FILM FESTIVAL-VENICE/ABLUKA-FRENZY Stars talk war and paranoia for Turkish film "Frenzy" at Venice Film Festival

Record ID: 141623

  • Title: FILM FESTIVAL-VENICE/ABLUKA-FRENZY Stars talk war and paranoia for Turkish film "Frenzy" at Venice Film Festival
  • Date: 8th September 2015
  • Summary: VENICE, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 8, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POSTERS ADVERTISING "ABLUKA" (FRENZY) CHANDELIER / DIRECTOR, EMIN ALPER, TALKING TO REPORTER EMIN ALPER TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, EMIN ALPER, SAYING: "I think mainly it's about how the political atmosphere can drive people paranoid and crazy and create the destruction of the society, actually. The political polarisation, the political tensions and the idea of a polarised society between enemy and friends can destroy our identities, our confidence." ALPER (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, EMIN ALPER, SAYING: "The idea was not to refer to a definite time. It could be in the 80s, even 70s, even 90s. Because, unfortunately, we have cycles of such periods in Turkey. And when we were shooting the film, we were living in a quite peaceful period and we thought that when we were shooting it, we said that now the film is more referring to the past, but suddenly in July after this bomb attack in Suruc the ceasefire has stopped between Kurdish guerrilas and the government. And the film suddenly became referring to the present." ALPER ON A CAMERA SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, EMIN ALPER, SAYING: "And one of the aim of not referring to a definite period is of course, I know that this is a universal story, although the story is in Istanbul we didn't want to especially underline the location, just to stress the universality of this situation. The history of the 20th century is full of such political conflicts and you can see such political atmospheres everywhere."
  • Embargoed: 23rd September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAB7MRXPX5WKULOZY7Z67PMJF2F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The stars and director of Turkish film "Abluka" (Frenzy), which is competing In Competition at the Venice Film Festival, talked on Tuesday (September 8) about how the film relates to current political tensions in Turkey.
    The Emin Alper directed movie depicts two brothers, Ahmet and Kadir, living isolated lives on the outskirts of Istanbul.
    Kadir (played by Mehmet Ozgur) has just been released from prison on parole after years inside, but as part of his early release deal he must work for the state as a garbage collector looking for traces of bomb-making equipment as tensions over bombings rise in the country.
    Ahmet (played by Berkay Ates), is surprised by Kadir's reappearance, which comes just as his wife has left home with his children. Working as a dog exterminator, he shoots a canine which later turns up injured and whimpering outside his home. He takes the dog in, names it Coni and develops a strong bond with the animal, while his mental state continues to deteriorate following his family break-up.
    "I think mainly it's about how the political atmosphere can drive people paranoid and crazy and create the destruction of the society, actually. The political polarisation, the political tensions and the idea of a polarised society between enemy and friends can destroy our identities, our confidence," said director, Alper.
    The film explores paranoia and "Abluka's" unconventional structure is designed to reflect disorientation caused by war, or the threat of violence.
    It also comes at a time of heightened tension in Turkey, following on from the Suruc bombing in July and the subsequent arrests of hundreds of suspected Kurdish and ISIS militants across the country. Turkey has also expanded air strikes against PKK targets in northern Iraq while several Turkish soldiers were killed by an attack by Kurdish militants on Sunday (September 6).
    "The idea was not to refer to a definite time. It could be in the 80s, even 70s, even 90s. Because, unfortunately, we have cycles of such periods in Turkey. And when we were shooting the film we were living in a quite peaceful period and we thought that when we were shooting it, we said that now the film is referring more to the past, but suddenly in July after this bomb attack in Suruc the ceasefire has stopped between Kurdish guerrillas and the government. And the film suddenly became referring to the present," said Alper.
    But both Alper and Ozgur said the film's ideas of paranoia and war are not just a reflection Turkey, but different countries all over the world.
    "Although the story is in Istanbul we didn't want to especially underline the location, just to stress the universality of this situation. The history of the 20th century is full of such political conflicts and you can see such political atmospheres everywhere," said Alper, whose film takes place on the outskirts of Istanbul.
    Ozgur further added, "I think that when Emin decided to make the film he didn't want to point at a specific time or place because the team of the film, we all lived through it, this political violence and regimes of pressure that somehow isolates people from their own country. It's everywhere in the world. In most of the world we see problems of terrorism and violence today. So, it was more important for us to be able to create an aesthetic approach to that problem, although the sources of inspiration are from Turkey, we wanted to make a global film."
    Ates, making his feature film debut, spends many of his scenes interacting with a dog, which proved a challenge for the performer.
    "You know, I come from theatre and it's my first feature film and so I experienced lots of new things altogether and Coni (the dog in the film) was the bigger part of all these new experiences. So, it's both very strange to act with the dog but it also has a very special feeling about it because you need to grow a different sensuality, because you are working with another actor who is unpredictable. He doesn't do things that you like him to do all the time, but sometimes he does things that you don't expect and that surprises you. So, you have to be prepared all the time and you need to be open-minded about your character and you should be able to control your reactions with him all the time. So, it was a big challenge for me but I enjoyed it a lot." said Ates.
    Alper will find out if "Albuka"(Frenzy) has picked up the In Competition prize at the Venice Film Festival's closing ceremony on Saturday (September 12).
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