{"id":2649,"date":"2024-05-14T22:45:55","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T20:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/?p=2649"},"modified":"2024-05-16T17:35:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T15:35:46","slug":"conversation-with-ceyda-asar-about-her-short-film-this-is-not-a-place-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/?p=2649","title":{"rendered":"Conversation with Ceyda A\u015far about her short film \u201cThis Is Not A Place For You\u201d."},"content":{"rendered":"

RedCut<\/span>: How did you start actively in the field of cinema?<\/span><\/p>\n

I have been a screenwriter and writer for about 15 years. Writing for TV serials, arthouse features, for mainstream, for commercial features. (<\/span>www.ceydaasar.com<\/span><\/a>)\u00a0<\/span>I also have a novel just published by a well-known publisher in Turkey. So, what I have been doing as an occupation is mostly with words. I am a professional with dialogues in my language, in Turkish. Yet, this was my first experience of directing therefore I wanted to push my limits and use all the advantages of the short film form which gives you a total freedom and huge space, a great playground for art. I did not want to depend on words this time, that\u2019s why there is minimal dialogue in the film and the main character does not speak at all. I tried to get to the core of the pure cinema with images, sound design and metaphors. I focused on creating a form and a visual language which has deep connections with the concepts of the film. I aimed to avoid manipulating the audiences\u2019 feelings by using emotional music. Most of the sounds are real and designed with organic material. The roots arising on the body are not CGI as well, it\u2019s created organically, manually, by our make-up artist. Well, I did not use the words this time but I made many drawings, moodboards, mood videos before I was on the set with the crew. In a way, I had my own book in my hands with lots of words and images.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

RedCut:<\/span> The role of women and home in this film formed in your mind as if we women are always homeless! Home symbolizes a historical sense of security. The home embodies stories that encompass our body and soul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe that one of the major problems of the world today is violent confrontation between masculine & feminine forms of existence. Especially in my country, Turkey, this is very obvious and can be observed very easily by a stranger as well. This is the result of the current political situation. \u201cHomeless women\u201d is a metaphor. The people who are perceiving the world within a female point of view are homeless in a society and world that is all designed only by mind, excluding body, soul, heart and nature. The houses we live in, how we built our cities, all the painful class conflicts that we create, the economy and the system in general\u2026 All of these things are the instruments of the masculine domination. The female form searches for itself in the depths of its existence, unlike the masculine form which is always eager to be under the spotlight, always hurrying, talking too much, always categorizing things and always quite sure of what is secure and what is not. Nevertheless, the feminine form is never satisfied with the given patterns, social patterns, economical patterns, environmental patterns, etc \u2026 She feels boredom and tries to find a way out. This deep search leads her to nature. I am hesitating while choosing the word \u201cnature\u201d because I don\u2019t really mean it literally. I tried to imply all of these things in an allegorical way. Nature is a feminine form of existence. She has the ability to combine with\u00a0 nature. She culminates in the tranquility of unification and feels free in the end. <\/span>After all, if we want to reach out to the core of the story, this is a film about the rebellion of a female character and her search for freedom.<\/p>\n

RedCut: <\/span>Your interpretation highlights the narrative of the disconnect between the existence of women and their instincts, depicted in the search for that strange, modern home, symbolizing security. The man pursuing her represents a historical and masculine dominance, always overseeing and controlling the path, while the woman takes steps forward and beyond. From my perspective, it sounds like a feminist film that reads femininity with a strange strength and authority. What do you think about it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the film has two characters, one is a woman and the other one is a man, I prefer to enlarge the concepts. I prefer to use the words \u201cfeminine and masculine form\u201d instead of women and men. A woman may have a masculine point of view which I can again criticize or the other way around.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From the beginning of the film till it\u2019s midpoint , the realtor is walking faster than the woman and controls where to go, what to think of, what to search for in the buildings and knows what a \u201chome\u201d should be like.If we walk fast, we usually forget things, do not pay attention to our surroundings & meanings and cannot find a chance to think deeper. The woman seems to follow him slowly but her body & soul can not align.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As we know, historically, cinema is a \u201cmale gaze\u201d. We begin the story with a male gaze but after some time when the woman reaches to the woods and takes courage to go deeper in her inner search, the man and its gaze disappears. Language is an invented tool of humankind unlike pre-human or nature which does not need words. The man who is talking too much begins to go silent, begins to feel the strange atmosphere and starts to follow the woman. This can be read as a little transformation on his side, as well. Though the man is not strong enough, he can not go any further and give up at some point. Yes, in the end, the one who undergoes a positive transformation is the woman because of her courage, rebellion and will for freedom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

