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Interview with “White As Snow” director Selim Günes
If you were at SEEFest last year, you may remember the beautifully captured images of Turkish film WHITE AS SNOW. Created at the hands of director Selim Günes and producer Nur Günes, White As Snow (“Kar Beyaz”) takes you on a vivid cinematographic journey of a nine-year old boy’s struggle to survive. Easily considered one of the most memorable Turkish films of the past few years, it is almost hard to believe that White As Snow was director Günes’ first film.
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WHITE AS SNOW (KAR BEYAZ)
Charlie Cockey European Film Program / Cinequest Film Festival
In the mountains by the Black Sea, winter wears on, but “where there is life, there is hope.”
Hasan, is twelve years old, his childhood lost to necessity like a cherished book swept away in a river. Forced by circumstance to help provide for his siblings, he must trudge miles through the mountains to sell ayran, the yoghurt drink, to passing travelers.
Told in impressionistic rather than literal fashion and featuring a wonderful cast of secondary characters etched suggestively rather than explained, White as Snow is a mosaic of moments, of beautiful images and sounds, of portents, signs and omens. Each fragment moment speaks, the moments together reveal the tale. A film of beautiful sound design and few words, it will hold you spellbound to its brilliant ending and beyond.
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WHITE AS SNOW, an interview with Selim and Nur Gunes
Interview by Vanessa McMahon, Vanessa McMahon’s blog, 27 June 2011
One of the most memorable films I have seen this past year was the haunting and lyrical film WHITE AS SNOW (Turkey, 2010) by director Selim Gunes and producer Nur Gunes. This is an unforgettable experiment in storytelling, disrupting our linear-prone conception of time in order to think in fragments. The mind doesn’t look back in time sequentially so why should a film that is retrospective? In this film about a poor young boy, Hasan, from the 1970’s, the viewer is forced to struggle through the story along with him as he struggles to survive. The balance between taking us on a journey and letting us fill in the gaps at the same time is successfully achieved; in fact, so well done I was sitting at the edge of my seat. While it is not a thriller, I found myself biting my nails with anticipation as we are forced to follow a poor child on his life-threatening journey- Hasan’s hard impoverished life having to grow up fast to support his desperate mother and younger brother in the freezing mountains of Turkey while his father sits in prison for murder. WHITE AS SNOW is so cinematically poetic and expertly exquisite a film that for all of its elements it is impossible to forget.
I interviewed the husband and wife filmmaking team about their film some weeks after the Istanbul International Film Festival 2011 and here is what they had to say:
ME: How did you come up with the title? And what does it mean to you?
GUNES: I wanted, that the lyrics of the movie contain the word “snow”. In general, the white colour dominates the entire movie. The expression “White as snow” fits with the visuality dominating the movie and the feelings of the child. Initially, I was planning to call the movie “Snow-White Road-Black”. Then the decision was fallen on “White as snow”.
ME: Where was it filmed and was it a difficult production?
GUNES: We have filmed it in the town of Meydancik and in the village of Maden, which is connected to the district of Şavşat the city of Artvin located in the Eastern Region of the Black Sea. Snow and the cold was the most difficult part of the production. And we had to use the daylight of the short winter days mostly and to start the movie set very early.
ME: How did you come up with the idea for the film and the poetic way in which to film it?
GUNES: The idea did not come at once. I had been planning to do it since my childhood. Beside this, most of the photographers have the idea of making a film. I was actually telling a story with the pictures I took. When the conditions were ripe to realise my dream, I remembered the literary work “Ayran” of Sabahattin Ali, which I had read once years ago. I preferred to tell the story with images instead of dialogues. I kept the video, sound and music on the forefront. I used dialogues, whenever I needed them. The visual expression, the editing, the natural acting and the sound and music complementing the story have made the movie poetic.
ME: There is incredible DOP in this film. Can you speak of the film stylistically?
GUNES: During a take, I was thinking about what the scene in that take was trying to tell and then how it would influence the scenery of that plan. Then, I decided how to visualise the situation in that take according to the play. I run the process from the other end. When deciding on the vision itself, my skills in photography helped me a lot. In indoor shootings, with the recommendation of the director of photography, we have applied the “Vermeer” style, which was matching with the feelings of the movie. Thus, the movie has become a movie, which has poetic reality. As to the topic, we have created a poetic movie by visual expression.
