Brunch with the director of Oray - Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Als Teil der LOLA-Filmreihe „…and the winners are…“, die vom 3.-6. November an das Goethe-Institut Kairo kommt, laden wir junge Filmschaffende zu einem Filmbrunch mit Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, dem Regisseur von Oray, ein. Oray ist der diesjährige Gewinner des deutschen Filmpreises LOLA für „Best First Feature“. In einem privaten Screening gefolgt von einer Unterhaltung können Filminteressierte sich mit Mehmet über die Kunst des Filmschaffens und die Karriere eines Filmemachers austauschen.
In an argument with his wife Burcu, Oray pronounces the Islamic word for separation, ‘talaq’. The Imam informs him of the consequences: Oray must now part from Burcu for three months. Oray uses the enforced break in their relationship to make a fresh start and moves to Cologne. Here, he finds a job at a flea market and seeks out a new Muslim religious community, led by the young Imam Bilal. Soon, Oray begins preaching himself; he is especially popular with the younger members of the congregation, and this makes Bilal jealous. When Burcu pays her husband a surprise visit, they realise that the break has done them good and they still love each other.
As part of the LOLA-film screenings “…and the winners are…”, the Goethe-Institut Cairo invites young filmmakers to meet Mehmet Akif, the director of Oray, for a private screening of his debut film and the opportunity to have an intimate discussion about the art of filmmaking, starting a film career and writing film scripts. Mehmet Akif is a German-Turkish writer, director and producer. He studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne with a focus on film and literature and is a fellow of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. Oray was his diploma movie and won the “Best First Feature Award” at the 69th Berlinale in 2019. Mehmet is also one of the founders of the creative film production filmfaust.
The Goethe-Institut Dokki will host Mehmet and interested filmmakers on the 5th November from 12 – 4 pm. If you would like to join, please tell us about your passion for film and what you hope to get out of this conversation. Send your answers by the 31th October so that we can reserve you a space. This session will be in English, the film will be screened in German with Arabic subtitles.