RedCut: <\/span>The film\u2019s cinematography is a strange masterpiece, with rectangular frames in which the woman walks, leading us to a poetic situation through mathematical arrangements and aesthetically pleasing structures. In a way, it’s the woman searching and reclaiming herself, becoming green again by reconnecting with nature. It’s a vulnerable body finding refuge in nature. How do you perceive the relationship between the female body and home in the film?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Ceyda A\u015far<\/p><\/div>\n

I believe that one of most important things while creating a work of art is the harmony of the form & content. After I had been quite sure of my conceptual thoughts, the form began to shape in sync with the content. The cities have feminine forms but mankind who invaded the cities created the masculine forms with rectangular shapes, sharp ends, skyscrapers which create sunless corners and a dull, half-death life. The mentality of demolishing old historical buildings and constantly building new ones, which is very common in my country, has nothing to do with progress and civilization. On the other hand, the feminine form focuses on details, a shadow of a tree on the wall, a small piece of sunlight at the floor, a bird feather, the loss of the beautiful sound of water and wind. The woman seeks a hidden, peaceful water sound throughout her journey.\u00a0 Actually, humankind killed the poetry of the cities and the woman discerns the signs of this murder and begins to create her own way of poetry. The woman begins to get rid of all the things that are designed for \u201cwomen” like high heels, jewelry, perfect nails and perfect hair. She is not only resigning from her obligations of being a woman, she is also leaving behind all the illusions of being a human. Nowadays, post- human theories are very popular, though today, in 2024, most of the humans still believe that we are the center of the universe. Is the female body transforming into a post-human era in the end? Maybe\u2026 Maybe not\u2026 The film had begun with a realistic form of a story, the woman\u2019s search for a home, and then the film expanded into a contradiction between masculine and feminine forms of existence and ended up with a non-realistic form by implied questions about post-human predictions. I aimed to create many layers which do not steer the audience\u2019s thoughts and feelings rigidly. I will be glad if the film will go on living in their minds after they leave the theater. I, myself, do not prefer story based, plot- driven films. Once the story is consumed, we have a tendency to forget all about it very easily and the film does not create a post-effect on us. It\u2019s better if the audience does not try to figure out all the metaphors of the director by trusting their own instincts. I prefer them to create their own meanings which can be rather different from my explanations mentioned here.<\/span><\/p>\n

RedCut: <\/span>What is your new project? If you have a new film, please tell us a bit about the film\u2019s story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Next project will be a feature. I\u2019ve finished the script and am now looking for a foreign co-producer. (I will be delighted to meet producers from the UK as well :)) It’s telling a story about a woman\u2019s life with three episodes: Youth, middle age and old age. These three episodes refer to body & mind & soul, concerning matters of maternity, emotional affair and agedness. Let\u2019s compare it to men. Getting old is not a big issue in society for them, in fact, it\u2019s for their benefit; not having a child is not a discrimination for men. Being a lonely, unmarried man does not mean that you are a \u201cstrange, odd\u201d person. On the other hand, all of these things are obligations for women, even in the 21st century, even in the big cities. The main character, (the three women) will learn to be totally free, even free from her own body and mind. The form and cinematography will be just like \u201cThis Is Not A Place For You.\u201d The main character will have this inner journey at a touristic seaside village and will have the chance to combine with nature just like it\u2019s happening in my short movie. Nature, (this time the big rocks) will help her and give her courage to pursue her rebellion and reach out to the nirvana of freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

PHOTOS: NOVART.ISTANBUL\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RedCut: How did you start actively in the field of cinema? I have been a screenwriter and writer for about 15 years. Writing for TV serials, arthouse features, for mainstream, for commercial features. (www.ceydaasar.com)\u00a0I also have a novel just published by a well-known publisher in Turkey. So, what I have been doing as an occupation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2649"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2656,"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2649\/revisions\/2656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redcutcollective.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}