Mavi Boncuk |
Safa Önal (b. Istanbul December 17, 1930- d. Istanbul July 30, 2023)
He was born in Istanbul Maçka Palas. His father, District Governor Ahmet Fahretin Önal, graduated from law and civil engineering; He painted, played the zither, wrote poetry and novels. Even some of the poems that his father wrote for his mother, Nehali Hürriyet Önal, have become songs. Fahrettin Bey's poem "Sevildiğini Sanma | Don't Think You're Loved" was also composed by Arif Sami Toker.
Then he started writing screenplays. He wrote the scripts of many cult movies such as "Vesikalı Yarim", "Trees Die Standing", "Ah Beautiful Istanbul", "Ah Müjgan Ah", "Dila Hanım", "Tatar Ramazan", "Sweet Nigar", "Doctor Civanım".
Önal's 395 screenplays, which made progress in screenwriting, were approved as a world record by the Guinness Book of Records, which contains the most interesting records in the world. He has also worked with Bülent Oran and Ertem Göreç from time to time.
Önal, who married twice and separated from both of his spouses, started directing in 1973 and directed nearly 40 films. He has also written many photonovel scripts. Türkan Şoray and Cihan Ünal also took part in the photo-novel called The White Umbrella, the most well-known of them.
Önal, who continued his career by writing series scripts for television channels, quit directing in 2007 with his last movie Hicran Sokağı.
Önal, who won many awards at important festivals such as Altın Koza and Golden Orange with his screenplays, is also the brother of songwriter and presenter Sezen Cumhur Önal.
476 pages.
"...Those people walked as I wanted, laughed or cried as I wanted, died or lived as I wanted, these were very important to me.”
Safa Önal is said to be "a gain for the cinema, but a loss for the literary world". Maybe because he was fed with literature so much, as a result of this adventure that started in his adolescence, he became the owner of a world record with 395 screenplays that were filmed. The magic of cinema has tied him to himself so much that the vast majority of the 768 names mentioned in his memories that make people feel "can such lives be lived and explained like this, is it possible" are from that world, from the cinema.
"I loved these adventures and writing and their comings and goings. It didn't seem that tiring or tiring for me at all. I couldn't think of anything else! .. I'm still amazed at how there is another profession in the world other than filmmaking. How to do other professions besides cameraman and actor, studio artist and set worker? It's my curiosity. I'm serious."
Safa Önal's Book bears all the traces of an uncontaminated world. I love the name of the book written by Yasemin Arpa: "How Sad This Evening Time." A life that starts with literature and is kneaded with cinema. A fragile, naive life that misses the old and finds the new strange. I highly recommend it.
Ahmet Hakan - May 1, 2009
Safa Önal is a master, a power of memory, he holds a 'world record' with his '395 filmed script'. But is that all? Once again, I realized that it could not be that much, while reading 'How Distressed This Evening'. My friend, my brother Safa Önal is a master of narration. This master of narration tells about his life (.)
Selim Next - June 19, 2009