Country: Turkey
Year: 2012
Duration: 100'
Mina lives in Istanbul. After desperately searching for a job, she is hired in a club as a fortune teller who reads the dregs in coffee cups. Her private life is a disaster, to put it mildly: a recent divorcee, she has lost all contact with her family and is also about to be evicted from her home. In her daily battle to avoid the countless problems assailing her, problems which she discovers she shares with the clients who turn to her in search of answers, she decides to escape far away. Destination: America, where she leaves her present behind and starts a new future. But how to manage: money, documents, residence permit?
Biography
film director
Belmin Söylemez
Belmin Söylemez (Istanbul, Turkey) has worked in the past as a copywriter, film editor and producer in the fields of television and journalism, as well as in advertising, shooting promotional spots and musical videos. In 1999, she directed the short State of Sleep, which was followed by the documentary The Moustache (2000) and several shorts. 34 Taxi (2005) marked her return to documentaries, which include her next film, What a Beautiful Democracy! (2008), a collective project by the Filmist group dedicated to women’s participation in Turkish politics.
FILMOGRAFIA
Uyku Hali (State of Sleep, cm, 1999), Bıyık (The Moustache, doc., 2000), ZAP! (cm, 2000), Dalgalar (Waves, cm, 2001), Pencereler (Windows, cm, 2002), The Picture of My Life (cm, 2003), 34 Taksi (34 Taxi, doc., 2005), Bugün Istanbul Ne Kadar (cm, 2005), Bu Ne Güzel Demokrasi! (What a Beautiful Democracy!, coregia/ codirectors Berke Baş, Haşmet Topaloğlu, Somnur Vardar, doc., 2008), Present Tense (2012).
Declaration
film director
“Coffee fortune telling is a very old tradition in Turkey which roots back to shamanistic tradition. Women prefer it as a social tool, as a form of gossip. Fortune-teller cafes are a haven of escape from uncertainty, anxiety, the unstable atmosphere that surrounds our life today.”
Cast
& Credits
regia/director Belmin Söylemez
sceneggiatura/screenplay Belmin Söylemez, Haşmet Topaloğlu fotografia/cinematography Peter Roehsler
montaggio/film editing Ali Aga, Belmin Söylemez
scenografia/ production design Revan Barlas
musica/music Cenker Kökten suono/sound Seçkin Kaştaş
interpreti e personaggi/ cast and characters Sanem Öge (Mina), Şenay Aydın (Fazi), Ozan Bilen (Tayfun)
produttore/producer Haşmet Topaloğlu
produzione, vendita all’estero/ production, world sales Filmbüfe Film Production
sceneggiatura/screenplay Belmin Söylemez, Haşmet Topaloğlu fotografia/cinematography Peter Roehsler
montaggio/film editing Ali Aga, Belmin Söylemez
scenografia/ production design Revan Barlas
musica/music Cenker Kökten suono/sound Seçkin Kaştaş
interpreti e personaggi/ cast and characters Sanem Öge (Mina), Şenay Aydın (Fazi), Ozan Bilen (Tayfun)
produttore/producer Haşmet Topaloğlu
produzione, vendita all’estero/ production, world sales Filmbüfe Film Production
