Event

My Marlon and Brando

In real life, Hama Ali, a larger-than-life Kurdish actor from Iraq, famous locally for his performance as Iraqs version of Superman, met Aya, a fiery young actress from Turkey on a film set. Before returning to their respective homes in Istanbul and Northern Iraq, they had a brief but passionate love affair. Hama Ali sent Aya charming video love letters, which describe the hellish violence engulfing his country as well as his tender affection via cell phone towards her. He also sends her clips from comedy films in which he has starred. Increasingly lonely in her own city and misunderstood by those around her, Aya sets off on a harrowing trip as troops are gathering on the Iraqi border. Playing herself and using material from the real video letters, Aya is unique and memorable as she makes the journey from cosmopolitan Istanbul, where she smokes and drinks and spends her time at the community theater, to the increasingly more conservative and rural parts of Turkey. At a time when many people were fleeing from East to West in search of safety, Aya makes the opposite journey through breathtaking landscapes, strange encounters and traumatic times, and then, across the border. In a town market in the snow, she waits -- searching for love.

Semi-fictional work by well-known doc filmmaker Huseyin Karabey, won FIPRESCI Prize, 2008 Jerusalem; Best Actress, 2008 Sarajevo; Best New Narrative Filmmaker, 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.

(In Turkish, English, Kurdish; with English subtitles)