It’s not the cameras, the stage shows, the ticket sales, and the gigantic productions that make makes the cinema worthwhile. Cinema is the dance of ideas!
Martyr İbrahim Cengiz Secondary School students in Istanbul Maltepe came together in a short film workshop in December 2021 and we conducted a visual workshop using the Socratic method. Many brilliant results were obtained in the workshop, which gained meaning with the ideas, suggestions and practical applications of the students. Do you know what I noticed? The imagination of the students is so developed that I thought we should plan an education system that will keep up with them, design workshops and practice spaces that will help them realize their dreams, and train facilitators instead of teachers. Unfortunately, I cannot see this in today’s Turkey. Our curriculum-oriented education system does not improve the intellectual, mental and artistic knowledge and skills of teachers and students. Moreover, unfortunately, it cannot accompany their dreams. So, what can we do in the face of an education system that cannot offer transformative opportunities?
I also told the children this. Every story has an interesting side. The important thing is to be able to recognize the extraordinary aspects of an ordinary story. There is not only one side of the coin. Being curious about the invisible side of the coin and trying to know what is written and drawn there is a must to develop a dialogic-analytical view of life. Mostly, we perceive life in its tangible aspects. We keep out of the agenda what we do not see and do not know. I think we should be curious about the invisible as well as the visible and we should make them visible. Or how did humanity and civilization develop? Without the curiosity of travellers like Columbus, Magellan and Batuta to explore the world, the universe and the earth, neither shipping could develop nor the need for a compass, nor our knowledge of maps would develop. Some triggering motivations are needed, and history is full of countless examples.
In society, we focus more on the consequences of events and therefore their effects. We care more about the things we are affected by. This is natural. However, we feel overwhelmed by the trouble of the question of how this effect came about and how this result came about, and we stay away from asking these questions. How to shoot a good movie? What makes a good movie successful? Technical equipment? Of course not. In order to make a good, successful and effective film, one’s life experience is necessary. The emotional intensity of this experience and its expressive potential is also important. The training that directors received for the expression technique of this potential is also important. We also talked about them in the workshop. Success is more of an “ecosystem” than a simple cause-effect relationship. It has many components. And of course failure. A good movie has a good claim, everything is to prove it. For this reason, we remove unnecessary parts of the shot. A good movie also requires good lighting and sound technique. In fact, some directors think that sound comes before the image and is much more important. A good movie is also a good story. The script is a team effort. Professional discipline is also one of the factors behind a good movie. Embracing one’s job, being passionate about it, and working ethic are the sub-components of this professionalism.
I also asked the youth: If you were a producer, would you want to support such a film? Let me ask you another question on the other side of the coin. While we are trying to shoot a movie, we look at the process through the eyes of a director. Maybe we should take a more analytical approach and look at it from the perspective of a producer. If we can look at it from that point of view, we can dream more rationally and construct a story in a more reasonable line. Success will perhaps emerge with these rational calculations. Doesn’t it fall under the responsibility of the director to put forth math on the conditions at hand, your experience, your player potential, your technical equipment, financial support and to what extent they can be sufficient?
The director has other responsibilities as well. Before shooting the film, maybe the director makes a preliminary preparation for years. It keeps the story on the ground. The director tries to find the balance between fiction and reality. It questions the aspects of the story that concern humanity, society and the residents of the neighbourhood. It is the director’s responsibility to save the story from a personality that no one can perceive.
It can take months or years to shoot a movie. In this process, being determined, consistent, stable and patient is actually a success. Maybe a few seasons are needed to shoot the movie. Maybe the story goes in another direction, beyond guesswork. Accounts at home may not work in the market. The world changes. Nature disappears. People get sick. Emotions fray etc. etc. The director must also be thought of as a captain who can manoeuvre by taking into account this change, disorder and compelling factors.
I also asked the children: What do you think it means to be an actor? For example, think about it once. You are an actor in a movie. But your mother is also in the hospital with a feverish illness. To what extent can you be happy in your role? Being able to look happy is perhaps the secret of acting, even if you’re stuck in the middle of sadness.
And crazy questions… What does respect for elders mean? To bow before them or to keep their spiritual heritage alive? Do flowers talk too? Yes, they talk. They tell us a lot with their colours and smells, do we have a developed ear to hear them every day? Can the course of the world be viewed through the journey of trash? If we set our minds to follow the journey of each garbage we leave to nature, wouldn’t we witness frightening sights? Here’s the subject of a horror movie. And is violence against women a woman’s personal issue or the biggest obstacle to the transmission of culture across generations? You decide. To what extent is it possible for a woman whose self-confidence has been destroyed, whose dignity has been hurt, to raise children who will make history? Can greater damage be done to a country and its economy than this? What about the teachers? I think that adults in general and teachers, in particular, are negative role models for children. It is also impossible for us adults, whose eyes and attention are constantly confined to the screen, to exemplary behaviour towards children. Yes to technology but no to addiction. We are the adults who are more dependent on today’s technologies than children, as I see it. And the teacher is not an uncritical actor. Can students who think analytically accept a didactic teacher who does not update herself/himself, do not follow the innovations of the world she/he is contemporary with, does not take active roles in society, writes projects and does not encourage production?
Young people are full of life. Yes, but this life should not be a shadow. Working together, regardless of gender, has a very productive aspect. The female point of view is quite different from the male point of view and is more profound, sensitive and process-oriented. Women are much more energetic than men in oral culture and in producing thoughts. Both sides offer rich arguments, but to get rid of the male-dominated, one-dimensional, limited perspective, the value of the female perspective has a great contribution to productivity and creativity. Maintaining this balance is perhaps the responsibility of educators and, of course, political decision-makers.
These were the thoughts left over from a workshop. Greetings to those who enjoy thinking and sharing!
Let's, children and guys… Let's watch and act together!
You can watch our movie at the link below:
Note to the curious:
I went to primary school at 120. Yıl Ziraat Bankası Primary School in Başıbüyük. Between 1988–1994. From a teacher who knows Turkish and Turkish culture, as well as French and French culture; I received my first education from Semih Yayla and had the chance to be his student. I learned with great pleasure from the village school, which consists of 3 blocks, to study, be a student, have friendships and discover the world in that school. My teacher was a legendary role model in my eyes. Maybe I can say that I spent my most meaningful time at this school. Because school is a place to lay a foundation for the formation of personality. In the following years, this school was demolished and a school resembling a flour factory was built in its place. I wish this school, which has changed its name to Martyr İbrahim Cengiz Ortakaokulu, to raise students with the utmost care and enthusiasm.
