In ‘cinema jazireh,’ a woman Dresses up as a man in taliban afghanistan in Search of Her Son, Hope

Afghanistan Under the Rule of the Taliban is the Setting of Cinema jazirehTurkish Filmmaker Gözde Kural’s Second Feature. She Wrote, Directed, and Also Edited, Together with Bünyamin Bayansal, The Film, WHICH is World Premiering in the Crystal Globe Competition of the 59th Edition of the Karlovy (Kviff) On Thursday Evening.

“After Surviving Her Family’s Massacre, Leila Has Just One Goal in Life: To Find Her Son Omid,” Says A synopsis. “BUT IN A COUNTRY WHERE BEING A WOMAN MEANS BEING LESS NOTHING, HER CHANCES Are Desperately Slim, and So She Chooses an Extreme and Dangerous Solution. She Radically Changes Her IDent. EVEN The SLIGTEST HESITATION CAN MEAN DEATH. ”

The Kviff Website Lauds the “MasterFully Crafted Second Film” that Tells “A Story of Oppression that Forces Individuals Into Roles Free Country. ”

The Cast of Cinema jazireha co-reproduction Between Turkey, Iran, Bulgaria, and Romania, Includes Fresteh Hosseini (Parting, Tsunami), Mazlum sümer, Ali Karimi, Hamid Karimi, Meysam Demanze, and Reza Akhlagrad. The Producers Are Kural, Milad Khosravi, and Bulut Reyhanoğlu. The Production Firms Are Toz Film Production, Seven Springs Pictures, and Kos Kos Kos Films, With Co-Powder Front Front Frolm, Avva Mixx Studios, ORON, AND SOBERWORKS.

Kural’s First Feature, Dust, Focused on a Woman Who Was Born and Raissed in Istanbul But Whose Family Was Originally from Afghanistan. After Her Mother’s Death, She Follows Her Last Wish to Bury Her in Afghanistan.

Kural Talked to Thr about Cinema jazirehher fascination with afghanistan, WHETHER HER NEXT MOVIE WILL ALSO BE SET THERE, AND WHY HOPE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER INDAY’S WORLD.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO Explore Theme of Searching for a Boy Called OMID, WHICH MEANS “HOPE,” IN IN Cinema jazireh?

I First Traveled to Afghanistan at a very young age, just with a backpack on my shortders. Of Course, Many Things Happy During that Time, But What Stays With Me Now, What i Find Myself Returning to, Are Certain Moments and Encounters. I Met People Who, Even in the Darkest Times, Never Stoped Living Life, Smiling, Who Clung to Life As IF there was no other than Option. War, Corruption, Injustice, Poverty… Life Had Taken Nearly Everything from Them. And Yet, there was this quiet defiance, this unsocen resilience that deeply moved and inspired me.

Because WHEN HOPE DisAPPEARS, LIFE COLLPSES INTO A Void of Meaninglessness. Especialy in the region – I come from Turkey, But Even More Starkly, More Brutally So in Afghanistan – I Realized Something Lead to Thoughts of Death. But WHEN DEOTH Feels That Close, That Tangible, Something Else Begins to Grow Inside, A Powerful Yearning for Life, ALMOST A KINTH Existential Rebellion. I Not Unlike Bursting Into Laughter at A Funeral.

That contradiction, “The Urge to Live More Fiercely Whoath is So Near,” Affected me Deeply. This Paradox Stayed with Me and Became of the Emotion Core of Both Myseld and the Film. If we STOP “Believing that One Day Things Might Getter,” Life Becomes Unbearable. So the right and the freedom to hope become more vital thanning else.

How Topical Is Theme of HOPE in a Dark World Toiday, Not Just in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan But Also in Countries with Other Regimes-Well, Even Many Other Place.

This is, in fact, the only quest that matters today.

Ironically, The Film Tells The Story of a War and of an Oppressive Regime That Seeps Through The Cracks Left In Its Aftermath. Sounds Familiar? THESE Days, We Watch Missils Being Launched From One Country to Another Live on Our Screens. We Consume Footage of Retaliation, Destruction, and Death Like Data: Charts, Analyses, Simulations. But for US, this isn’t distant or abstract. HALF OF OUR TEAM HAS LIVED THRUGH THIS REALITY. And now, they bringing this film to audiences around the world, Emerging from that very Darkness.

In recent years, the World has been witnessing the rise of regimes that Build Power Through Fear, that fuel themselves on War Rhetoric. As the Session Regimes Radicalize, Meanings Begin to Shift. Language Erodes. The Space to Breathe Becomes Narrower. And it is exactly in such moments that hope becomes urgent.

One Generation Ago, The World Went Through Something Eerily Similar: The Rise of Authoritarian Leaders, Followed by a Global War. We are of the «Never Again,” Yet Here We Are, Witnessing New Forms of the Same Patterns, Only Now Now More Sophisticated, More Digital, More Global.

