MOVIE MONDAYS: HASRET (YEARNING)
I think we all know by now, judging by the genre of films that are discussed in this series, that documentaries (in the traditional sense) are not something I watch or discuss regularly. I am not sure why that is exactly - probably stems from hours spent during my childhood watching the History and/or Discovery Channel with my parents when I much rather wanted to be pretending I was a Spice Girl, playing with my dolls/outside or watching Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel - but I do know that in the last couple of years there has been a shift in the kind of stories I immerse myself in be they told cinematically or with words bound in a book. Last week I found myself at a screening of Ben Hopkin's new film, Hasret (Yearning) which I was sure was a documentary going in but when I left? Let's just say that if documentaries were made with that kind of style and flare I'd gladly watch more of them without any prior recommendations.
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Hasret (Yearning) is a personal visual essay about the rich stories running through Istanbul by Ben Hopkins (PAZAR – BİR TİCARET MASALI (The Market– A Tale of Trade); 37 Uses for A Dead Sheep; The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz), a director and screenwriter who was born in Hong Kong, grew up in North London and lived in Istanbul, Turkey from 2008 - 2012. This film has a very expressionist feel to it which I really like; it comes across like a vlog about a film crew who are commissioned by a small TV channel to explore the city of Istanbul and make a documentary about what they uncover. As Ben and his crew get to know the city better, they discover some of Istanbul's secrets and magic and slowly try to figure out the story they are trying to tell. There were several moments where the film has a rather personal, comical and educational feel to it as we are introduced to the art scene, the Alevi religion, the city's architecture and then other moments where the scenes take quite the supernatural thriller-esque turn and we begin to question the presence of cats in the city and wonder if ghosts do indeed exist.
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Still from Hasret (Yearning) // Source: Photo Courtesy of HOME
Hasret (Yearning), which is based on both fact and fiction, highlights some of the political and economical issues Istanbul were facing at the time of filming which gave rise to a new meaning of the word "ghosts" - unregistered migrant workers who officially do not exist. I had the opportunity to interview Ben (ATMS post to follow later on in the week) and I learnt that between 2009 (when the idea for Hasret was born) and 2014 (when production began), there were two main world events that took place and altered the tone of the film, giving it a more political feel; these were the accelerated gentrification of the city, that peaked in the Gezi Park Protests of 2013, and the Syrian Civil War.
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Still from Hasret (Yearning) // Source: Photo Courtesy of HOME
Amongst the stories the people of Istanbul had to share with Ben and his crew, the love the filmmaker has for the city in which he met his now wife, Ceylan Ünal Hopkins (who helped co-write this film project and acted as a guide) is very clear. I cannot profess to have known much about Istanbul before watching this film but I can say my desire to learn more about the hidden, deep and well-known historical and current stories the world around us is just waiting for us to discover has been fuelled after seeing Ben's film.
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To find out if a screening of this film will be out in a cinema near you or more about this film and its director, you can check out his website. And this Friday, there is a chance for you to find out even more about what Ben has to say about film and Hasret (Yearning) in an interview I did with him. Hope you have had a great start to the week!
Mo x