DIRECTOR'S WIEV

The reason why I made this film was that I wanted to tell the story of a man seeing himself for the first time in someone else’s eyes, just through a single night. I traced brief but intense connections that are shaped not by time but by an instance and for no reason. The combination of being seen, hiding, talking about what ifs or disappointments, touching each other’s souls in a short period of time and hoping, created a common ground where we met both in the characters’ world and in mine. I would like to emphasize that we worked with limited means but infinite focus and personal commitment in the production of this film.
The characters of the movie are individuals who are stuck between being seen and being hidden, who turn into each other’s mirrors in a transient night. I believe there is an invisible but profound connection between their stories and my own experiences during the production process. When the movie was over, I was left with a sense of meaning and a journey.
Zail is only 35 years old and has a terminal illness. Through this scenario, I wanted to face my greatest fear. So if a person knows when he is going to die, what can he do with the little time he has left? Of course, this varies from person to person. But the more I thought about it, the more I came up with a big “NOTHING”. Because fulfilling desires and living them is a material pleasure. If this could not be possible, Zail needed a home to take refuge in. Not a physical home, but a shell. A shell to hide in and crack one day. Like snails… Snails have always seemed gloomy to me. I wonder why they go out on the road in the pouring rain. Yet, life is without a reason and without a cause. Who knows? I crushed many snails without realizing. I got upset. Zail was also upset about this. One day I bought a snail, so did Zail. This action is beyond a regret, it is a moment of identifying with that animal. It is the preference to retreat or not to retreat into a shell despite the emerging threats or negativities. Zail wanted to retreat into his shell. When death is certain and inevitable, one may feel entitled to do so. And sometimes life offers you little crumbs to come out of your shell, just like offering them to a hungry pigeon. Just like it offered to Zail…
His emergence from the shell and his encounter with Gece was a need to talk about ephemeral bonds and the little moments of relief that happen in a single night. I wanted to explore a story where two people who don’t belong to one another or anywhere, finding each other just for one night. In this context, I’m one of those who believe that life is very parallel to non-causality. I have experienced many times that big plans get lost in life.  I am still convinced that at some point in human life, you will have great, arbitrary and random experiences. A casual acquaintance, an encounter with Gece… Because I have witnessed many such moments in my own life. I chose to set up the encounter of two characters based on this construct. Zail does not ostracize Gece for being a transgender woman or perceive her as a sexual object. Gece also has a shell and through Zail she will break out of it towards the finale. Especially telling a story involving a transgender character seemed to be a way of understanding rather than representation. No matter how we emphasize it; fragility, vulnerability, the intense presence of temporary relationships, social exclusion and its silent reflection, the desire to be seen or the need to hide… The reason I made this film was to show the individual within the fragility of small and almost unnoticeable moments. To forget… How painful it is. I didn’t want to forget and to be forgotten, and I don’t think Zail and Gece did either.

The name Zail means “to be extinct”. So what is extinction? A new life, a new dream and a new ending…

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Yiğit KÜÇÜKKİBAR