Synopsis

The Other Side of Istanbul” offers never-before-seen insight into the diversity of the gay experience in Turkey and the difficulties of homosexual self-discovery in a predominately homophobic society where “other” sexual orientations are hidden,repressed, or met with hostility. The film, the latest documentary from director Döndü Kilic, explores how the members of Turkey’s LGBT community defend their rights more confidently as the accessibility of information via new media expands, as they adopt more Western lifestyles and attitudes, and as the debate over Turkish admission to the European Union grows fiercer. Just as it is for us, the world grows smaller each and every day for the Turkish men encountered in this film, but unfortunately, unlike for many of us, each of these men must live in a land where some fear change and will stop at nothing to keep things the way they are.
Mehmet Tarhan is a 28 year-old native Kurd raised in Iskenderun and living for the past several years in one of the few relatively gay-friendly neighborhoods of Istanbul, Cihangir. Two years ago, Mehmet was arrested and imprisoned for eleven months because he refused to become an agent of the military machine that is running Turkey today. As a gay man, Mehmet would have been rejected forthright from military service, only to then face a degrading and humiliating trial facing charges of indecency and the classification as mentally disordered. Though the antimilitarist has been living outside of prison walls for some time now, the warrant for his arrest has never been revoked, leaving his freedom under constant threat. Mehmet’s fight for change, however, stretches far beyond his personal struggles. As the figurehead of Lambda Istanbul, an association founded in 1993 to serve as a safe space for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transvestites, and transsexuals, Mehmet plays a vital role in the gay community of Istanbul, especially for the thirty or so members of the organization. Under Mehmet’s leadership, the organization is striving to serve as a place of shared experience, of social interaction, of organized political demonstration, and of information availability, while attempting all the while to maintain an active and enlightening public relations campaign. Although Mehmet works hard, not everyone in the gay community finds that Lambda Istanbul, a left-leaning, alternative, and strongly politicized organization, speaks for them. In fact, among many conservative, middle-class, and nationalistic homosexuals, Lambda is considered a radical, parasitic club that does nothing more than oppose or hinder every possibility of economic growth and development.
Mustafa, 24, who defines himself as apolitical, is one of the many who feel their experience and viewpoint is not addressed by Lambda and its leaders. Mustafa prefers the alternative club scene which, unfortunately for him, is quite small in Istanbul. Instead, Istanbul is dominated by an expensive gay bar and club scene – a clone of the global gay mainstream and normally frequented only by those better off financially – as well as a bear scene made up of muscular, hairy macho-men. Mustafa, calling himself an alternative Twink, longs for change because, in the narrow gay community that exists within Istanbul, he is not considered attractive.
Güney, 28, dreams of fame and fortune and hopes that one day he will be an “authentic male belly dancer.” Until then, he has taken up work as a transvestite in an x-rated movie theater where he makes just enough to get by in Istanbul. Even in the colorful neighborhood of Taksim, Güney finds himself alienated because of his feminine appearance. He says that he is everything: a gay, a transsexual, a transvestite, and more womanly than every woman…
Mert, 40, is leaving Istanbul. He came to the big city as a young man, shortly after his family uncovered his sexuality. Without an education and penniless, Mert became friends with a transsexual active in the scene and was soon training as a trans-prostitute. For twelve years, Mert financed his life in Istanbul through prostitution: “At that time we were treated with more respect.” For the last five years he has been in a committed relationship and has held a steady job. Now he is ending his chapter in Istanbul: “Today there are only crooks, liars, and swindlers drifting around this place.”
Also looking for a fresh start is Bawer, 25. This charming, witty man admits he is a liar and shares the story of how he has been forced to live a lie for years. For fear that his parents would discover his homosexaulity, Bawer decided to start a “relationship” with his good friend Leyla playing the role of his girlfriend. Hoping it would throw his parents off, Bawer was shocked to discover how quickly his parents took to the idea… and began making wedding plans. Now Bawer realizes there is nothing more to do, things need to change, and his love affair with Leyla must come to an end: “Don’t lie! It’s terrible. I am trying to stop, but I just can’t.”
In Bursa, Öykü, a 30 year-old transsexual, spearheads an organization, Gökkusagi Bursa, that serves the needs of the transvestites and transsexuals living there. Öykü is on a mission to establish legal protection for transsexuals and transvestites against assault, brutality, and discrimination. For many years now, the police have not been willing to protect the transsexuals and transvestites living here, because they are prostitutes and have no standing in society. Despite the small successes, Öykü understands that the fight for change has only just begun.
Istanbul is a city of stories, just when you think you know them all, you get a glimpse of “The Other Side of Istanbul.”

Documentary, Germany, 2008, 82 min., Color, HD Cam+, 16:9, Stereo,
Turkish, English, Dutch Original Language, English Subtitles

Döndü Kilic
klick here for Biography and Filmorgaphy

Director’s Filmography

• The Other Side of Istanbul (Das andere Istanbul), Documentary, HD Cam, 82 min. 2008
  Berlin International Film Festival, Panorama 2008
• love hurts, social Spot, 35mm, 60 sec. 2007
  Berlin International Film Festivalt, Panorama 2007, Teddy Award Special Mention
• A Father’s Prayer, Short Film, 35 mm, 9 min. 2006
• Die Frau gegenüber, Short Film for Television (rbb), DigiBeta, 30 min. 2006
• Namus, Short Film, b/w, 35mm, 15 min. 2005
  Short Tiger Award, nominated for German Short Film Price
• CS, Short Documentary, DV, 3 min. 2002

www.dffb.de
info@dffb.de

Telefon +49 (0)30 257 59-0
Fax +49 (0)30 257 59-161

Geschäftsführer: Prof. Hartmut Bitomsky
Vorsitzende des Kuratoriums: Staatssekretärin Barbara Kisseler
AG Berlin Charlottenburg, Register-Nr. HRB 1265

Verantwortlich für den Inhalt: Andreas Louis

Ansprechpartner:
Jana Wolff
Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin GmbH
Potsdamer Str. 2
10785 Berlin

wolff@dffb.de

Telefon +49 (0)30 257 59-152
Fax +49 (0)30 257 59-161

Websitepflege:
Rolf Maidhof
www.rolfmaidhof.de

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