LIFE

Synopsis

Hicran runs away from home when her father forces her into an engagement with Rıza. Rıza, who thinks that Hicran doesn't want to be with him, doesn't care at first. But then it starts eating him and he decides to confront the situation and embarks on a long search for Hicran in Istanbul.

Statement of the director(s)

In 1985, I had a job hanging advertising posters in gas stations all over Anatolia. At one point of my travels, I found myself waiting for the bus on a deserted road just outside a village. Across the road I noticed a girl waiting by a small grocery store, as bored as I was. We began by making eye contact and then quickly became carried away by the moment.
After a while a bus turned up. I got on it and, naturally, never saw the girl again. I don't remember much about the place, or how long we were there; but I have never forgotten that encounter, the girl's loneliness, and the deep pain I felt for no reason.
LIFE is a story I wrote inspired by this memory, by stories I have experienced, witnessed and heard over the years and by lifelong observations. Although it may have the look of a youth and family drama set within a specific group of people, it is fundamentally an age-old story about human destiny, our helplessness in the face of it, and the sense of sheer impossibility that goes with it.