Başak Büyükçelen was in Spain with her film İkilem
BIZIM ANADOLU – Writer / Director Başak Büyükçelen keeps being center of attention with her film İkilem, a medium length film she made in Vancouver. İkilem was the winner of Best Short Film Award in Second Montreal Turkish Film Festival.
After her experience in Sarajevo Film Festival, Başak Büyükçelen was invited to participate in the third edition of Puglia Experience, a screenwriting fellowship that invites 16 screenwriters from around the world. Representing Turkey in Puglia Experience, Başak Büyükçelen attended the fellowship and traveled around the cities of Puglia State in Italy where screenwriters wrote films taking place in the region. Meeting 46 producers from around the world, screenwriters marketed two of their selected scripts on the Puglia Experience Pitching Session.
After her arrival from Italy, receiving an invitation from University of Murcia in Spain, Başak Büyükçelen had a presentation on 16th of November.
In her speech, Başak Büyükçelen presented photographs of headscarves seen in Anatolia.
In the presentation open to public, located at Political Science Department in University of Murcia, Başak Büyükçelen mentioned the different Islamic covering styles such as veil, chador, hijab, headscarf and less popular styles.
She gave a speech on the image of Turkish women from 1923 to 2002 and showed the changing image of Turkish women especially after 2002. Showcasing hijab commercials of popular scarf brands, Başak Büyükçelen mentioned the hijab is less of a religious need to cover and more of a political symbol introduced and generalized to women through fashion.
To show the reactions of the press about the hijab debate, Büyükçelen also screened caricatures about the hijab from caricature magazines such as Penguen and Leman.
At the end of the presentation, İkilem was screened to the audience. In a session with José Gabriel Ferreras Rodriguez, a cinema teacher and the organizer of Film Festival of University of Murcia, Başak Büyükçelen answered audience questions about İkilem. Afterwards she talked about the screenplay she is working on now, Kıskaç (the Clamp). In this new film, the protagonist (Hanım), a traditional woman wearing the headscarf gets influenced by the different identities she sees in the society. Wanting to be liberated from the pressures Hanım finds survival in developing multiple personalities. Büyükçelen mentions these multiple personalities represent the images of Turkish women in the society nowadays.
Başak Büyükçelen’s new film was selected to Script Station
Büyükçelen ended her presentation with answering questions about the women’s position and status in the society as well as Turkey’s political situation.
After her experience in Spain, Başak Büyükçelen’s new film Kıskaç was selected to Script Station, a hands on training program within Berlinale Film Festival. Büyükçelen will be attending the Script Station to present her new film to the international film industry in Berlin. She is also selected to participate in Berlinale Talent Campus taking place in Berlin in February.
“Ikilem/Dilemma”
Director, Writer, Producer: Basak Buyukcelen
Digital/2010
Actors: Cagri Berk, Ali Barkin
www.basakb.com
Bizim Anadolu / January 2012
