Turkish film wins best picture at prominent festival in US

NEW YORK

“Flaşbellek” (Flash Drive), a film directed and written by Turkish Cypriot filmmaker Derviş Zaim, has won the best picture award at the New York Independent Cinema Awards in the United States.

Well-known actors of Arab cinema, such as Salah Bakri, Ali Suleiman, Sara El Debuch and Husam Chadat, took part in the production, which tells about the Syrian war.

The film is inspired by a Syrian military officer secretly taking out 11,000 photographs documenting the regime’s violence against civilians and opponents.

Losing his ability to speak as a result of a bomb attack, Ahmet starts working in a unit where people who died in conflicts are photographed and recorded.

With a desire to announce what he sees to the world and give voice to stories of the people stuck in a bloody war, the main character of the movie is forced to choose between protecting himself and his wife or fulfilling his responsibility toward humanity.

The cinematography of the film was undertaken by award-winning Greek director Andreas Sinanos, the editing was done by Turkish editor Aylin Zoi Tinel, while the music was composed by famous pianist Marios Takoushis.

The shooting process was completed in Turkey’s southeastern province of Gaziantep and the Central Anatolian province of Konya in 2019.

The film also received the best international picture award at the 27th Sedona International Film Festival in Arizona in June 2021.

“Flaşbellek” will meet with the Turkish audience in 2022 after completing the festival process.