Last week, Berlin experienced what felt like a Turkish procession. At the Berlinale — the Berlin International Film Festival, the home of the Golden Bear — two films from Turkey won the major prizes. The Golden Bear went to İlker Çatak with “Yellow Letters,” while Emin Alper got the Jury Grand Prize for “Salvation.”
Yes — they did not “receive” the awards, they won them. This is a gain — a profit — for Turkey and for Turkish cinema.
WHICH GENERATION?
İlker Çatak was born in Berlin and lives in Germany. Emin Alper, by contrast, lives in Istanbul. A child of Anatolia. Born in 1974 — now in his early fifties. Before he had even started primary school, the September 12 military coup took place in 1980.
These days, we hear much about “Generation Z.” There are endless analyses about how meaningful and significant that generation is. Fair enough — no objection. But what generation is Emin Alper, who was six years old at the time of the September 12 coup? Or is there no generational category broad enough to include him? Of course there is.
Years pass; new turning points replace September 12. Yet Emin Alper belongs to what might be called an “in-between generation.” And perhaps the reason his Berlin speech resonated so widely is precisely this sense of being in-between. The substance and tone of his remarks at the award ceremony reflected it: a feeling of incompleteness. A quiet sense of “it could not fully become what it might have been.” Not a speech in the way Marx defines capitalism as a complete exploitation of possibilities, but rather something closer to, “since we are already on holiday, at least let this summer be a good one.”
To recall briefly: he first extended greetings to the Palestinian people, then to Selahattin Demirtaş, Osman Kavala, and all political prisoners. So — what generation is Emin Alper?
HE HAS A CONCERN
Perhaps the pain he did not experience as a small child during September 12, Emin Alper encountered later under a government that came to power through elections and the ballot box. Such seems to be the fate of this so-called in-between generation.
The Golden Bear was first won for Turkey by Metin Erksan in 1964 with “Dry Summer.” Then Yılmaz Güney received an award at the Cannes Film Festival. And Nuri Bilge Ceylan — our director who won the top prize at Cannes — left us with the unforgettable words: “To my lonely and beautiful country.” Much was debated and said about that sentence.
But Emin Alper stepped forward and spoke — and perhaps he, or perhaps we, felt a certain relief. We will see. Alper is not afraid to speak. He also delivered the speech on January 19, 2023, commemorating Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of AGOS newspaper who was murdered in 2007. An in-between generation, yes — but clearly, Emin Alper carries a concern.
And by the way, the Berlin-award-winning film will be released in the first week of March. Let that, too, be our concern. Let us go and see it.
