Brothers - Ömür Atay (Turkey/Germany/Bulgaria)
Mavi Boncuk |
The upcoming edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival's official selection will introduce Ömür Atay’s feature debut, Brothers, made as a Turkish, German and Bulgarian co-production and grappling with the dilemma of “how difficult it is to choose between blood ties and tradition on one hand, and what is morally right on the other”.
BROTHERS by Ömür Atay
synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Yusuf comes home after spending four years at a detention center. His return to the family circle freshly recalls the act that his loved ones, bound by rigid tradition, forced Yusuf to commit. Directed with an assured hand, this intimate debut concerns guilt and punishment and how difficult it is to choose between blood ties and tradition on the one hand, and what is morally right on the other.
international title:Brothers
original title:Kardeşler
country:Turkey, Germany, Bulgaria
year: 2017
genre: fiction
directed by: Ömür Atay
film run: 103'
backing: Eurimages | Producer: Funda Odemis Ankafilm[1] [1] Funda Ödemis email: funda(at)ankafilm.com Anka Film is a Turkish motion picture and television production and distribution company co-founded by producers Ali Akdeniz, Erhan Özogul and Funda Ödemis. In addition, company serves as casting, logistic and accomodation agency in Turkey. The company became widely known for its "The Edge Of Heaven," which won Best Script and Ecumenical Jury Price in Cannes in 2007. Film was co-produced by Ali Akdeniz, Funda Ödemis, Erhan Özogul, Andreas Thiel, Klaus Maeck and Fatih Akin. Anka Film - Kuloglu Mah. Aga Hamam Cad. #35/4 Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey. T: +90 (212) 245-6410, F: +90 (212) 245-6403, E: info@ankafilm.com
Turkish Cinema: The New Generation - Omur Atay, Director ‘Brothers’" by Nick Vivarelli
Turkish cinema has become a regular fixture on the international festival circuit these days, represented most recently by first time features, such as Ceylan Ozgun Ozcelik's media censorship-themed “Inflame,” which bowed this year in Berlin, and Emre Yeksan’s dystopian drama “The Gulf” which launched from Venice.
Variety has profiled several other directors, writers and producers who signal that a new generation is emerging within Turkey’s vibrant, albeit turbulence-riddled, film scene.
Omur Atay is an alumn of Istanbul’s Marmara University Film Department who directed several prize-winning shorts before becoming primarily a TV director of such shows as ATV’s “Bir Istanbul Masali,” Star TV’s “Guldunia,” and “Ask” for Kanal D. He also helmed a segment of portmanteau pic “Istanbul Tales,” which in 2006 won prizes at festivals in Turkey and abroad.
Atay’s feature film debut “Brothers,” selected for the Works in Progress section at the Antalya forum, is an an honor killing drama centred around 17-year-old named Yusuf who is released on probation from a youth detention center in a small city in Central Anatolia after being held there since he was 13.
Upon returning to his family Yusuf is forced by his older brother to become involved in the honor killing of their sister. "It's the story of a journey back to the family," says Atay. "This family is the first world perceived [by Yusuf] through the moral beliefs, values and traditions imposed on these young men who are transformed into ruthless murderers."