Ghosts
Spring Grants 2020 - Post-Production Stage
Azra Deniz Okyay / Feature Narrative / Turkey, France, Qatar / 86 min / Original Language: Turkish / Interests: Drama, Politics, Social Issues
Synopsis
İffet, a single mother in her 40s, lives in Sucular, a ghetto fighting against urban regeneration. On a day when a nationwide power surge takes place, she suddenly learns that her incarcerated son is direly in need of money. Unable to procure the money herself, she is left with no other option but to help a drug dealer with his delivery and reaches out to her friend Didem—a hip-hop dancer in her twenties—to be her partner. Desperately searching for a vehicle, Iffet asks Raşit, a man in his late 30’s who lives in the same neighbourhood and is known for his collaboration with construction moguls. Ela, Didem’s friend and a struggling artist, comes to the neighbourhood to give a workshop to the kids. That night İffet, Didem and Ela end up in Raşit’s car which, while all these strange coincidences unfold, has been crushed under the debris of a historic building.
Credits
- Director
- Azra Deniz Okyay
- Screenwriter
- Azra Deniz Okyay
- Producer
- Dilek Aydın
- Production Company
- Heimatlos Films
About the Director
Born in Istanbul, Azra Deniz Okyay started photography at the age of 12, and became an assistant at 14 of the photographer Dora Gunel. After finishing high school in Lycee Francais Pierre Loti of Istanbul, she moved to Paris to study Cinema at Sorbonne-Nouvelle where she attained her bachelor's and master's degrees. She worked in Michel Gondry's Partizan Production company. She returned to Turkey in 2010 and became the first female director at Depo, an advertising production company of Istanbul. She has made various shorts and music videos, and her work has appeared in international exhibitions and galleries.
Awards and Festival History
Awards
Grand Prize, Venice Critics’ Week 2020 (WP)