The Other Side of Istanbul
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The other Istanbul |
| Original title | The Other Side of Istanbul |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | Turkish , English , Dutch |
| Publishing year | 2008 |
| length | 83 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Döndü Kılıç |
| script | Andreas Hug, Döndü Kılıç |
| production | Döndü Kılıç, Hartmut Bitomsky |
| music | Mesut Lekesiz , Mustafa Sarışın , Niclas Ramdohr |
| camera | Vojtech Pokorny |
| cut | Mariejosephin Schneider , Inge Schneider , Döndü Kılıç |
The Other Side of Istanbul is a German documentary film by the director Döndü Kılıç from 2008.
action
In various episodes, Döndü Kılıç gives an insight into the confrontations of gays , bisexuals and transsexuals in a predominantly gay-hostile environment - with the Turkish state power, the military, society, their families and, above all, with themselves.
Mehmet Tarhan , 28, lives in one of the few gay-friendly neighborhoods in Istanbul , Cihangir . He grew up in İskenderun and was a native Kurd . Two years ago he was jailed for 11 months for not wanting to do military service. Although he could have been retired as a gay man, he would have had to have himself declared mentally ill through the so-called “rot report”. His mother, brother and sister stand by Mehmet, even though he is considered deserted even after his release and has no ID. But like Mehmet, numerous other homosexuals do it . Shortly after his imprisonment, he became the contact person for Lambda Istanbul . The association with around 30 members serves as a meeting point for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transvestites and transsexuals and organizes, among other things, political demonstrations and press work to raise awareness. But not everyone feels addressed by this association.
The 24-year-old Mustafa is one of them , as he describes himself as apolitical and prefers the alternative club scene. This scene in turn is very small in Istanbul; On the one hand, expensive gay clubs and fetish clubs for the better-off are dominant , on the other hand the clubs of the mostly muscular, hairy men of the "bear scene". Mustafa suffers from the fact that young gays like him are seen as unattractive and find it particularly difficult to be accepted in everyday gay life. In Istanbul you can't live openly gay without being disturbed if you don't have money and fame like some well-known actors. But he still loves his city and claims of himself not to look into the future, but to live in the here and now.
The 28-year-old transvestite Güney , who dreams of becoming famous one day, feels completely different. But his current financial situation is not looking good: What he earns in a sex cinema is just enough to survive. By coming out , he no longer has any contact with the family or any other support. He provokes people just by his appearance, although, as he himself says, he only wants to please everyone and can be anything, whether gay, transsexual, transvestite or “more womanly than any woman”. Since problems arise even in the somewhat more tolerant Taksim district , which is characterized by shopping boulevards with department stores and international shops in the western style, Güney's life is not only characterized by joie de vivre, but also by despair.
At the age of 40, Mert would like to escape all city life again. He came to Istanbul at a young age after coming out to his family. Without support and without training, he got tranny sex through a transvestite and earned his living with it for 12 years. But in his opinion, life in Istanbul has now become dangerous; he envisions a life with his partner, with whom he has had a steady relationship for 5 years, in the countryside more calmly and carefree, although he has had a regular employment relationship in recent years.
Even the 25-year-old Bawer finally wants to start over by stopping lying to his family and others. So far he has not dared to come out and with the help of his girlfriend Leyla has faked a relationship and did not expect his parents to plan the wedding right away. So he had no choice but to pretend a breakup and expose himself again to the risk of his parents becoming suspicious of whether he is homosexual or not.
Similar to Mehmet at Lambda Istanbul, the 30-year-old transsexual Öykü campaigns for the rights of transsexuals (and transvestites) living in Bursa in her association "Gökkuşağı" ( Rainbow ) . Since there is no law against transsexuals in Turkey, they are sometimes criminalized and harassed as "prostitutes"; Öykü is therefore committed to protecting them from attacks. Öykü is the first transsexual in Turkey who was officially allowed to have her name changed in court. In the past, this was only possible by bribing the doctor who claimed in court that the wrong name had been entered on the birth certificate at the time of birth. She knows that despite these small successes, it will be a long time before transsexuals have their own rights. But Öykü will not give up.
background
Other protagonists are Prof. Dr. Mustafa Çağrıcı , a professor of Islamic theology and Mufti, as well as Apo , Öner , Kenan , Ebru and Demet .
According to a conversation with Mehmet Tarhan on February 3, 2008, the transsexual Öykü is now in prison because she did not want to give up her “criminal” organization “Gökkuşağı”.
The film celebrated its world premiere on February 9, 2008 as part of the Berlin International Film Festival .
Festivals
- 57th Berlin International Film Festival, Panorama February 7-17, 2008
- 14th Athens International Film Festival, September 17-28, 2008
- 25th Festival de Cine de Bogota (Bogota Film Festival), October 1-9, 2008
- 29th Manaki Brothers Film Festival , September 27 - October 4, 2008
- Pink Panorama - LesBiGay Film Festival Lucerne, October 13-19, 2008
- 8th The Barcelona International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, October 16-25, 2008
- 32nd MOSTRA International Film Festival Sao Paulo, October 17-30, 2008
- 20th QueerFilmFestival Esslingen, October 30th - November 9th, 2008
- Tüpisch Turkish Film Festival, Cologne, November 1st, 2008
- Terra di Siena Film Festival, November 4th - 8th, 2008
- 12th Queer View Festival, Bern, November 6th - 9th, 2008
- Culturescape, Zurich, November 16, 2008
- 3rd Lens Politica film and media art festival, Helsinki, November 21-23, 2008
- 32. Gothenburg Int. Film festival, January 23 - February 2, 2009
- 12. Uçan Süpürge Uluslararası Kadın Filmleri Festivali (USKFF), Ankara 7-14 Mayıs 2009
- Q! Film Festival Indonesia, Bandung 02/09, Yogiyakarta 04/09, Jakarta 07/09
Awards
- Audience Award Best Documentary in Barcelona