Section: POLSKIE HORYZONTY: The Female Gaze

OMAR VE BIZ

OMAR AND US

Maryna Er Gorbach, Mehmet Bahadir Er
Turkey, 2019, 103 Min

Siblings Omar and Mariye flee Syria for Turkey in a rubber dinghy. In Turkey, they save an elderly man from drowning. Out of gratitude he organises accommodation for them with his neighbour, a retired coast guard commander. Rather sceptical at first, the commander overcomes his hostility and, in the end, does not want the two to leave.

Upon first meeting his injured neighbour Sabir and the two Syrian refugees, he is about to report them to the coast guard. The town on the European border is a transit point for illegal immigrants. He reluctantly abandons his initial intention only after his neighbour’s intensive persuasion and agrees to accommodate them. Yet his prejudices remain. His attitude doesn’t change until his wife’s death. Suddenly, the commander feels responsible for Omar and Mariye and even supports their legal residence status. However, the siblings desire only one thing: onwards across the sea to Europe. The commander’s villa ultimately becomes a ‘golden cage’ for them from which they try to break free.

In their third joint feature film, Maryna Er Gorbach and Mehmet Bahadir Er explore the difficult relationship of natives and refugees between self-determination and patronisation and in doing so play with the devices of cheap sensationalism and soap opera. SK

Filmformat
DCP | Farbe / Colour
Drehbuch
Mehmet Bahadir Er
Kamera
Aydin Sarioglu
Schnitt
Maryna Gorbach, Aziz Imamoglu
Darsteller
Cem Bender, Tajsher Yakub, Menderes Samancilar, Hala Alsayanah, Uygar Tamer, Ushna Çakir, Timur Ölkebaş, Ali Emrah Doğan
Produzent
Mehmet Bahadir Er
Produktion
Protim V.P
Co-Produktion
kedr film
Kontakt
Mehmet Bahadir Er
mehmetbahadire@gmail.com

Maryna Er Gorbach, Mehmet Bahadir Er -

Movies
BLACK DOGS BARKING (2009, FFC 2009)
LOVE ME (2013, FFC 2013)