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GÜNESE YOLCULUK /JOURNEY TO THE SUN<br />
Mehmet (Nevruz Baz), a recent arrival to the teeming city, is fortunate. He has a shared room, a possible girlfriend <strong>and</strong> a neat job as a diviner<br />
for Istanbul’s municipal water system. He meets Berzan (Nazmi Kırık), a street music vendor familiar with the metropolis, <strong>and</strong> his moral<br />
education begins. Berzan is a Kurd, harassed by the authorities, <strong>and</strong> Mehmet’s friendship with him combined with his own ‘dark skin’ puts<br />
Mehmet at extreme risk. Yeşim Ustaoğlu, an architect turned filmmaker, takes her characters on a journey east out of Istanbul into a ravishing<br />
<strong>and</strong> war-ravaged l<strong>and</strong>scape close to the Iraqi border. Hotly debated when first released in Turkey, Güneşe Yolculuk (Journey to the Sun)<br />
may be a story of sanctioned persecution but it is also the chronicle of a remarkable friendship as well as a pilgrimage into the unknown.<br />
FESTIVALS AND AWARDS<br />
1999 Ankara International Film Festival (Turkey): Best Director; Best Film; Best Screenplay; Most Promising Actress (Funda Ege)<br />
1999 Istanbul International Film Festival (Turkey): Best Turkish Director; Best Turkish Film; F.I.P.R.E.S.C.I. Prize; People’s Choice<br />
1999 Berlin International Film Festival (Germany): Blue Angel; Peace Film Award<br />
1999 Brothers Manaki International Film Festival (Macedonia): Golden Camera 300 (Jacek Petrycki)<br />
1999 Festróia – Tróia International Film Festival (Portugal): Jury Special Prize; OCIC Award<br />
1999 Jerusalem Film Festival (Israel): In Spirit of Freedom Award (Honorable Mention)<br />
1999 São Paulo International Film Festival (Brazil): International Jury Award (Honorable Mention)<br />
1999 Valladolid International Film Festival (Spain): Jury Special Prize<br />
YESiM USTAOGLU<br />
Yeşim Ustaoğlu was born in 1960 near Kars, Turkey. After studying architecture at Karadeniz<br />
Technical University, she completed her master’s degree at Yıldız University in İstanbul. Her short<br />
film, Otel (Hotel), was awarded the Gr<strong>and</strong> Prize in the 14th Montpellier Festival of Mediterranean<br />
Short Films in 1992. Ustaoğlu made her first full-length film İz (The Trace) in 1994. The film<br />
received the Best Film award in the National Competition of the 15th International İstanbul Film<br />
Festival <strong>and</strong> was screened at numerous international venues, including Moscow <strong>and</strong> Gotenburg.<br />
Her 1998 film, Güneşe Yolculuk (Journey to the Sun) won the Blue Angel Award for the<br />
Best European Film in the Berlin Film Festival in 1999. The moving story of a courageous friendship<br />
undaunted by political cruelty swept the Istanbul International Film Festival by winning best film, best<br />
director, the FIPRESCI prize, <strong>and</strong> the Audience Award. Her follow-up Bulutları Beklerken (Waiting<br />
for the Clouds) was awarded the Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award <strong>and</strong> the<br />
DAAD scholarship. Her 2008 feature P<strong>and</strong>ora’nın Kutusu (P<strong>and</strong>ora’s Box), recounting a middle-class<br />
Turkish family unable to take care of their old Alzheimer-struck mother, won the best film <strong>and</strong> best<br />
actress awards at Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival <strong>and</strong> the best actress award at the Amiens<br />
International Film Festival in France.<br />
FILMOGRAPHY<br />
1994 İz / The Trace<br />
1998 Güneşe Yolculuk / Journey to the Sun<br />
2003 Bulutları Beklerken / Waiting for the Clouds<br />
2008 P<strong>and</strong>ora’nın Kutusu / P<strong>and</strong>ora’s Box<br />
2011 Araf / Somewhere in Between<br />
GÜNESE YOLCULUK/JOURNEY TO THE SUN 42
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