ME: Would you classify this film is an art house film or a universal film that can communicate to all people everywhere?
GUNES: White as Snow is a universal art film, that can communicate to all people across the world. It is the feeling, that tries to passes among people across the world from different cultures. We have seen the best example of it in the interpretation of a literature teacher during the Chicago Film Festival. He gave the following short comment: “It is a timeless work. The reason I liked the movie is, that it does not require any words. The acts of the characters are reflected by feelings and images instead of dialogue”. Another comment belonged to a Spanish woman in Berlin. She expressed, that similar experiences were seen also in Spain and that she was highly moved. Those watching the movie for the second time liked it more. Every time they watched, they were affected in a different way to catch different meanings. In short, White as Snow is open to different interpretations. Although I do not find it correct to categorise it, I can say, that White as Snow is an art film in terms of its language, meaning and symbolic expression. But, it has also a story, which can be experienced in all over the world. And many people from different countries of the world have been affected the same way. Considering these aspects, I can say, that it is definitely a universal film.
ME: You’ve travelled to many festivals around the world with this film now. How does this make you feel and did you expect to be so well received in so many places?
GUNES: When the editing of the film was completed, it was just as I wanted. When looking at the movie from an objective point of view, I thought, that it could be shown at festivals. Above all, attending a festival is very important in terms of getting to know new people. As the director and producer of the movie, we have found high interest at the festivals. Beyond this, it was nice to share a common passion with different people. This is what we call cinema.
ME: What was it like to screen your film in Istanbul? What kind of impact has your film had in Turkey and abroad?
GUNES: The screening in Istanbul was both joyful and exciting for me. It was a different pleasure to see, that my movie was to coming to the big screen at the festival, which I had been attended for years. This discrepancy is only valid for Istanbul. The common reaction, which I had in Turkey and in abroad, was that women were affected from the movie much more than men. In Turkey, the audience showed a different reaction to White as Snow, as they knew and experienced the period of the events, which the movie tells about. In abroad, there were many people, who were impressed by the cinematography and poetic expression of the movie. We did not get positive reactions only from the audience but also from people from the industry, such as directors, producers, directors of photography. This makes us absolutely very happy.
ME: What is it like to be a couple making films together?
GUNES: It is a good feeling. I would recommend it. I think, that we are a couple, which complements each other. Out of this reason, I consider myself very lucky. Her existence was a major force for me as the person whom I could trust one hundred percent during the takings at the set or in other processes of the movie.
ME: Do you have another project in mind or will you follow this film first for a while before beginning your next project?
GUNES: Inherently, this film will live out its own process and so will I experience this process. But now, my priority is the second film.
ME: Is there anything you would like to express about your film that you haven’t been able to? Anything you would like to add?
GUNES: I wish, that our movie has the chance to reach a high number of audience in Turkey and in abroad. We are forcing all channels to make this happen. We wish, that the audience likes our movie and tells it to more people on the grapevine.
ME: Well, thank you guys for telling us about your film. It was simply stunning!
visit official site here: http://karbeyazfilm.com/en/
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As a debut movie, White as Snow deserves our respect
Landlord / tersninja.com / 27 June 2011
Sabahattin Ali is not forgotten… And neither are all the writers and poets who have been assassinated by anonymous killers because of their ideas and thoughts, which were mainly opposed to the politics of the government of their period, which had been flirting with a dangerous femme-fatale, nationalism or fascism.
In the eyes of the increasing supporters of that kind of affair from the right wing, Sabahattin Ali was also an antagonist and a threat. He was a “dirty communist” after all. So he was shot to kill during his attempt to escape from Turkey to Bulgaria in 1948. Later his killer confessed that he killed Sabahattin Ali. He was the man who was supposed to help Sabahattin Ali to pass through Bulgaria safely. He was convicted for 4 years. Years he never endured. Because he was free after several weeks. His freedom was due to general pardon. Later it was revealed that he worked for the National Security. There also were rumours that he had not been the real killer, but only took the crime upon himself.
