Festivals BIFED
Camera Lucida: You embark on this amazing documentary journey on an extraordinary personality. How did you plan your structure?
Aysegul Selenga Taskent: We did not pre-plan much. This was also good for the final structure and for the final language of the film. Because the film is not only about the mayor and the people of Ovacik, it’s also a reflection of two female filmmakers who did not know much about that particular geography: the irony and the humor in the filmic language derive from this fact. We went there, got the access, they got to know us and trust us and vice versa. Then, there were a few stories in over 100 hours of footage. We spent 1,5 years in doing historical research about the area, watching the footage over and over again and coming up with the right story that does justice not only to the mayor but also to this magical community. They really are a big, resourceful, happy, productive family.
Delizia Flaccavento: Aysegul is the storyteller, she is the one who suffered to find the right key to tell the story of Ovacik. Once she started putting the scenes on the timeline and I started seeing the story appear, then I started giving my input. The footage was beautiful, but coming up with a story that is a reflection the whole community has taken 3 years of hard work.
Camera Lucida: What was the first shooting experience like? What were you most difficult production moments?
Aysegul Selenga Taskent: Yes, we had the initial access and consent of the people, but it took a while for the community to trust us. In other words, in the beginning we were just those small bourgeois girls filming, then we harvested with them, worked with them, understood their way of living and then we became friends (comrades). Anywhere in the world it’s hard to be two female filmmakers. Ovacik welcomed us with a little bit of a delay (smiles) and the political climate is never easy in the Middle East. Plus that area is an ecological heaven and there might be outside threats to the nature. People righteously do not want a populist approach to open their lands to petty tourism. We were not a populist news crew, we were storytellers. When they saw that, they let us in.
Delizia Flaccavento: In the beginning, they were not sure about our stand and our intentions, but they immediately liked our openness and loved seeing us coming back over and over again. Geographically, the place is very hard to reach, especially in the winter. And it is an area under security, which makes traveling there more difficult. When we went in the winter, the road which usually takes 3 hours by car took over 9 hours!
Camera Lucida: You show spontaneous cinema verité scenes, your camera work is never intrusive…
Aysegul Selenga Taskent: I am a huge fan of collaborative filmmaking. Telling stories of the people, with the people. In order to achieve this you need to give time, in order to achieve respect you need to give respect. We filmed on and off for one year. They got to know us we got to know them on camera. This way everything is transparent. Who wants to talk, talks. It’s their film involving us.
Delizia Flaccavento: We are there as witnesses and as such we follow the events as they unfold before our eyes. What happened is in the footage, including our reactions while filming, it was all very natural and that’s why I believe people are touched by the film.
Camera Lucida: As the film is also a reflection of you two as female filmmakers becoming as involved as possible with the community, what does this mayor’s philosophy mean for you personally?
Aysegul Selenga Taskent: Producing (anything) in solidarity and under harsh conditions is the key to happiness. This will stimulate change. Our story seems like it’s about the first ever communist mayor in Turkey but it’s actually a global story of hope and production against savage capitalism. It’s a bigger story about people saying ‘no’ and moving back to their grassroots for less material gain but more happiness.
Delizia: I think that at the very core, the message of the film is that there is happiness in producing and that people who produce become resilient even in the toughest circumstances. And there is also the “going back to the village” message: life in the big cities has become a senseless work, consume, die routine; the savage capitalism that is being imposed as the only way forward is actually killing people, nature and the whole planet, so stopping to think, reconnecting with nature and trying to make enough money to get by rather than being obsessed by money is an alternative way forward, which might soon become the only alternative, if we really want to preserve life on earth.
Camera Lucida: What was the local/state police response to your film shoot?
Aysegul Selenga Taskent: The road to Ovacık is never easy. But in Ovacık we were welcomed after a brief talk with them. I believe us being academicians and filmmakers helped as opposed to being a news crew. We did not interfere with life, we just wanted to observe it. The district governor at the time of filming was also a welcoming gentleman.
Delizia Flaccavento: I believe it also helped that the mayor has very good relationships with the other local authorities.
Camera Lucida: How much do you think your film will contribute to our understanding of and resistance to traditional/capitalist formulas of society?
Delizia Flaccavento: Ovacik shows a community where collective work and solidarity come first and where profit is small and made for the common good. If it is done, it means it can be done, and if it can be done then it should be done: such a small town has become an important example for other towns in Turkey and abroad.
Camera Lucida: Is Macoglu a solitary, isolated figure in Turkey?
Aysegul Selenga Taskent: Nope. Although few, there are other heroes and heroines.
Delizia Flaccavento: No, he is not. And thanks to his example there will be more.
Camera Lucida: Do you think that films like this, if distributed widely, can help shape and change our social reality?
Aysegul Selenga Taskent: Definitely. We need the same solidarity of Ovacik also for global cinema. We need to be shown, heard, shared. This was our way of production. Which is just like Ovacik’s agricultural production. We need solidarity and hope. We need our voices to be heard. We need distribution and world sales.
Delizia Flaccavento: Most of the time, we see what big production and distribution companies want us to see. If more chances were given to independent productions, there would be more voices heard by more people and this would break the divisive Manichaeism that pushes many to see the “other” as an enemy. There would be also more chances to see that alternatives to savage capitalism do exist and a life closer to nature, cherishing spiritual values more than materials ones, is still possible.
Camera Lucida: What impact do you expect in your local context?
Aysegul Selenga Taskent: Reaching as many people as possible. I’m sure everyone will find a bit of themselves in Ovacik’s story.
Delizia Flaccavento: I hope the film can contribute to starting a dialogue where today there is polarisation. Where there is dialogue, there is understanding and where there is understanding, people find a common ground to work together for the common good.
Camera Lucida: What impact do you expect on the wider, international, scene?
Delizia Flaccavento: It would be nice if the film contributed to placing Turkey on the international map for different reasons than the ones we usually find in the international media. A town like Ovacik today would be hard to find even in the most advanced democracies, and in this respect it would be great if the film could contribute to widen a far too narrow perspective on Turkey.
Camera Lucida: What do awards mean to filmmakers, especially debut? How important are they and in what way?
Aysegul Selenga Taskent: Awards technically have a material meaning to keep the ship floating, to collect money to make other films. Spiritually, they keep up the confidence that we are doing the right thing and we should keep on doing it. Telling global stories to bring people to action. Awards remind us of that.
Delizia Flaccavento: Awards recognise the hard work that goes into making films. In a more and more competitive world where more and more films are produced every year, they also help find audiences and distributors and ultimately they help get funds to produce more.
Camera Lucida: What’s your next project?
Aysegul Selenga Taskent: A feature fiction. Another story of hope. But who knows what vérité story will fall on our way (smiles)
Delizia Flaccavento: Aysegul has been wanting to do a fiction film for a long time, I hope as a producer I will manage to find the money ☺
Camera Lucida: I hope so, too and can’t wait to see it.
Maja Bogojević
