My Damned Film is Now Available

You probably haven’t seen my first feature film, A Hero of Our Time (2023). Or if you have, you are part of a very, very tiny group. Perhaps you didn’t even know it existed, so you couldn’t decide to see it. But when you finally hear about it, you can’t even find a platform to watch it. But, why? Why did my film meet this fate, when there are so many terrible films out there visible and accessible? Couldn’t it at least be one of those trash? Let me tell you its backstory, and perhaps you can have an idea.

A Quick Glance at the Film’s Distribution Process

• Film festivals, especially prestigious ones, have a significant role in increasing the visibility of the types of films I make, as they promote these films and make it easier to attract the right audience and distributors. Naturally, every filmmaker wants to premiere their film at such prominent events. So, I applied to nearly all major film festivals with my film. I received highly positive feedback from two film programmers: one from the Forum section of the Berlin Film Festival and another from the main competition of the Venice Film Festival. Nevertheless, my film was not accepted by either festival. Surely, this is a typical outcome, as it is very difficult to get into these festivals. But, more surprisingly, I did not receive a selection from any festival outside of Turkey, not even smaller ones (or perhaps I did not fit into their acceptable spectrum of diversity).
• Eventually, Antalya Film Festival, one of Turkey’s largest festivals, invited my film to compete in its main competition. However, the whole festival was canceled because of a political conflict (details can be found on this page). Subsequently, the film was invited to participate in another Turkish festival, Bogazici Film Festival, where it premiered and received an award. Despite a few news, there were no comments, critiques, reviews, or announcements on any cinema platform (let me add that this festival was largely boycotted by filmmakers and audiences because of another political issue).
• The film was screened at Sinematek/Sinemaevi, a cinematheque in Istanbul, with the attendance of notable Turkish filmmakers who provided very positive feedback (you can watch the Q&A here, or read this post about the event). Despite this, no critic or reporter showed interest in this screening (perhaps I should have offered a discount coupon for foulards and socks alongside the tickets).
• I aimed to release the film theatrically, but not a single distribution company showed interest. Eventually, we established our own distribution company and managed to screen the film in five cities in Turkey. Cinema platforms, which typically publish information on released films, did not announce the release and box office details of our film even though I asked them to. I was even willing to pay to announce our box office results, which they offer free of charge to other distributors. But no. Instead, one of them tried to sell me an advertising package that included fake promotional news about my film, but they still did not want to include the box office details in their system (I didn’t accept that offer). It seems that any entry from a new company might be seen as a new competitor in the market, and they prefer to avoid that or they just ignore smaller companies. So, I was treated as a stranger stepping into an isolated town in the Wild West, and it’s like the film was released secretly.
• Given the film’s circumstances, it was unsurprising that streaming platforms showed no interest in having it (since the film was only popular among the stray cats of Istanbul).

Deeper Challenges

Another point is that although those channels were the best options within our financial limits to promote the film, I must mention that they have strong political agendas and lack fairness and merit in the selection processes. Of course, I can’t provide conclusive proof of it, but those interested can find more insights on this topic in my posts here and here.

You can add to all of these how reluctant I am about marketing, advertising, networking, and backstage politics. I always (have to) prioritize more passive promotional methods aligned with my personal tastes and values, along with the unorthodox nature of my works. You can think of this blog and even this post as an example of my self-promotion or advertising method (if you’re in the film industry and believe I am doing wrong, let me be clear: I would rather bribe people with Turkish delight or baklava than use your prescriptions that rely on superficial socio-political rhetorics and fake news).

Of course, I don’t particularly blame any of those challenges as the cause of this outcome/failure. I know that the entire cinema industry is not waiting for me with open arms. But, I think, it’s fair to give you an understanding of why your path might not cross with my film (or, to put it more simply, it is the only way left to promote it, at least for a few film enthusiasts).

Available Now on Patreon

Now, I can mention the main thing: If you are interested in watching this damned film, it’s now available to our supporters on Patreon.

And, while you decide, I’ll listen to some Pochy y Su Cocoband.