– The debut feature by the Turkish filmmaker offers an absurd, humorous and melancholic portrait of a family haunted by the ghosts of the lives they never lived
İnci Sefa Cingöz in Those Who Whistle After Dark
Set in a modest apartment in Ankara, Pınar Yorgancıoğlu’s Those Who Whistle After Dark [+see also:
trailer
film profile] follows a family whose quiet routines begin to unravel. Toprak (İnci Sefa Cingöz), an unemployed aspiring writer and video-game addict, hopes to run away from an increasingly bleak future in Turkey. Her mother, Suzan (Hülya Gülşen), is determined to fulfil the dreams of her youth through her daughter. Meanwhile, Toprak’s father, Melih (Müfit Kayacan), is struggling to adapt to civilian life, hiding a growing sense of emptiness since his retirement from the Museum of Natural History. When a supernatural visitor suddenly appears to Melih, soon, all three of them are haunted by the ‘ghosts’ of abandoned dreams and alternate possibilities.
World-premiered at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, the film intercuts the family’s everyday struggles with documentary-style interviews with ghosts, creating a distinctive blend of magical realism and dry humour. Through the character of Toprak, the film also touches upon the uncertainty felt by many young people in modern-day Turkey.
According to Yorgancıoğlu, the story emerged out of an interest in the versions of ourselves we leave behind as life unfolds: “We begin life with endless potential, and as we make different choices, many other possible versions of ourselves quietly disappear. I wanted to explore what happens when people struggle to let go of those possibilities.”
The script was co-written by Pınar Yorgancıoğlu and San Francisco-based Emre Gülcan. Yorgancıoğlu previously directed the short films Mrs. Nebile’s Wormhole and Prayers at Dawn, which screened internationally at festivals including Warsaw and Palm Springs.
The film is a Turkish-Bulgarian-German co-production between İndibindi Film, Gecekuşu Film, İkinciyeni Film, Rosa Film, Maya Films, TRT, Portokal Films, Marlene Film and Riva Filmproduktion, backed by the Bulgarian National Film Center, MOIN Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Meetings on the Bridge, Arri International Support program, Antalya Film Forum, Başka Market and Ankara Film Festival Project Development Support. It was developed within the Venice Biennale’s Biennale College Cinema programme and participated in industry platforms including Cinélink Co-Production Market, First Cut Lab, When East Meets West (WEMW) and MedMeetings.
Check out the exclusive international trailer below:
