Özpetek presents ‘Magnificent Presence’ to Turkish audiences

ISTANBUL - DoğanNews Agency

The premiere of renowned Turkish director Ferzan Özpetek’s latest film “Magnifica Presenza” (Magnificent Presence) was held at Istanbul’s Kanyon Shopping Mall last night.

Ahead of the film’s release, a press conference was held with Özpetek and the film’s stars. Özpetek said that he explored two different worlds in all his films: “I tell of two different worlds in this film too, but these worlds are completely different from each other. One is a family from 1940s and the other is a man who rented their house in 2012. It is the meeting of two worlds.”

Özpetek also talked about how he chose Cem Yılmaz, one of the most popular comedians in Turkey, for the film’s lead roles. Özpetek said he could not work with other actors that he got in touch with for various reasons, but that Yılmaz remained constant during preparations for the movie.

YIlmaz said the film was mostly shot in Rome: “After finishing the outside shoot, I was there for the shoots in the house, for five weeks.”

When asked about how he communicated in Italy, he responded: “It is not possible to not get in difficulty. But there was Elis, a friend who translated everything. But sometime later you put in effort to understand what is going on, you don’t have any other choice. I was trying to understand the Italian spoken on the film set. Ferzan treats everyone equally, he takes cares of everyone like a baby.” He also joked that he had learnt enough Italian to buy something from an Armani store.

Sezen Aksu makes song for the film
Özpetek confirmed that idea for the Turkish name of the film came from Yılmaz. “The original name did not sound good in Turkish, so we had talks with (Sezen) Aksu and Yılmaz and decided on to change it.”
“I am not the eponym, I just delivered my idea,” Yılmaz said.

Starring comedian Cem Yılmaz, Elio Germano, Paola Minaccioni, Beppe Fiorello, Margherita Buy and Vittoria Puccini, the film also uses the songs of famous singer Sezen Aksu in the soundtrack.
The film, based on true events, was released on April 6 in two versions, Turkish and Italian.