Oray’ and ‘Interdependence’ films scheduled to be showcased at 50th IFFI

Sharing his idea about the movie, German-Turkish film director and screenwriter Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay said that ‘Oray’ is about searching for one's personal and cultural identity.

Cinema is not just about entertainment. It is also about touching minds, conveying messages and bringing about social change. 'Oray' and 'Interdependence', two international films scheduled to be showcased at the 50th International Film Festival of India resonates the same.

Sharing his idea about the movie, German-Turkish film director and screenwriter Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay said that 'Oray' is about searching for one's personal and cultural identity.

Recalling the constraints faced in producing his debut movie, Mehmet said that the most difficult part was to get financial support for the movie. " It was also hard to find actors of Turkish origin in Germany as most of the Turkish actors were working in television. Since Television has got stereotypes, Turkish and Muslim actors always play the roles of terrorists and gangsters. It took me almost one year to find actors", he said.

Differentiating between the practice of Islam in Germany and India, the director said that Islam in Europe is kind of a 'YouTube Islam' as the new generation Muslims there are learning the religion through the internet.

Shri Nila Madhab Panda, one of the eleven directors of the film 'Interdependence' said that this film talks about the emotional impact of climate change. "It is the story of a family in Delhi that is going through the phase of a divorce due to grave air pollution that engulfs the city. The idea behind the film is creating a dialogue so that some measurable actions are taken to mitigate the problem," he said.

The director further added that though the government and several organisations are trying to find solutions to air pollution, it is the people of Delhi who need to make a decision first regarding this menace. He also recalled personal experiences about how climate change is affecting relationships between people.

(With Inputs from PIB)