Multiple award-winning ‘Motherland’ comes to big screen

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

The preliminary screening of Turkish director Senem Tüzen’s debut feature “Ana Yurdu” (Motherland), starring Bezen Bilgin and Nihal Koldaş, was held on May 11 at Beyoğlu Movie Theater in Istanbul. 

Tüze, who is also the screenwriter of the film, said the shooting was finished in six weeks. “This film tells a passionate love story between a mother and a daughter. We can say that it is a love letter from daughters to their mothers. Real love seeks for the truth. This is why it may bring unexpected results,” she said. 

Tüzen said she was curious about how audiences would view her film, and continued: 

“What I have gone through with my mother is the story of this movie. I went to my motherland to write a script. My mother came, too. The comedy in the beginning of the film is based on my relations with my mother. For me, the time before shooting a film is more stressful and difficult. Shooting is the best part. You can destroy and reassemble everything during the setting.” 

The director said the film’s team was very happy with the awards they had won in festivals, adding, “It is motivating to get positive reactions after all these pains.”

Actress Koldaş, who plays the role of Nesrin’s mother Halise in the film, said, “The mother-daughter relation that Tüzen tries to tell in the film actually looks at mother-child relations with different eyes.” 

Koldaş said the film had a multi-dimensional story, and continued: 

“The scrip tells the inner world of the film characters very successfully. You need to establish a bond with the character you play. As a mother, I think that I established this bond when I was playing a mother in this film. I found something from my mother and myself in the script. I thought it would be a very important film when reading the script. I think it may be a cult film.”

In movie theaters today 

“Ana Yurdu,” which features the tense story of Nesrin, who comes to a village house to finish her novel, and her mother who unexpectedly comes to visit her, comes to the big screen today. 

The film made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and Turkey premiere at the Adana Golden Boll Film Festival. It received six awards at the recently concluded 27th Ankara International Film Festival, including the best director, best film and best script awards. 

The film won the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) prize at the 35th Istanbul International Film Festival and was also selected as the best film by the Cinema Writers Association along with four other awards including best script and best actress. 

The film won one more FIPRESCI prize at the 31st Warsaw Film Festival and was also chosen as the Best Asian Film by NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema). 

It also returned with the best film award from the 16th Tbilisi International Film Festival.