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| Ural Hatemi |
Ural Hatemi, the editor-in-chief of the "Maduniyyet" magazine published in Ankara, and sociologist, states, "The current interest in Turkish-language films in Iran has a history. This did not happen overnight or within a year or two. It started many years ago and has now reached its current success."
Hatemi emphasizes that the late director Yadollah Samadi's Turkish-language films Dəli Dümrül and Saray from the 1990s marked the beginning of a new era.
"This process began in 1997 when Yadollah Samadi's film Saray filled cinema halls in Tabriz and other Turkish-speaking cities. With these films, a new era in the production of Turkish films began," says Hatemi.
He adds that many young filmmakers in Iranian Azerbaijan, who have achieved great success, went through difficult processes:
"These filmmakers worked under heavy burdens. They faced a lot of challenges. They were censored, unable to obtain licenses, and faced various obstacles. But today, we see the films made by these young filmmakers filling cinema halls, and we call this the new wave of Turkish cinema in Iran."
On February 7, during the press conference for the Turkish-Persian film Atabay at Iran's Fajr Film Festival, a heated debate occurred. Screenwriter Hadi Hicazifər criticized a journalist's objection to the film being made in Turkish, calling the journalist's remarks "fascist ideas."
Hatemi states, "The journalist's objection is actually a response from Iran's nationalist and chauvinist filmmakers and film critics. They do not want Turkish people to be given a space in the cinematic environment. They do not want the awakening and consciousness of Turks to take place in that space because cinema is such a sensitive environment that once an issue enters it, it will quickly and effectively spread through society. If the issue of Turkish identity and language begins to spread in that environment, they know they won't be able to stop it."
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| "Ev" (The Home), was released in 2017. |
The sociologist also compares the Turkish-language short and feature films made in recent years with the films of the late Yadollah Samadi in the 1990s in terms of content.
"As much as I have read about Yadollah Samadi, he was someone who wanted to work on contemporary topics. But the system prevented him from doing so. The state didn't allow him to go beyond that field. They restricted him to work within legends, history, folklore, and the rural culture of Azerbaijan. However, today we see that they are breaking out of that. We are seeing Turkish-language films with sociological, psychological, and sometimes philosophical content, moving beyond folklore, myths, and legends. In this process, we are witnessing the birth of a living being, gradually growing," says Hatemi.
He adds, "This issue of discrimination and Turkish identity is looking for its place. Wherever it can, it shows itself, reveals itself, and erupts. The fact that so many films are being made recently, especially the incidents surrounding Atabay, is an indication of this. 20 years ago, no one would have thought that one day a team like Traktor would talk about Turkish identity in this way. Or that in 2020, there would be a cinematic environment where these issues would be discussed."
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| Kömür (Charcoal), was released in 2019. |
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Ural Hatəmi: İranda artıq yeni bir türk kinosu dalğası var