at home. She wants to study and grow up, but there is a wall in front of her that she cannot overcome. Because she cannot achieve what she wants, she is an unhappy and withdrawn girl.” Actor Hakan Karsak also spoke about how he developed his character, saying, “What inspired me most in developing the character was humanity's tendency to forget death quickly. Death is an absolute reality, yet we live as if it will never happen.”