Crossroads Catalogue 2009

TURKEYThe Future Lasts ForeverCreditsProduced by: Nar FilmDirector: Özcan AlperScriptwriter: Özcan AlperCo-Producers: FilmFabrik Köln (Germany)Budget: 798.000 EurosSecured Financing: 12%Özcan AlperDirectorContactName of Company: Nar FilmAddress: Caferaga Mah. Sarraf Ali Sok. No: 25/334710 Kadikoy , Istanbul, TurkeyT: +90 216 418 42 06M: +90 535 333 97 26, +90 535 454 22 92info@narfilm.comwww.narfilm.comFilmographyAutumn, 2008,Rhapsody and Melancholyin Tokai City (short), 2005Voyage in Time With a Scientist (doc), 2002Grandmother (short), 2001SynopsisNeslihan (25), a journalist from Istanbul, embarks on a journey to southeast Turkey to cover a storyabout the effects of the thirty-year-long “unacknowledged war”. The short trip turns out to be the longestjourney of her life. Along the way, she crosses paths with Ahmet (26), a street vendor who sells bootlegDVDs, Uncle Antranik, the keeper of the only church in service –though rundown- in Diyarbakır, Vedat andUğur, two street vendor kids and Uncle Enver. While Neslihan the journalist focuses on the pain of others,she has to face a loss in her own personal life with which she has not yet come to terms. In her entire journey,a crow accompanies Neslihan along the way.Director’s StatementThe film is about reviving the memory of hundreds of stories, traumatic events and unresolved issues bytaking a close look at the journey of five characters, as if they were five stills.Since 1984, nearly 5000 villages and farmlands have been evacuated in the name of the “unacknowledgedwar” in the southeast of Turkey. The forced migration brought about many social and political problems,such as overcrowding of the cities, poverty and domestic violence. Diyarbakır, the metropolitan centreof the east and the southeast, is affected the most. Mass migration became the source of a multitudeof problems as the city was not prepared in terms of economy and infrastructure.Critical thinking and art can enable a renewed emotional life and an ability to reimagine society. The FutureLasts Forever aims at seeing the big picture we avoid, beyond events and figures, through lookingat the five pictures Neslihan takes.18