International Works in Progress
RAHMA
An archaeologist struggling with infertility is ready to go abroad for surrogacy, but her plans change when she meets a young Syrian orphan girl, disguised as a boy.
İbrahim, who runs a restaurant in Urfa, and Meryem, an archaeologist working in Göbeklitepe, have been married for ten years but have been unable to have children due to health problems. After six failed in vitro fertilisation attempts, İbrahim, who thinks in more traditional ways, turns to alternative medicine. Meryem, who thinks scientifically and rationally, wants to have a genetic child through surrogacy in Georgia as a last resort, despite İbrahim's opposition. She rejects İbrahim's suggestion of adoption because she herself was raised by a stepmother.
One day, a fight breaks out in the bazaar and İbrahim is forced to help a nine-year-old Syrian orphan named Rahim. When he realises that Rahim is ill and living on the street, he takes him in and gives him a job and a place to sleep at the restaurant.
When Meryem and İbrahim go to Halfeti for Eid al-Adha, they have to take Rahim with them. On the morning of the feast, Meryem helps Rahim to take a shower and then realises that Rahim is a girl, not a boy, and that her abdominal pain is caused by her first menstrual bleeding. Meryem suddenly finds herself in the position of a mother to the orphaned girl, whose real name is Rahma. Over time, Meryem becomes accustomed to Rahma and grows attached to her.
While things seem to be going well, her cousin Nidal, who is also involved in smuggling, appears and insists on giving Rahma to a German family under the pretext that she will have a better future. Desperate to keep Rahma, İbrahim persuades Meryem, and they travel to Georgia to have her healthy embryos implanted in a surrogate mother. On the way, Rahma discovers her cousin's true intentions and runs away. She contacts Meryem by phone. Meryem is very close to the border, and the nitrogen preserving the embryos is about to run out. Despite the biological motherhood she had defended until then, Meryem follows her heart – and goes to Rahma.
Subjects:
journey, human rights, child parent relationships, migration, orphanage, street children, children, art, pregnancy
Born in 1979 in Batman, Faysal dropped out of the Faculty of Medicine in 2000 to become more interested in poetry and cinema and transferred to the Faculty of Pharmacy. Between 2003-2007, he did his master's degree in Tehran on cinema and in the same years in Van on literature. He shot 4 short films in Iran. In his graduation film "Dreams of Lost Time" in 35mm format, he tried to find his poetic cinematic language. In 2008, Soysal attended the New York Film Academy, where he made 4 more short films, 3 in 16mm and one digital. In 2013, Soysal completed his first feature film "Crossroads", which he has been working on since 2009 and shot in Turkey and Bosnia. The film received a total of 13 awards in Turkey and abroad. He made the documentaries "Firstly Song Has been Changed" in 2014 and "Missing Times" in 2015 for Al Jazeera. In 2016, He made the documentary series "Mothers of Srebrenica" and "Doctors Worldwide stories" for TRT. He completed the film "Silenced Tree" in 2020. The film, which has been shown in many international festivals so far, has been awarded 30 awards in total.
Silenced Tree, 2020, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11808250/reference/ Crossroads, 2013 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2219370/reference/ Missing Times, 2015 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5360938/reference/ Dreams of Lost Time https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2783272/reference/ Umut Apartmanı, 2015 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6107972/reference/
Born in 1979 in Batman, Faysal dropped out of the Faculty of Medicine in 2000 to become more interested in poetry and cinema and transferred to the Faculty of Pharmacy. Between 2003-2007, he did his master's degree in Tehran on cinema and in the same years in Van on literature. He shot 4 short films in Iran. In his graduation film "Dreams of Lost Time" in 35mm format, he tried to find his poetic cinematic language. In 2008, Soysal attended the New York Film Academy, where he made 4 more short films, 3 in 16mm and one digital. In 2013, Soysal completed his first feature film "Crossroads", which he has been working on since 2009 and shot in Turkey and Bosnia. The film received a total of 13 awards in Turkey and abroad. He made the documentaries "Firstly Song Has been Changed" in 2014 and "Missing Times" in 2015 for Al Jazeera. In 2016, He made the documentary series "Mothers of Srebrenica" and "Doctors Worldwide stories" for TRT. He completed the film "Silenced Tree" in 2020. The film, which has been shown in many international festivals so far, has been awarded 30 awards in total.
Silenced Tree, 2020, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11808250/reference/ Crossroads, 2013 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2219370/reference/ Missing Times, 2015 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5360938/reference/ Dreams of Lost Time https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2783272/reference/ Umut Apartmanı, 2015 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6107972/reference/
Ivan Tonev graduated in cinematography and directing from Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (1989). In 1999 he created his own producer company ARS Digital Studio. He has been working as a producer since 2005. He has been Chairman of the Association of the Bulgarian Cinematographers since 2006, and in the period 2008-2015, he was Vice President of the European Federation of Cinematographers (IMAGO). He has been a member of the National Cinema Council since 2012.
Born in 1979 in Batman, Faysal dropped out of the Faculty of Medicine in 2000 to become more interested in poetry and cinema and transferred to the Faculty of Pharmacy. Between 2003-2007, he did his master's degree in Tehran on cinema and in the same years in Van on literature. He shot 4 short films in Iran. In his graduation film "Dreams of Lost Time" in 35mm format, he tried to find his poetic cinematic language. In 2008, Soysal attended the New York Film Academy, where he made 4 more short films, 3 in 16mm and one digital. In 2013, Soysal completed his first feature film "Crossroads", which he has been working on since 2009 and shot in Turkey and Bosnia. The film received a total of 13 awards in Turkey and abroad. He made the documentaries "Firstly Song Has been Changed" in 2014 and "Missing Times" in 2015 for Al Jazeera. In 2016, He made the documentary series "Mothers of Srebrenica" and "Doctors Worldwide stories" for TRT. He completed the film "Silenced Tree" in 2020. The film, which has been shown in many international festivals so far, has been awarded 30 awards in total.
Silenced Tree, 2020, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11808250/reference/ Crossroads, 2013 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2219370/reference/ Missing Times, 2015 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5360938/reference/ Dreams of Lost Time https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2783272/reference/ Umut Apartmanı, 2015 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6107972/reference/