AWFJ EDA Awards @ IDFA 2016 Filmmaker Interview : Asli Ozarslan on DIL LEYLA

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  • AWFJ EDA Awards IDFA 2016 Filmmaker Interview: Asli Ozarslan on DIL LEYLA | The Female Gaze
    http://awfj.org/female-gaze/2016/11/27/awfj-eda-awards-idfa-2016-filmmaker-interview-asli-ozarslan-on-dil-leyla

    Asli Özarslan: Almost two years ago I saw an article in a German newspaper about Leyla Imret. There was written that she is from Germany and the youngest mayor in Turkey. This informations catched my attention. My first question was: Why did she leave Germany and went to a fragile place like Cizre? It was or is still a hotspot of the kurdish resistance and it is at the border with Syria and Iraq.

    AWFJ: What did you learn about the subject/theme from making the film?

    AO: I learned how thin the line is between hope, dreams and despair. Leyla dreamed to build up parks and playgrounds for children. She wanted to blot out the traces of the war. The childhood, which she could not have there, she wanted to give this chance to the children now. I saw how the past can be repeated. How old wounds between two parties can burst very quickly. Through political interests the situation can change immediately. After all these military operations of the Turkish government I saw how Leyla had to age within a very short time. She had to push her first goals aside – but she found new goals. And did not give up.

    I saw also how difficult it is to work as a kurdish politician in Turkey. Leyla as well as others became the target of hate campaigns. And she had to get through it. Even she was afraid she could not show it. She was always standing up. Even in very bad situations she sent messages of hope.

    AWFJ: What did you learn about filmmaking from making the film?

    AO: You can not control things and you have to be ready to relocate again. When a place gets dangerous and you were never in a situation like that before you have to take quick decisions. Should we stay or not?
    You have to take decisions and stay behind that. That sounds maybe easy but it is not at all. As we decide to break up our second shooting because of a bomb attack in a another kurdish city. I was always talking with my crew. Do we feel still safe here? This was the biggest challenge.

    „Dil Leyla“ Das Mädchen, das sich an Panzer erinnert
    http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/dil-leyla-das-maedchen-das-sich-an-panzer-erinnert-a-1155662.html

    Von Jenni Zylka
    ...
    Özarslan hat ein anrührendes und bezauberndes Familienporträt geschaffen. Die Familie in Deutschland fängt die fünfjährige Leyla auf, unterstützt, bestärkt. Die gleichaltrige Cousine erinnert sich an die erste Begegnung, an merkwürdig „ernste Gespräche“ zwischen kleinen Mädchen. Leylas Mutter, die in Cizre lebt, erzählt von ihren Ängsten um die Kinder. Und Leyla selbst erklärt, wie sie in Deutschland langsam erkannte, wer ihr Vater war und wofür er starb.

    http://essence-film.com/dil-leyla.html#leyla_home

    #Allemagne #Turquie #Kurdistan #film #politique #documentation