CATEGORY
2016-Panorama
A Better Life
Pınar Okan
Turkey, 2015, 59′, Turkish
Photography: Mehmet Gülmez
Editing: Yalçın Canavar
Music: Ferhat Şahin
Sound: Yalçın Canavar
Producer: TRT
Salhane, 15.10.2016 Saturday, 16.00 – 18.00
Synopsis: The small mountain villages in Black Sea region are one of those places where the results of the rural-urban migration are felt most deeply. Years ago, many people migrated to the big and foreign city in pursuit of “a better life” from these poor villages where making one’s living is difficult and where traditional production methods do not bring any money. The remaining ones got older and lonelier with each passing year. The already limited production opportunities and husbandry decreased even more. On the one hand, there are the empty villages, abandoned houses, non-existent production opportunities of the village and on the other hand, there are the city people stuck in high buildings trying to hold on to the city and life. And there is the question for which the answer keeps getting more and more uncertain: “Where is the better life?” The documentary “The Good Life” looks at the remains of the migration that has continued for sixty years through the stories of four different individuals. It traces the deep solitude that is experienced in these villages that are visited by no one at all now and in Istanbul.
Biography: Pınar Okan was born in Ankara. She graduated from Ankara University, Department of Radio, Television and Cinema in 2003. Her first documentary film “Çıkmaz” (2003) was screened in many national & international festivals. The film also received the award for the best documentary in Ankara Film Festival. She worked in TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Association) from 2004 to 2011 as an assistant director and copywriter in many documentary projects. She has been working in TRT as a director and producer in documentary programmes section since 2012.