The short film 'Process' directed by Berk Köse a student of Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU), Faculty of Fine Arts (GSF), Radio, Television and Cinema Department, will now take place at the Student World Impact Film Festival in the USA, after being featured in Lift-Off and First Time Filmmaker Sessions.
In the film, it is told that a screenwriter, who has achieved many successes at an early age, has difficulties in production and his connection with reality is broken during the writing process. The entire crew of the film, whose festival process is still in progress, consists of students from the Department of Radio, Television and Cinema. The screenplay was written by Berk Köse and Ferit Doğan, and the director was Berk Köse, and the producer was Berk Köse, Beyza Sude Yüksel, Buğra Cihan Çakır, Ferit Doğan, İsmail Akbal, and Senanur Sevim. The cinematographer was Buğra Cihan Çakır and the art direction was Ferit Doğan. Ferit Doğan, Beyza Sude Yüksel, Mekan Orazov, Uğur Berat Kaya and İsmail Akbal starred in the film.
Ferit Doğan, one of the screenwriters and also one of the producers of the film, shared his views on the beginning of the project and the sources of motivation in this process:
“When we returned to school last year, we knew that those moments when we would produce projects and write scripts were waiting for us. That's why the thought of making a movie excited me incredibly, but the thought that I would not succeed was also outweighed. Because I was fighting the thought of being late for the things I always dreamed of. I think this was the biggest harm done to me by staying at home for a long time during the pandemic period. I am happy that I got over this situation after our movie The Process. Back to the beginning, in one lesson we were asked to form a group of six for a short film project. Me, Berk and Buğra were already three of us. Later, İsmail, Beyza and Senanur joined us. Berk had two short films he made before, "I'm Money" (Ben Parayım) and "The Crushed Daisy" (Ezilen Papatya), and I even tried to support him as much as I could by being on the set of the Crushed Papatya. That's why Berk was the most experienced among us about the filming process. As a matter of fact, he was the one who conveyed his experiences to us. Even though I wrote scripts, I was someone who only kept my missing or unrealized stories on my computer. Buğra, on the other hand, was a director, but like me, he was someone who had not yet realized his dreams. Beyza, İsmail and Senanur were our friends who were ready to do their best. So, all of us waiting for a leap and giving our heads was actually our biggest motivator. When you form a team, having people around you who understand and listen to you, and working with people who respect your thoughts, opinions and different ideas, is actually enough to maximize motivation.”
Doğan talked about the decisions they made during the scriptwriting process and the path they followed:
“After much thought, Berk and I decided to be responsible for the script of the project. Thus began a process in which being creative would bring results. Berk had prepared the introduction to the story. After adding the opening dialogues together, what remained to me was how to turn this story into horror. I had a lot of ideas in mind, but putting them into the script was the hardest part. After much thought, I decided to make the script supernatural. I started writing inspired by the atmosphere that David Lynch uses in his films. I think that we have given the link between dream and reality very well, both being stuck between nightmares and the real world, and being in limbo. As I wrote, I showed it to Berk, as he added something, I added it, and we arrived at a satisfying short film. We were particularly pleased with the finale. Looking back now, we still think we managed to write a really surprising, different and interesting screenplay.”
Doğan stated that they struggled with many difficulties when they came out on Set and they continued despite all these difficulties and continued his words as follows:
“It was a challenge for all of us, having to change what was written in the shooting script, reshooting, trying to act as a team, sleeping in the same place at night and shooting in the same place in the morning, and we were able to overcome it. We didn't want to do it for the sake of doing it, we wanted the audience to praise it if we were going to do something, we wanted to have something to talk about for a long time. We were acting perfectionists; We wanted all the scenes to be shot in the best possible way, and Berk's directives were especially effective in this regard.”
Doğan stated that they were satisfied with the adventure of the film, which has now started its festival journey:
“We did the premiere at school and the feedback has been incredible. The compliments from our teachers and classmates made us extremely happy. At that moment, “This is my place.” I said. All my life, I wanted to produce films, visit festivals, receive criticism from people, comment and tell. These good returns motivated us during the festival as well. Our film, which was later presented to the audience in two separate online festivals as part of Lift-Off, is now at the Student World Impact Film Festival. While our national and international applications continue, this time our second excitement started with our sci-fi/thriller film "Past, Future, Now" (Geçmiş, Gelecek, Şimdi) that I both wrote and directed. We now have a double festival process. I hope we will achieve greater success in the future and reach the places I think we deserve as a team.”
Click here to follow the film's festival journey and screenings.
We congratulate our students and wish them continued success.
