May 10, 2023

Home » Entertainment » Emin Alper on Filmmaking in Turkey: Between Self-Censorship and Resistance byarchywordys No Comments fluter.de: Emin, 2022 was a hectic year for you. Your film “Burning Days” was on everyone’s lips in Turkey. How are you today? Emin Alper: Oh man, turbulent times! Luckily things have calmed down. But the hustle and bustle was worth it: “Burning Days” was seen more than all my films combined. We sold tens of thousands more tickets than usual for independent films in Turkey. So bottom line, everything is fine. “Burning Days” tells the story of Emre, a young prosecutor called to work in a small Anatolian town plagued by a water crisis. It’s a film about corruption, power struggles and political scandals. Could he have played anywhere? The terrible authoritarian, conservative atmosphere here in Turkey was the spark for this film. The story is local, but people’s fears, hopes, weaknesses and expectations are everywhere. I realized that while working on the story. Then I blurred time and space, reducing the connections to current politics. You made the film more universal. Yes. But to be honest, that an urban intellectual goes to the country and tries to improve things is a common story in Turkish cinema and literature. Often the characters in these stories are steeped in idealism. These are caricatures, good to the bone. At some point, even idealists think of their advantage, they lie, cheat, make mistakes or even nothing at all. I grew up in the country among the judges, prosecutors and politicians just like in “Burning Days”. In the film I wanted to show people as we meet them in real life. How do you do that? For me, taking a close look and distance from the script works. I finish a draft and leave it for months. Then you read the text as if someone else had written it. As a result, my films take a little longer. But applying for funding and raising money for the film often takes years. Your case just got publicized. After the premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and a few days before the official theatrical release in Turkey, the Ministry of Culture demanded that the financial support for the film be returned. My films have always had a hard time with public funding, only two were made with state funds. Who decides in Turkey which films are funded? The funds in the field of art and culture are not allocated decentrally as in Germany or other European countries, but by a jury. Many members come from the film industry. But the Ministry of Culture and Tourism can reverse the jury’s funding decisions. For a long time it seemed as if the jury and the ministry were acting on an equal footing. Until there was a change in the statutes in 2019. If I understand correctly, was it decided at the time that the Ministry could compare a script that received funding with the version of the script that was actually used to make the film? Exactly. Changes to the script now have to be submitted again for approval. States all over the world simply fund the scripts and then let the director and crew work in peace. That makes sense too: a script is like a route. This can and must be changed again and again during filming or even in post-production. “The government wants to prevent stories that attack their worldview. Drugs, homosexuality, doubts about national identity, they don’t want to show that in Turkey.” What was the purpose of this change? I believe directors should be prevented from writing stories that attack the government and their worldview in any way. Criticism of the government, drugs, homosexuality, doubts about national identity, they don’t want to show that here. The directors and producers must explain in official reports why they want to change sub-plots or characters in the script. That’s where some filmmakers go nuts, there’s just rarely a clear reason for a change. These are very intuitive processes. I don’t think you can make an objective judgment as to whether or not changing someone else’s script is appropriate. Are the changes often rejected? I don’t know that. But I’m the first one they’re asking for the funding back from. What do you think that’s about? The ministry said it did not approve of the changes made to the script. It’s clear to me why: they didn’t like the changes politically. A love affair develops between the public prosecutor and a journalist in the film, which was not in the first version of the film. Because you knew that this change could cause problems? No. I submitted the final draft to the Ministry – with the relationship between the male characters – and then got no response. We shot, we produced the film, we handed over the tapes to the Ministry. There were never any problems. Until the film screened in Cannes and was nominated for a Queer Palm. Then all hell broke loose. Pro-government media have reported that the film is queer propaganda… … and that we cheated the ministry by taking their money to make a completely different film. I suspect the attention has put pressure on the Ministry. Because all the members of the jury who knew the first script thought my changes were correct. They were happy with the nominations the film received in Cannes and at the Antalya Film Festival. I know from jury circles that the funding was withdrawn due to the intervention of the ministry. The film fell victim to its success. I think so. If the film had never been accepted at any festival, never been nominated for an award, it would have passed quietly. We’re in trouble because we did a lot of things right. You have already paid back the funding. In recent years, the economic crisis in Turkey has made it more difficult to make films. Are there ways to finance a film without public film funding? You need co-producers from abroad who apply for funding in their home country. Also because the money that the ministry gives is not enough to produce a film. Film funding has been cut for years. Most recently, a support of one and a half million lira was announced. For an indie film you need five times that. And a co-producer from abroad is a lifeline for the film? Not necessarily. Legally, it is usually the case that the money you get abroad must also be spent there. So if you get a pot of 80,000 euros in Germany, you have to do the post-production in Germany, hire a German cameraman or assistant. “If you’re always dancing around the censorship, you’re breathing in the prohibitions. Maybe we censor our own stories from the start, unconsciously.” How would you set up the film funding? I think the funding should be doubled or tripled first. Then there would need to be an independent arts committee that determines who receives the funds. And in addition to the ministry, television stations and digital platforms should also develop projects that are evaluated according to artistic, not political, criteria. The “Anti-Disinformation Law” further restricts freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Turkey. Even international streaming services are now being blocked by Turkish authorities. You say: As a filmmaker in Turkey, you have to choose between self-censorship and resistance every day. I try not to buckle. I’m really trying! But maybe it’s already too late. If you’ve danced around censorship your entire career, you’ll breathe in the bans and red lines until you barely recognize them. Maybe we censor our own stories from the start, unconsciously. I don’t know it. One of your co-producers is Çiğdem Mater. She is said to have helped organize the protests in Gezi Park in 2013 and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. I have no words for Çiğdem’s case. She and her friends were illegally arrested with no evidence. Osman Kavala (a patron and human rights activist who was sentenced to life imprisonment for supporting the Gezi protests, ed.) has been in prison for years. I think the government has realized the absurdity of holding Kavala alone. They arrested Çiğdem and the others to make Gezi appear as an organization. Çiğdem lived in Germany, she came back to Turkey especially for the trial. She was also arrested on suspicion of escaping. Everyone here knows these people are innocent. Except for the one man up there who is responsible for it. We must bring the rule of law back to Turkey. I hope the elections end this madness. are you confident Yes. I wasn’t in previous elections. The opposition has made mistakes, but the government’s mistakes are far greater. If we get fair and free elections, I believe the election will change things in the country. Emin Alper is one of Turkey’s most important political filmmakers. The interview was conducted in Turkish and then translated. (Photo: Muhsin Akgun) Fotos: The Match Factory