Sabahattin Ali’s dead body was found near the Bulgarian border on 2nd of April 1948. Isn’t it ironic that we saw a movie based on one of his stories at The Sofia Film Festival 63 years later? Doesn’t this mean that after all Sabahattin Ali successfully crossed the border and all the attempts to stop him and his voice have failed?
White as Snow (Kar Beyaz)* is loosely based on one of Sabahattin Ali’s stories:Ayran. Ayran is a Turkish drink which is made of just water, yoghurt and salt. It is simple, but delicious, just like the movie itself.
In this situation, mentioning that the film is “loosely” adapted is a necessity, because Ayran is a short story which only occupies 5 or 6 pages of a book. But despite the new characters, extra additions to the story, change of time and location, White As Snow is still a successful adaptation. Because it manages to accomplish the most important task an adaptation requires. White As Snow transfers the very essence of the story to pellicule and reflects the right feeling to the screen.
In Ayran the story takes place during 1940s. In White As Snow, though it is not that obvious, the time is the early 1970s, during the second coup in Turkey. The location is the highland of North Black Sea. This is the story of a twelve-year old boy who has to walk miles every day in order to sell ayran by the main road, where a passenger van passes only two times a day. After his father goes to prison, the family falls into poverty and Hasan has to take care of his two little brothers, while their mother is away working. The focus is on Hasan but the film has many parallel stories in it – the father, the mother, an old man from another village, an engineer from the big city who feels unhappy about his assignment to this rural part and so on…
The director of the movie, Selim Güneş, is a photographer for 20 years now. The attitude caused by his profession can easily be seen in the movie. He prefers to tell his story with cinematography more than with words. He is aware that although both photography and cinema are similar story-telling vehicles, it can sometimes be dangerous to combine these two in a movie. Güneş makes his best not to leave border lines. We can say that he avoids the stability of photography. Yes, it is still a slow movie on main-stream standards and it is going to face difficulties selling tickets. But which festival film doesn’t? This is one of the inevitable results of making an art movie and is also a sign telling the audience: The film you are watching is not a product of consummation and wild capitalism.
So, despite its lack of cinematic feeling in some certain moments (the final, for example), as a debut movie White As Snow deserves our respect not only for its cinematography but also for its attitude. It is also this attitude that reminds us of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s and Semih Kaplanoğlu’s movies. It is obvious that White as Snow walks the same path as these directors’ works. But when it comes to comparison we must say that Selim Güneş chooses a more conventional and traditional story line (Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Three Monkeys is only an exception in this comparison).
The songs used in the movie are really marvellous. You can watch it twice just to listen to its music again. The talented musician Mircan did a great job with her folklore songs which find their roots in North-east Turkey and Georgia. The film also received the Best Film Music Award of the 47th Antalya Film Festival in 2010.
*White as Snow (Kar Beyaz) was awarded the International Jury’s Special Prize of the 15th Sofia Film Festival.
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“A new, sad story from Black Sea region”
The film was made in the Black Sea city of Artvin, where Güneş was born and grew up. The leading actor in the film is a small child from Artvin, Hakan Korkmaz. “Making this film was my childhood dream,” said Güneş. “I read the novel, from which the screen play is adapted, when I was a child and thought that it was a story penetrating into one’s heart. The film ‘Kar Beyaz’ is a heart-wrenching tale,” he said.
The film won the “Best Film Music Award” at the 47th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival last year and the Jury Special Prize at the 15th Sophia International Film Festival. Also winning lots of national awards, the film met audiences at various festivals in Turkey and Europe.
Güneş said he planned each scene of the film in his mind throughout the years. “When reading the book, I imagined a child walking alone on a remote and snowy road with a billycan on his hand. The nature was snowy and hard. Little Hasan was moving like a black spot, he was symbolizing loneliness.”
He said before filming, he had written down the places in the film. “When the script was done, the pieces of the puzzle were complete, too,” he said, and explained the reason for the name “White as Snow. “White overlaps with the feeling of pureness and cleanness. I first gave thought of the title “White as Snow – Black as Road.” The blackness of the road would refer to difficulties that the child experienced but I later decided just on “White as Snow.”
