Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU) Faculty of Fine Arts (FAF) Radio, Television and Cinema Department Res. Asst. Eda Çekemci made a presentation titled "New Turkish Cinema and Dystopic Uncanny: The Roadside" at the third International Cinema and Youth Congress (ICAY) on 11-12 November 2021 this year.
In the symposium, which started with the theme of Cinema and Dystopia, many presentations were made on topics such as the transformation of utopia and dystopia narratives from past to present in cinema, and the reflections of dystopian narratives in cinema today, as well as examples of dystopia from world and Turkish cinema. Res. Asst. Eda Çekemci, with her presentation titled "New Turkish Cinema and Dystopic Uncanny: Roadside", examined the 2017 film Yol Edge, directed by Tayfun Pirselimoğlu, in the session where examples of Turkish Cinema were examined.
Res. Asst. Eda Çekemci, making use of Sigmund Freud's article "The Uncanny (Unheimlich)" published in 1919, stated that the feeling of uncanny is at the intersection of both narratives. He considered the movie "Road Side" as an example of dystopian narratives, which corresponds to a dark, hazy and disturbing visual language in the cinema, and stated that the apocalyptic narrative in the movie is presented on a dystopian ground. He emphasized that the feeling of uncanny is the main element in the dystopian narratives in which disaster scenarios and eschatological endings are conveyed, and the fear of doubt and the unknown are the basis.
He stated that in the New Turkish Cinema, which has a narrative structure that focuses on the individual, elements such as repetitive lack of belonging, alienation, lack of identity, lack of communication, restlessness, and uncanny are also found in the narrative of the movie Road Side, and he explained it with exemplary scenes. He stated that dystopian narratives are also built on a similar conceptual structure, that they do not only convey a negative imagination of the future, but often talk about a known and familiar scenario. He claimed that there may be an orientation to dystopian narratives as an allegorical narrative method in order to convey the known and familiar.
We congratulate Res. Asst. Eda ÇEKEMCI for her work and wish her continued success.
