New documentary co-produced by jailed Turkish journalist Dündar to appear

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

An 11-part documentary series produced by the jailed editor-in-chief of daily Cumhuriyet Can Dündar with veteran journalists Nebil Özgentürk and Coşkun Aral is set to appear soon, telling the stories of Turkey’s multiple cultures and identities.

Before Dündar was arrested last November, the three journalists had been traveling to all four corners of Turkey to prepare the documentary series in search of past cultures and identities that have shaped the country’s interactions with the world.

Over the course of 11 episodes, the documentary traces the stories of three artists in particular - Nazım Hikmet, Ernest Hemingway and Alberto Korsa.

Legendary Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet had in 1961 traveled to Cuba to meet authors and artists in Havana, where he stayed for two months. In search of Hikmet’s tracks, Dündar, Özgentürk and Aral visited Cuba in September 2015, and the documentary also includes Aral’s interview with Cuban photographer Alberto Korda.

Searching for the traces of Hemingway, who worked as war reporter in Istanbul in his youth, the documentary explores restaurants, the house where Hemingway stayed in Cuba, and the fishing town that inspired his classic novel “The Old Man and the Sea.”

Dündar was jailed during editing of the documentary but continued to write the script of the episode titled “The Havana of Nazım” while behind bars.

Dündar’s son Ege Dündar has recorded the voice-over for the series along with actors Cihan Ünal and Sungun Babacan. Music for the series will also be composed by the group Yeni Türküler and the singer Zülfü Livaneli.

Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Can Dündar and Cumhuriyet Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül were arrested on terrorism charges on Nov. 26, 2015, over a story on trucks owned by Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT), which were stopped and searched in southern Turkey in early 2014 while allegedly carrying weapons to opposition forces fighting against the Syrian regime.