That’s precisely who hope matters so deeply today. Because Believing in the Existence of Hope Gives You The Strength to Resist. IT HELPS YOU ENDURE AS AN INDIVIDual; It Helps You Hold on As A Community. Hope is no Longer a luxury or a privilege; IT HAS BECOME ONE OF THE QUIETEST, YET MOST POWERFUL FORMS OF DEFANCE AGAINST Darkness.

I Notice That This Is Your Second Feature, and Also Your Second Feature About Afghanistan. What is the Importance of Afghanistan to you as a person and filmmaker? DID YOU HAVE AN IMPORTANT EXPERIENCE OR A CONNECTION THERE?

I DON’T HAVE A FAMILIAL OR National Connection to Afghanistan, But I DO HAVE A DEEP HUMAN BOND WITH IT. It is a place abandoned to it fate, left to stagnate, and still largely ignored by the World. This is unjust, and this injustice had genuinely pained me. I don’t know why, but since childhood, I have been Drawn to see what is Unseen and Speak What Is Unsaid. Trly Loving Life and the World Means Understanding It. I BELIEVE THAT IF We Can Feel The Wounds and Struggles of Someone or Something, We Can Form A Much Defeper Connection With Them.

I Went to Afghanistan to Understand the World I Live in, to Truly Love It. And looking back now, i can say the Country have raised me in itts arms, bot as a human being and as a filmmaker. Walking Itts Streets, Breating It Dust, Meeting ITS POPLE, AND BECOMING Part of Their Lives Was A Profound Experience for Me. After my First Film, I Thought My Journey Was Over. But WHEN I RETURned Home, I Realized A Part of My Heart Was Still There. What i had see and experiented there was still speaking to me, and this time, I wanted to Answer Back. AT FIRST, I HAD QUESTIONS About Life and the World, and Afghanistan Answered Me. This time, in Cinema jazirehI Wanted to Answer The Questions It Has for Me.

How Much Is The Story in the Film Based on Real Stories And, If So, How Did You Find them? Does a cinema jazireh, for example, Really exist?

The Characters in the Film Are All Based on Real People’s Stories, Even if they Lied in Different Times and Under Different Circumstans. I bughht Together the Lives I Listed to, Witnessed, Read About, Or Encounted Personally, Within A Fiction Structure. THESE PEOPLE AND WHAT theying THRUGH GAVE ME A SENSE OF RESPONSIVITY AS A S STORYTELLER.

Cinema jazireh is not a real, physical place, However, in a way, it exists everyWhere. The name stands for more than a location; It Represents the Need to Tell, to Remember, and to Give Form to What Often Remains Unspoken. “Cinema” is a space for Storytelling, for Preserving and Sharing. “Jazireh,“ MEANING “ISLAND,” SUGGGESTS BOTH A PLACE OF SHELTER AND A SENSE OF DISCONNECTION. SomeTimes It Offers Safety; Other Times, It Carries A Feeling of Solitude.

In that Sense, Cinema Jazireh is bots a place we retreat into and a space we create in order to Share What We Carry Inside. IT Speaks not only to Afghanistan, But to Many of Places WHERE SIMILAR EXPERIENCES REMAIN UNSEEN or UNHEARD.

I Heard Before Thatre Is A Tradition of Young Women Being Asked to Look and Behave Like Men and Young Boys Enterning Men in Afghanistan? WHAT DID YOU KNOW About Those Two Traditions or Trends Before The Film?

YES, I WAS AWART OF BOTH Practices Before Making the Film – Bacha Posh, Where Some Girls Are Raised and Dressed As Boys Within Families, and Bacha Bazi Ways to Entertain Adult Men.

TheSe Two Practices May Seem Veri Different on the Surface, But They Both Outcomes of the Same System. And Seeing How that Same System Creates Harm in Such Different Ways, Depending on Gender, Was Deeply Unsetling to Me. One child is forced to take on anter Identity in order to Access Power; The Other Becomes a victim of that Same Power.

What struck me most was not just the prokactices themselves, but what they revealed about how right How Rigid Gender Roles Canconnect Children from Their Own Identities. My interaction as a philmmaker wasn’t to present these Issues in a didactic or Graphic Way, But to Reflect the Imocial Undercurrents, The Silences, The Strategies of Survival, The Silences, The Silences In the Film, theese realities are explored not directly, but through atmosphere and felling.

How Universal Do You See Themes and Topics of the Film? IT’s Clearly An Afghan Story, But Ites to have Implications Beyond that One Country.

This is Exactly WHERE I See The Advantage of Being A Filmmaker from Turkey: Being in the West of the East, and the East of the West. This Position ALLOWS ME TO UNDERSTAND NUANCES THAT MIGHT OtherWise Be Overlorated and to Build Bridges Between Cultures and Stories.

