Tension between two Turkish directors grows

ISTANBUL

The conflict between two famous Turkish directors of Turkish cinema, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Zeki Demirkubuz, has been known for many years although they were close friends in the past.

In his recently published book, Ceylan responded to Demirkubuz’s previous allegations that his movie "Three Monkeys," which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014, was plagiarized from Demirkubuz's script.

Stating that his colleague Demirkubuz knows the truth, Ceylan said, "There is no such thing, but for some reason he prefers to create the impression that there is such a thing. I think it is very shameful. We have been friends for all these years, after all, we have helped each other."

Ceylan continued: "Years later, in an interview, he said that he had not watched the movie 'Three Monkeys.' How can someone imply such things about a movie that he did not watch? I don't know. I was the one who was humiliated here, but I am definitely not the one who was despicable."

Speaking on a recent television interview, Demirkubuz said that the problem with Ceylan started at the 43rd Golden Orange Film Festival held in 2006.

That year, two directors' films, Ceylan's “Climates” (İklimler) and Demirkubuz's “Destiny” (Kader), competed for the Golden Orange. While Demirkubuz's film won the Best Film award at the festival, Ceylan won the Best Director award.

Demirkubuz said Ceylan fainted at the ceremony, adding, “We were never very close friends, as it is said. He was just a friend like other director friends such as Semih Kaplanoğlu. I called after the ceremony to ask if he is ok. He didn't want to talk and hasn't talked to me since that day. Two days later, we ran across eachother in Istanbul and I asked, 'Are you okay?' He turned his face away. I wanted to slap him.”

Stating that he did not know why Ceylan did not talk to him, Demirkubuz said, “I asked a very close relative of his. He said he didn't talk to me because I spoke against the Cannes Film Festival.”

Demirkubuz also spoke about the plagiarism issue, saying, “He will remain silent and never say a word again. If so, I will open a YouTube channel and broadcast regularly every day.”

Ceylan responded him on his X account, saying, “I was thinking of not answering no matter what he said, but unfortunately this is no longer possible. He'd better start a YouTube channel.”