Hummadruz
TURKEY / 2000 / Turkish / Color / Video / 56 min
Director, Script, Photography, Editing, Producer: Hasan Karacadag
Production Company, Source: SI-NU-MA Pro.
Hanimefendi Sok No.16, D6 Sisli, Istanbul, TURKEY
Phone: 90-532-622-8115 Fax: 90-212-216-8245
E-mail: hanzala33@hotmail.com
“Hummadruz” is the scientific term for certain mysterious unidentifiable sounds that come from the earth. They say that especially those who have left their homeland constantly hear these sounds. The first part of this film takes place in the arid land east of Turkey. Memories of a childhood romance, children’s games and laughter, sleeping with an ill mother, are sandwiched with close-up images of eyes wide-open, blood, fear, and tension. The second narrative half tells the story of a man and his infant son who for no apparent reason jump to their death off a bridge on the Bosphorus, and a wife who follows. Dramatizing a true story, the film expresses the desperation and frustration of those who had no choice but to migrate to Istanbul from their beloved homeland.
[Director’s Statement] As expressed by the words “We come from the earth and return to the earth,” words whose origin is in the Islamic topology, I think that it is “the earth” that connects people’s short “life” and “death” most strongly. We have an attachment to the earth where we were born and raised. Among all things that are ephemeral, only relations among “people,” “earth,” and “death” are absolute.
Recently, in Turkey, the suicide rate has increased among people who have moved to the western part of the country from the south and southeast in order to find jobs. As I investigated this problem, I came upon an incident of a family who had come from the southeast to Istanbul, where they committed suicide.
I tried to express the pain and distortion in the souls of those who had to leave their beloved earth, which, I think, were at the bottom of this family suicide incident.
Hummadruz, the title of the film, is the scientific name for the mysterious sounds that echo out from the abysses of the earth. Why would a father who should have had enough to live on, choose to dive to his death, taking his son with him? And how much suffering did the mother, who no longer had anywhere to go, endure before being enticed to death herself? Who can say that Hummadruz did not echo sweetly in their ears?
Born in 1976 in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Began three-year military service in 1993. Started filmmaking in 1995. Entered the Film Academy of the Turkish Film Directors’ Association. In 1997, finished coursework at the Academy. To date, has produced numerous shorts, documentaries, and PR films which have been highly praised and awarded in Turkey, including The Smell of My Father’s Stockings (1995), The Song of People with AIDS (1997), Funerals and Weddings (1996) based on a true ‘blood revenge’ tragedy, Bushido Brother (1997) and Gypsies in Turkey (1997). The Hearts That Can’t See the Sun (1999) was screened in New Asian Currents at YIDFF ’99. PAS (2000) won the Gold Award at the Tokyo Video Festival. |