STFF 2014

The 2nd Annual Seattle Turkish Film Festival returned November 20 - November 23, 2014 with the best in contemporary cinema from all over the Turkish-speaking world. The festival featured 10 films as well as its first Short Film Competition Session.

Films of note included Whisper, If I Forget by director Çağan Irmak, a story about a young girl who runs away to Istanbul to become a pop star and returns later in life to face those she left behind, as well as Nobody’s Home by Deniz Akçay about a family torn apart by the death of their patriarch.

Films

WHISPER IF I FORGET / UNUTURSAM FISILDA

Director: Çağan Irmak

Screenwriter: Çağan Irmak

Stars: Farah Zeynep Abdullah, Mehmet Günsür, Kerem Bursin

Genre: Drama, Family, Music

An old pop singer who has Alzheimer's returns to her old house where she remembers her old days of climbing the stairs of fame and fortune while trying to deal with her older sister who holds her responsible for her ruined life.

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ARE WE OK? / TAMAM MIYIZ?

Director: Çagan Irmak

Screenwriter: Çagan Irmak

Stars: Aras Bulut İynemli, Deniz Celiloğlu, Aslı Enver

Genre: Drama

The key to the puzzle of forlorn sculpture Tammuz's life and reality of his dreams lies within Ihsan who is a young boy with tetra-amelia syndrome.

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MY CHILD / BENİM ÇOCUĞUM

Director: Can Candan

Screenwriter: Can Candan

Stars: Ali Atay, Tansu Biçer, Cengiz Bozkurt

Genre: Documentary, Family

What happens when your child comes out to you? In this feature documentary, parents of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender individuals in Turkey intimately share their experiences with the viewer, as they redefine what it means to be parents, family, and activists in this conservative, homophobic, and trans-phobic society.

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7 HUSBANDS OF HURMUZ / 7 KOCALI HÜRMÜZ

Director: Ezel Akay

Screenwriter: Gürsel Korat

Stars: Nurgül Yesilçay, Gülse Birsel, Haluk Bilginer

Genre: Comedy

Remake of a well-known Turkish musical comedy loved by generations, the film is about the adventures of flirtatious Hurmuz in late 1800's Istanbul. Hurmuz who lives in Taskasap, Istanbul has six husbands in a plot to solve her economic problems. She arranges to meet each of her husbands one day of the week. However, suddenly, she falls in love with the town's doctor whom she meets at her husband's barber shop. The doctor falls in love with her too... But, one night all six husbands come home at the same time, and Hurmuz and Safinaz - Hurmuz's "go-between/accomplice/friend" - find themselves in a series of very awkward yet funny situations.

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NOBODY'S HOME / KÖKSÜZ

Director: Deniz Akçay

Screenwriter: Deniz Akçay

Stars: Lale Başar, Savas Alp Başar, Mert Bostancı

Genre: Drama

The story of four people who cannot manage to become a family again after a loss and who destroy themselves with each passing day.

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LOVE ME / SEV BENİ

Director: Maryna Gorbach, Mehmet Bahadır Er (co-director)

Screenwriter: Maryna GorbachÖ Mehmet Bahadır Er (co-writer)

Stars: Ushan Çakır, Viktoria Spesivtseva, Güven Kıraç

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Sprinkled with hilarious notes of cultural clashes and an endearing display of the kindness of strangers, this idiosyncratic 'comedy drama' will warm hearts in the most unexpected way.

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MY AUNT IS HERE / HALAM GELDi

Director: Erhan Kozan

Screenwriter: Evrim Kanpolat

Stars: Miray Akay, Melisa Celayir, Tunç Oral

Genre: Drama

Film takes part in Norhtern Cyprus and takes child marriages into account.

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YOZGAT BLUES

Director: Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun

Screenwriter: Mahmut Fazil Cosku, Tarık Tufan

Stars: Ercan Kesal, Ayça Damgacı, Tansu Biçer

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music

A barber in Yozgat - a very small city in the middle Anatolia - has an emotional breakdown when he runs into Yavuz and Nese who have come to town to sing in a small music hall-bar.

Click for the trailer.