- Title: Turkish film spotlights refugee smuggling from the Middle East
- Date: 4th July 2017
- Summary: KARLOVY VARY, CZECH REPUBLIC (JULY 3, 2017) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET WOMAN DRINKING WATER FROM SPRING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT VENUE FOR KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL POSTER FOR FILM "DAHA" BY FILM DIRECTOR, ONUR SAYLAK MAN TAKING PHOTO ACTOR, HAYAT VAN ECK, POSING WITH WOMAN KARLOVY VARY FILM FESTIVAL PROGRAM DIRECTOR, KAREL OCH (RIGHT), TALKING WITH FILM DIRECTOR, ONUR SAYLAK (MIDDLE) (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) AUTHOR AND SCREENPLAY WRITER, HAKAN GUNDAY, SAYING: "This movie is made after the novel which was published in 2013. At the time, just few articles about the refugees were published in the newspapers, with only agency numbers about the people who were crossing the borders from Turkey to Greece. The people were coming without any faces like ghosts. In my novel and screenplay I tried to give faces and names to these people." SAYLAK POSING FOR PHOTO WITH ANOTHER FILM DELEGATION MEMBER (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) FILM DIRECTOR, ONUR SAYLAK, SAYING: "For me filming this movie was easy, because it is real. Now it is the right time to tell about these occurrences because now you can see the refugees every moment. everywhere and every day. This is just the right time to tell the story." VAN ECK (MIDDLE) STANDING NEXT TO ANOTHER FILM DELEGATION MEMBER (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ACTOR, HAYAT VAN ECK, SAYING: "To play this character was not easy for me. I tried my best and I had a lot of mentors helping me with it, to show my way - especially Onur Saylak. They helped me so much, showing me how I must act. It was not easy but I had a lot of help." VAN ECK POSING FOR PHOTOS WITH OTHERS PEOPLE INSIDE FESTIVAL CINEMA VARIOUS OF "DAHA" DELEGATES POSING FOR PHOTOS AUDIENCE IN CINEMA APPLAUDING SAYLAK ARRIVING ON STAGE AND GREETING AUDIENCE AUDIENCE APPLAUDING PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PHOTO OF FILM DELEGATES ON STAGE / AUDIENCE APPLAUDING
- Embargoed: 18th July 2017 12:05
- Keywords: Turkish film Daha Karlovy Vary Film Festival refugee crisis Middle East film director Onur Saylak
- Location: UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS / KARLOVY VARY, CZECH REPUBLIC
- City: UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS / KARLOVY VARY, CZECH REPUBLIC
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA0026OAUWYD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The 52nd International Film Festival is bringing a dash of glamour and reality to the west Bohemian spa town of Karlovy Vary.
From June 30 to July 8, the festival will introduce more than 300 filmmakers and present some 200 films from around the world.
It's intended for both film professionals and the general public, and offers visitors a carefully designed programme.
Twelve films will participate including "Daha" (More), a film by Turkish director Onur Saylak spotlighting the Middle East refugee crisis.
Adapted from a novel by Hakan Gunday of the same title, Daha tells the story of a 14-year-old boy named Gaza, who lives on the Aegean coast of Turkey and helps his father smuggle refugees from war-torn countries to Europe.
"This movie is made based on the novel which was published in 2013. At the time, just few articles about the refugees were published in the newspapers, with only agency numbers about the people who were crossing the borders from Turkey to Greece. The people were coming without any faces like ghosts. In my novel and screenplay I tried to give faces and names to these people," said Gunday, who also wrote the screenplay for the film.
Over the past two years, around 1.5 million migrants have fled fighting and poverty across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, many entrusting their lives to people smugglers who charged exorbitant prices to help them reach Europe.
This has created a global business as profitable and sophisticated as drug trafficking, according to authorities who are struggling to stop the teaming up of migrants and smugglers.
The timeliness of the events made the filming experience "easy", according to the film's director Onur Saylak.
"For me filming this movie was easy, because it is real. Now it is the right time to tell about these occurrences because now you can see the refugees every moment. Everywhere and every day. This is just the right time to tell the story," said Saylak.
However, for Hayat Van Eck, the young actor who plays Gaza, the character is a complex one to grasp.
"To play this character was not easy for me. I tried my best and I had a lot of mentors helping me with it, to show my way - especially Onur Saylak. They helped me so much, showing me how I must act. It was not easy but I had a lot of help," he said.
Europol, Europe's police agency, said people-smuggling generated up to $6 billion in 2015, but profits dropped by about a third in 2016 after a European Union (EU) deal with Turkey last March largely stemmed the migration flow.
Most of the money for passage is raised and transferred by migrants' relatives around the world.
The smuggling rings exploit consumers thousands of miles apart - migrants seeking freedom or opportunity and their families back home and in the West, who are willing to pay to ensure their loved ones make it. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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