Director Aida Begic's Syrian orphan drama 'Never Leave Me' to hit Turkish theaters

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

Bosnian film director Aida Begic's “Never Leave Me” which tells the story of three children who fled the war in Syria and sought refuge in southeastern Turkey, hit Turkish theaters on Sept. 21.

Premiered at Antalya Film Festival in 2017, the movie has also been selected as Bosnia and Herzegovina's submission in the best foreign language film for the Oscars.

The film's dubbed version has been screening in Turkey.

Speaking at a special screening in Istanbul, award-winning director Begic described the film as her “most successful one”.

“I would like to express my admiration and a lot of appreciation to this country [and] to all of you for accepting almost 4 million refugees,” she said.

“I know it is hard, very hard. But thanks to you those people are alive, thanks to you those kids from the movie that you will see are alive,” she added.

“These kids and their families […] are my heroes, they taught me about strength, about courage, about love,” she said.

Begic used a cast of Syrian refugees, many with no previous acting experience, to tell the story of three boys - Isa, Ahmed, and Muataz - who live difficult and displaced lives in Şanlıurfa, southern Turkey.