Ümran Safter

A recipient of numerous international and national film awards, Ümran Safter is a director, script writer and former journalist. She embarked on her filmmaking career in 2014 and debuted her first feature motion picture KABAHAT/GUILT in September 2022. She is currently working on her 2nd narrative feature film project RIGHT WHERE I LEFT YOU/SENI BIRAKTIĞIM YERDEYIM. Her previous documentary credits include films that explore multiculturalism and gender issues, with titles such as LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN, THE EYE OF ISTANBUL, SEVAN THE CRAFTSMAN, THE SIN OF BEING A WOMAN, and THROUGH OTTOMAN EYES.

“The film centers on Reyhan and Sukran, two girls dealing with existential issues whilst growing up in a poor, traditional and conservative village - the residents of which view as taboo the worries and concerns that confront girls during their pubescent and teenage years. The other characters are women who play a crucial role in Reyhan’s life and upbringing. Growing up, I spent most of my summer holidays in an Anatolian village. Like Reyhan, I spent many nights having nightmares because I wasn’t able to perform the required ablutions after having my first period. I wanted to use my directorial debut in fictional feature films to portray the forceful and life-shaping impact of this episode in my life. I wanted to use the other characters in the film to cast a light on how it is often women who lead when it comes to imposing this unjust stranglehold on girls' faces from an early age. The film also looks to portray Reyhan and Sukran’s struggle for independence from a suffocating and intimidating atmosphere within the context of regular life in an Anatolian village, where drought, poverty and the interactions between village residents comes to the fore.”