While writing this film, i was also deeply affressed by what have had been hapling in my own Country. We Living in A System That Is Become IncreASINGLY AUTHORITARIAN, WHERE JUSTICE IS ALMOST ENTIRELY Bound to a Single Power Group, and WHERE Theater HAS BECONNECONNELY DISCONPLELY DISCONNELY DISCONNELY DISCONNELY DISCONNELY DISCONELY DISCONNELY DISCONNELY DISCONNELY DISCONNELY DISCONNELY DISCONNELY DISCONNELY DISCONNECONNECONNECONNECONNECONNECONNECONNECONNECONE FROM The FROM The FROM THE FROM THE FROM The FROM THE FROM THE FROM THE FROM The FROM THE FROM THE FROM THE FROM THE FROM The FROM THE FROM The FROM THE FRO Demands. Citizens No Longer Feel Safe. This System Marginalizes, Silences, and Suppresses Anyone Who is Not One of “It Own.” IT CREATES NOT Only Political But Also Emocial and Social Pressure. Experienceing this Firsthand Invitably Shaped the Tone, Atmosphere, and Emotion World of the Film and Its Characters.

So Although The Set in Afghanistan, Themes It Explores, Oppression, Identity, Resistance, Isalation, and Quiet Survival, Are Universal and Deeply Relevan to Many. These Issues are not confined to a sngle Country or region; They Echo Across Different Societies Facing Similar Struggles.

I ALSO TRIED TO CRAFT The TONE OF The Film in a Way that transcends geographical boundaries. A local story becomes a mirror in a WHICH AUDIENCES FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS CAN RECOGNIZE FRAGments of Their Own Realities, Fears, and HOPES. For me, the co -family of the special and the universal Lies at the Heart of the Film. And Indeed, I Want Viewers Everywhere to Ask Themselves: Where Do i See These Same Dark Patterns in My Own Life, And How Do I Respond To Them?

DID YOU SHOT IN AFGHANISTAN, AND WHEN? How did you get permission to film there?

The Film Was Shot About a Year and a Half ago, during the timer who the Taliban Were in Power. For Security Reasons, I CANSCLOSE The exact Time or Location. We Filmed In Isolated Areas, Often Rebuilding Sets Fro m scratch.

Regarding permissions, that topic could easily be a story for another film altogether. To respect everyone involved, I Prefer Not to Go Into Details.

How Safe or Dangerous Was The Shoot?

We Had Experience with This Kind of Production, Having Shot My Previous Film, Dust, Right in the Heart Of Kabul. Naturally, Some Complications Arose During Filming, But Our Team Managed Them Carefully. We Worked Closely with Local Contacts and Handled Challenges Through Careful Planning and Communication.

Are the Cast Members Afghan, Iranian, Turkish, or Who Else Did You Find them?

Casting Took Time and Care. I was looking for actors not only talented but also deeply committed to exploring meningful, Real performances. Fereeshteh Hosseini, An Iranian Actress of Afghan Descent, Was A Natural Choice for Her Role Due to Both Her Talent and Presence. Hamid Karimi, Our Norwegian-Afghan Actor, Brough DEPTH TO THE COMPLEX Character Waheed Through Close Collaboration.

Mazlum Sümer, from Turkey, Was Recommended to Me by a Friend, and this washa First Feature Film. Although Dari [a variety of the Persian language primarily spoken in Afghanistan] is not his Native Language, After MONTS OF DEDICATED WORK, HE BROUGHT A UNIQUE Authenticity to the Role. I HAD TRUBLE IDENTIFYING Anyone as Zabur Until i Met Mazlum. The moment i saw him, I Knew this was the moment. I Remember Thinking, “This is Zabur.” His smile and gaze realy moved me.

The Iranian Cast Was Largely Assembled Thanks to Our Co-Producer, Milad Khosravi, Who Recommened Many of the Actors. We Found Ali Karimi After Watching Hundreds of Children Audition. He is from Iran as Well. Other Cast Members, Including Meysam Damanzeh and Reza Akhlagirad, All Contributed with Strong Emotion Committee and Authenticity, Helping to Bring the Story Vividly to Life.

I See The Film Is A Co-Production Between Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania. Did the co-reproducers from thome countries come on Board Because of Their Interest in Afghanistan or Were there

None of the CO-PODUCERS HAD A Personal Connection to Afghanistan. From Whaty Shared with Me, It Was The Story Itelf That Resunted Deeply With Them. I Feel Fortunate That Film of Themes and Message Could Speak Across Borders and Bring People Together ARound a Shared Human Experience.

What’s Next for You, And Will It Be Set in Afghanistan, Too?

IT’s Time to Return Home. I’m currently working on a New Film Set in Istanbul, WHICH WILL BE A DARK COMEDY. The Film Delves Deeply Into Social Tensions and the Impact of Collective Pressures on Individuals’ Lives. While Its Style Differs from My Previous Work, It Still Focusses on Giving Voice to Those Caunght in the Midst of Political and Social Struggles, Exploring How, Ana, Freed, Ansploring How’s With this Project, I AIM to Subtle Dynamics of Community, Power, and Personal Resistance, Telling a Story that Feels Timely and Profoundly Human.

As i graduly find my voice as a filmmaker, I Believ I Will Continue to Focus on Political and Social Issues Moving Forward.