‘Can’ director says he is happy that his efforts are appreciated

Its Sundance win comes around three months after Çelikezer’s film had its national premiere at Antalya’s Altın Portakal (Golden Orange) International Film Festival, where it also won the Antalya City Council Jury’s Audience Award and a jury’s special prize for its child actor Yusuf Berkan Demirbağ.

“Can” is the first-ever Turkish film to have run in Sundance, but its “award win did not generate the buzz it deserved in Turkish cinema circles and media,” director Çelikezer complained in an interview a few days after his return from Sundance.

“It’s going to sound too cliché, but I’m truly very happy,” said Çelikezer about the Sundance prize, adding: “It’s wonderful to be awarded for my work in a country that has built an entire industry on the [cinema] profession. … My effort has been appreciated, and this gives me the strength to keep on creating.”

Co-produced by Defne Film Production and Efekt Production, “Can” stars Selen Uçer, Serdar Orçin and Yusuf Berkan Demirbağ. The film tells the moving story of a seven-year-old boy named Can and his mother who does not want him. Çelikezer has dedicated his film to his daughter, Defne, along with all the children of the world.

But why did Turkish media overlook the film’s award win? Çelikezer said: “There’s only one thing I know, and it’s telling stories, whether through cinema or through theater or who knows, maybe one day in a novel. … And no one has to like my film. But I was frustrated that something that was newsworthy was being covered with a narrow point of view. But I’m over it. They can do it the way they like. I have great respect for anyone who works with letters. And it will always be this way.”

More festival screenings on the way

“Can” begins with the story of a married couple in their late 20s, Cemal (Orçin) and Ayşe (Uçer), who truly love each other. They are longing for a child, but when the couple discovers that they are physiologically unable to conceive one, they illegally procure a newborn. Months pass, Cemal is the happiest man on earth, but his wife has still not overcome the fact that the baby is not their own. Cemal and his wife fight every day over the baby whom Ayşe insists on ignoring. Unable to bear the weight of the situation at home anymore, soon Cemal walks out on his wife and their adopted son, Can. Through the moving story of the boy, the film looks at such weighty concepts as parenting, family, love, patience, pride and guilt.

Apart from its story, “Can” also earned critical acclaim for the performances of its cast, particularly for 6-year-old Demirbağ’s portrayal of Can.

The film will have its Turkish theatrical release on March 16. But in the meantime it will be shown in film festivals abroad, and talks are under way with a number of festivals, Çelikezer said. “We first contacted [festivals in] Europe and then with five or six film festivals in Asia. We have our itinerary planned until summer. We will be sharing the details with the public as talks are finalized. … Right now we are busy with preparations for the Turkish theatrical release,” he added.

Çelikezer, acclaimed for his work as a writer and director for TV dramas, made his foray into feature filmmaking in 2008 with “Gökten Üç Elma Düştü” (Three Apples Fell from the Sky). Having warmed even more to the silver screen with the recent award for “Can,” the director said he was also working on the script of his third feature film, which audiences should expect to see in theaters towards the end of this summer. Yet he was tightlipped about the details of the upcoming production.

Asked whether he believed Turkey will one day have its own Oscar nominee in the foreign language category, Çelikezer said: “Criteria for the Oscars change with the course of time, so it’s difficult to talk with certainty right now. But Turkey has so many great filmmakers, and someday one of them will surely take to that stage to accept an Oscar. Still, I don’t like attaching too much importance to the Oscars. … Many Turkish filmmakers have returned from A-list festivals with prestigious awards, and I think this is more important.”