‘I took risk in leading role’
Speaking about the reason why the film was made in the eastern Black Sea city of Artvin, where he was born, Güneş said, “Its nature is visually perfect” for the region. He said films made in various regions of the country also contributed to the development of Turkey’s cinema sector.
The child character Hasan, played by Hakan Korkmaz, is the son of his neighbor in Artvin. “When I first saw Hakan, I said, ‘This is Hasan,’ and thought he was the best for the film,” Güneş said. “Hakan was inexperienced but this did not create difficulty for anyone during filming. He is a talented child. When the film was done, I realized what a big risk I took. First of all, giving the leading role in a film to a child is a risk itself. If Hakan was not a talented child, I would have had to give him up and start from the very beginning.”
Güneş defined Hasan in three words, saying “responsible, strong and courageous.” He said, “We should remember Hasan is making his living on one hand, and playing in the snow and talking to his imaginary heroes on the other. He is a hardworking child to support his family by selling ayran after the imprisonment of his father. The only thing helping him survive is advice from his father.”
Another book being adapted for film is coming soon from Turkish cinema’s young and award-winning director Zeki Demirkubuz. He is making Fyodor Dostoyevski’s novel “Notes from Underground” into a feature film with a few changes and a different interpretation in the Turkish capital Ankara.
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“WHITE AS SNOW“
Esra Demirkan / İstanbul Film Festival
In resilient geographies, people designate their routines in accordance with the conditions of nature. Nature shapes the motility and endurance levels of human beings in accordance with its own properties. Moreover, geographical conditions determine the borders of people’s dreams, even the colours that they perceive. Adapted from Sabahattin Ali’s short story called Ayran -from the yoghurt drink-, White as Snow is such a film. Set in the days that follow the coup d’etat of 12 March 1971, the film’s story is set in a small mountain village in the eastern part of the Black Sea region of Turkey, and uses the relationship between the people of this village and this tough climate as a backdrop, while in the foreground we follow little Hasan who sells ayran because he has to take care of his little siblings while his father is in prison and his mother is not at home, working as caretaker. The most conspicuous aspect of the film is its sound design which comprises the intrinsic, man-inflicted or resisting sounds of objects. And sounds of objects that can form plans or sequences, regular or interrupted rhythms… Whiteas Snow can puwerfully convey the themes of abandonment and resistance in Sabahattin Ali’s darkling stories but still grabs on to hope. Anyway, when the teashop owner asks “why would you sell ayran when the weather is so cold,” the reply comes from within the film: “Where there is life, there is hope.”
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“WHITE AS SNOW (Kar Beyaz)”
Written by Vanessa McMahon, March 21, 2011
The film WHITE AS SNOW (Turkey, 2010) by writer/director Selim Gunes screened in Sofia during the 15th Sofia International Film Festival. The film is based on a short story called AYRAN by Sabahattin Ali about a young twelve year-old boy, Hasan, who lives in poverty in Turkey’s cold East Black Sea mountain area. He lives with his mother and two younger brothers while his father is in prison. In order to survive and provide for his siblings and mother, he sells a yogurt drink called Ayran to passersby, but it is too cold for the drink so he is unable to sell it and thus his family starves through the harsh winter days.
The film is beautifully shot using an experimental and poetic montage that leaves the viewer to piece together the story as it goes. Despite numerous warnings from the local pear seller, Kadir, to not walk home in the snow after dark, Hasan does so anyway and gets lost. Hasan freezes and falls in the snow, beset by dreams or illusions of his past with his father who is now in prison.
The film opens with the father’s arrest but many mysteries remain after the film ends, like how and why the father ended up in prison in the first place and for how long he has been there and if and when he will ever get out. Nothing is obvious in this film as the editing leaves just enough holes in the story for each viewer to make their own assumptions as to how it ends.
WHITE AS SNOW Is certainly nothing like I’ve seen before. While you might not understand all that happens in the film and leave the theater full of questions, the haunting images, stunning photography and emotion-filled expressions will stay with you long after seeing the film.
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