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| Turkish filmmaker Burak Cevik / Courtesy of JIFF |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Turkish filmmaker Burak Cevik, who unveiled his two feature films, "Forms of Forgetting" and "A Woman Escapes," at this year's Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF), is known for making experimental films that are simultaneously abstract, nostalgic and mysterious. As a Berlinale regular, his works often blur the boundaries between reality and fiction.
The 30-year-old director elaborated on the idea through "Forms of Forgetting," which follows a couple who talk about how they broke up and neither of them remembers things quite the same. Starring real-life couple Nesrin and Erdem who happen to be actors, the two mostly talk over the conversation in voice-over format.
"At first, I just shot some images (such as the frozen lake, the shipyard, the botanical garden and the construction site). While making this film, I realized spaces have their own memories. We die, but our traces will remain," he said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.
Cevik then discussed how the film's unusual structure came about.
"I decided not to have a structure. I was trying to understand the concept of memories. I was mostly into the question of how I experience the space. Finding the unique idea is very rare because everything is told in this world. The whole point is 'how you tell it,'" he said.
He continued, "I spent some time with the couple, talking about our relationships, before deciding to create 'Forms of Forgetting.' It's based on a true story but there are fictional elements to it as well."
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| A scene from the film, "Forms of Forgetting" / Courtesy JIFF |
The filmmaker explained that while shooting the images for the film, he spent some time exploring the locations. "At every location, I spent about 2-3 days talking with people there and trying to hear the soundscape of the place," he said.
Many of his works are inspired by iconic filmmakers, but reinterpreted through his own style. "Jean-Marie Straub and Daniele Huillet (who passed away) taught me how to narrate films using a voice-over. Turkish filmmaker Yoel Meranda really taught me how to look at things (as a filmmaker). Dante, Francis Bacon and Shakespeare have had a major influence on me too," he said.
The Turkish director also talked about the major difference between working alone and collaborating with other filmmakers. "A Woman Escapes" was co-directed by Cevik, Sofia Bohdanowicz and Blake Williams.
"It's very tiring to do everything alone, but at the same time, it gives you a feeling of 'I can do everything.' For me, working with other people was a chance to learn how to communicate. You suffer a lot when you work alone, but then you realize a film is what you are. It's very close to you," he said.
Cevik's "Nothing in Its Place," which focuses on the night of Turkey's bloodiest massacre in 1978, won the 2023 Jeonju Project award. He will receive a production investment of 100 million won ($76,000) for his upcoming project.
Hinting that his next film will be longer than his previous titles, the filmmaker said he is still looking for the meaning of cinema. "I'm doing cinema to understand what is cinema," he said.
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