Turkish film on Syrians wins awards

ISTANBUL

“Purple Horizons” (Mor Ufuklar), a Turkish-made film telling the struggle of a Syrian girl fleeing civil war in her country, has returned home with awards from Pakistan and Italy.

The film won “Best Movie,” “Best Foreign Movie” and “Best Scenario” awards at Pakistan’s 8th International Lums Film Festival and will be released in theaters in Europe and Turkey simultaneously in April 2018.

The movie has won 15 international awards so far.

Osman Subaşı, the producer of the movie, told the film’s story to the state-run Anadolu Agency. “We want to inform the world through cinema, which is an important tool to convey refugees’ problems,” he said.

“Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, especially in the last five years, so many boats have been sunk in the Mediterranean Sea; so many people have lost their lives,” he added.

“We think that the clear blue color of the Mediterranean disappears and turns into purple, that’s why we called the movie ‘Purple Horizons,’” Subaşı said.

“We wanted to underline the sacrifice that Turkey and its people have made for the refugees. So far, the film has won

15 awards from the international festivals it has participated in, both at home and abroad.

The cast includes Zeynep Sevil Yılmaz, Numan Çakır, Ece Özdikici, Dilek Serbest, Adem Yılmaz and Baki Çiftçi.
In the movie, Meryem loses her family after a migrant boat sinks in the Aegean Sea near the Kos Island after escaping the war in Syria.