Gitmek: Benim Marlon ve Brandom

Turkish documentary filmmaker Huseyin Karabey teams up with actress and screenwriter Ayca Damgaci to tell this deeply personal love story set against the backdrop of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq that was based on true events and won them both critical acclaim and a slew of international film festival awards.

Ayca Damgaci puts in an incredibly powerful central performance as she carries the film virtually by herself with fine but fleeting support from Cengiz Bozkurt, Nesrin Cavadzade and Ani Ipekkaya as well as hilarious and emotional excerpts from the video love letters of as her leading man Hama Ali Kahn.

The filmmakers retrace the leading lady's curious journey from west to east in search of love putting the director's documentary film-making skills to good use capturing the flavour of the places the pass through and people to meet in a cinéma vérité that accentuates the human tragedy.

Only winds from the East.

"Gitmek": first-feature film of Huseyin Karabey. He is one of the powerful story-tellers of new Turkish cinema. Huseyin tells us a story about Turkish actress Ayca and Iraqi local artist Hama Ali who met each other first in a movie-set. Hama Ali sends her video-taped love letters to Istanbul. They are torn apart by the war in Iraq. The affection grows and Ayca decides to GO to Iraq. She decides to do something about her personal suffering and the suffering in Iraq. She decides to break the chains of indifference. There is war in Iraq, the second Gulf War. When she leaves Istanbul, she immediately faces completely different and painful realities. Going to Iraq is not that easy! Going to Iraq for love and with love is not that easy! You can go to Iraq to bomb but you cannot go to Iraq for love! Paradoxical or tragi-comic? Huseyin tells a delicate story and invites us to think about the reasons that make us move. If 'Gitmek' is telling something, it is this: not only going to Iraq, but to find in yourself the reasons to go there is the most difficult and important thing! If you are moved by this movie, think about this point! So I highly recommend the film.

Documentarist Huseyin Karabey's first movie. The movie tells the true story about Ayça Damgaci's road trip, from Istanbul to Northern Iraq to see/visit her boyfriend.

Ayça is a Turkish actress in her 30s, living in Istanbul. She meets Hama Ali Khan (a famous Kurdish actor in 50s) during a production of a movie. They fall in love immediately. After the movie is completed, unfortunately they are separated; Hama Ali turns back to Norhern Iraq, and Ayça goes back to Istanbul. However their love continues via letters. Hama Ali sends Ayça very funny video letters.

The war is severe and Ayça loses communication with him. So she goes crazy and plans a road trip to see and visit her love. Despite everyone's, this trip was a reverse one, from Istanbul to Suleymaniye to the center of war. When she arrives to the Turkey-Iraq border, she learns that the border is closed. So they decide to meet in another location, Umriye - Iran.

I am very impressed of Ayca's brave trip and also her passionate love for Ali. She listens to her heart even if that means risking her life. Furthermore, the movie gives you the chance to observe the circumstances of local people in the East of Turkey and all along the way to Umriye.

I watched this one on the Sofia Film Festival where it was given the Best Balkan Movie Award. Although generally I'm not impressed with stuff like prizes I think it really deserves it, for it is a true Balkan movie - humane, intense, kaleidoscopic, emotional. Emotional in way that brings you very close to the characters; kaleidoscopic as it shows diverse nationalities, customs and landscapes; intense in building empathy for Ayça, the girl in quest for getting together with her loved one; humane in portraying all ordinary people she meets like the Kurdish refugees living illegally in Istanbul and her old Christian grannie neighbours.

Director's feel for detail and real life is extraordinary.

i saw this film on Sarajevo film festival in 2008 and we had an opportunity to meet the actors and the director. i was very excited about seeing it, since i love turkey very much and i read a lot about the film and it was highly recommended to me. frankly, i was a little disappointed. the film is interesting and wholesome, but for me, it was full of prejudice and subjective comment on the region and nations living there. i suppose it's their film and their lives are in it, so they can make it however they want, but it is unfair to impose your own opinions about other nations and cultures without any chance for true objective insight. overall, i'm happy i saw it and it was very interesting. it is really a nice love story and i was somewhat impressed by the actress. the actor i didn't like so much. :) also, i hate the English translation of the title and in general translation in the movie is somewhat bad in my opinion.