Bulutlari beklerken (Waiting for the Clouds) (2003) - Yeşim Ustaoğlu

Runtime: 90 min | Turkey:92 min
Language: Greek |Turkish With Hardcoded English Sub
Country: France | Turkey | Germany | Greece
Color: Color

Description: Ayshe feels lost and alone when her older sister dies. The elderly woman begins to act distant and aloof with everyone in the village.
The neighbors' boy Mehmet is worried about Ayshe. He likes hearing her stories.
He also likes running around with his young vagabond friend Chengiz. The boys are
always on the lookout for the return of Chengiz's father, even if everyone says he was executed for being a Soviet spy.
Ayshe and the other villagers make the long hike up into the highlands for a
wedding. Mehmet is disappointed when she doesn't participate in the celebration, and
even more so when she refuses to go back down to the village. Ayshe withdraws in her
tiny wood cabin and remains isolated high among the clouds.
Ayshe's odd behavior starts rumors among the villagers. Suspicions also arise
with the arrival of stranger Tanasis. Convinced he's a spy, Mehmet and Chengiz follow
his every move. The boys discover that Tanasis is somehow connected to Ayshe.
Tanasis and Ayshe share the same ethnic background. Actually adopted, Ayshe
was born Eleni, the child of an Orthodox Pontus Greek family. For over 50 years,
Ayshe has lived in fear, protecting her true identity.
Ayshe confesses she has been burdened with guilt for abandoning her younger
brother when they were children. Instead of following him when he was deported to
Greece, she chose to remain in the safety of her adoptive family. Determined to regain her past, Ayshe decides to travel to Greece to search for her long lost brother.

IMDb Link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418309/



Director: Yeşim Ustaoğlu
Cast:
Rüçhan Çalışkur (Ayşe/ Eleni)
Rıdvan Yağcı (Mehmet)
İsmail Baysan (Cengiz)
Dimitris Kamberidis (Tanasis)
Feride Karaman (Feride)
Suna Selen (Selma)
Oktar Durukan (Muharrem)
Jannis Georgiadis (Nikos)
Irene Tachmatzidou (Zoe)
Demoklia Mustakidou (Demoklia)
Fatma Parlagi (Fatma)

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
In WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS, the character Ayshe would not have had to keep her
ethnic identity a secret for 50 years if she had lived in a tolerant environment. When I first heard the stories of people like Ayshe in northeastern Turkey, I felt this was a part of history which had remained in the dark for too long. I hope the film will have meaning for citizens of any multicultural country with identity issues. I have always been interested in the patchwork that actually makes up Turkish history and culture. I think it's a pity that the idea of one nation means that elements of some cultures must be thrown away. The Turkish government has always been very sensitive about the unofficial part of our history, meaning anything about ethnic minorities. Regarding the Pontus Greek issue, it has long been taboo.

COMMENTS FROM DIRECTOR YESIM USTAOGLU
TURKEY IN THE 1970S
WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS takes place in 1975. I based the experiences of the boy
Mehmet on my own experiences, since I was a girl in the early 70s. I learned the same
nationalistic chants as shown in the grade school scenes. I remember Turkey was going
through a tumultuous period politically. The government was a coalition between
central Right and Islamic parties. Nationalism rallied against the leftist Socialist
movement, which had found its strength within universities and unions. The Right had
the support of the military and police forces. It seemed like everyday there were strikes, riots or demonstrations. Many students and workers were killed or arrested and tortured.
For the people, this was a time of fear. They were forced into silence about what was
happening around them.

THE IDEA OF ONE NATION
The new Turkish Republic established after World War I was based on the idea of one
nation. However, this meant that life became harder for all minorities. Armenians,
Greeks and others were chased out of Turkey, often under the most horrible conditions.
Those who managed to survive did so only by converting to Islam and by keeping their
true identities secret for the remainder of their lives. Shortly after the establishment of
the new Republic, an exchange pact was signed between Greece and Turkey for those
who managed to survive. Greeks still living in Turkey went home to Greece and the
Turks came back to Turkey. But others, like Ayshe in WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS,
stayed and never talked about their past again.

HIDING ETHNIC IDENTITY
The character of Ayshe was born Eleni, daughter of indigenous Greeks in the eastern
Black Sea region of Northern Turkey, what was once the ancient country of Pontus.
After being orphaned in the World War I exodus of the Pontus Greek Orthodox
population, she was adopted by a Turkish Muslim family. Fear is the reason that Ayshe
never spoke of her ethnic past again. In WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS, I wanted to
touch on how government paranoia puts pressure on ordinary lives. If there had been
tolerance, Ayshe would not have had to keep her ethnic identity a secret for 50 years.
But in 1970s Turkey, paranoia and a fear of “others” was on the rise while tolerance
toward minority ethnic groups diminished.

AYSHE'S OTHER SECRET
Only Ayshe and her younger brother survived the Winter exodus. While she was
adopted by a compassionate Turkish family, he was held in the town orphanage. When
he was deported, Ayshe could have gone with him, but, then a young, scared girl, she
decided to stay within the safety of her new home and family. Her decision to live as a "true" Turk ends up haunting her for the rest of her life. In WAITING FOR THE
CLOUDS, Ayshe attempts to exorcize the guilt she has long felt for abandoning her
brother.

TANASIS THE RED
There are many popular Greek folk songs written about partisans during the Greek civil war around the time of World War II. It's important to note that the majority of those partisans were Pontus Greeks. In WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS, the character of
Tanasis is one of those. After many years exiled in the Soviet Union, he can return to Greece. But he makes a stop in his native Turkey. A Pontus Greek, he has been tossed around from country to country. Once again, he must begin again. No family, no job, nothing. His arrival causes suspicion in the village. But he ends up playing an important
role in helping Ayshe make her decision to look for her long lost brother.

TURKEY'S MULTICULTURAL BACKGROUND
I first had the idea of WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS when, as a university student in
Trabzon, I met several women just like Ayshe. Once I heard their stories, I felt this was a part of Turkish history which had remained in the dark for too long. I hope WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS will have meaning not only for Turkish viewers, but citizens of any multicultural country where issues of identity are often problematic. I have always been interested in knowing the reality of Turkey’s multicultural background. I always wanted to know more about the patchwork that actually makes up Turkish history and culture. I think it's a pity that passing to the idea of one nation means that elements of some cultures must be thrown away. My previous film, JOURNEY TO THE SUN, also dealt with the complex issue of identity in Turkey. In it, I focused on Kurdish identity in a contemporary setting.

RESEARCH
The details of the exodus that Ayshe shares in WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS are
based on real events. Ayshe/Eleni is actually based on a real woman named Tamama,
whose biography was written by a Greek writer, George Andreadis.
My research was partly done in the Ottoman Archives in Sofia. I also read as much as I could find by Pontus historians, and by Turkish historians living outside of Turkey, like Taner Akcam. Besides meeting the women who stayed in Turkey, I’ve also met with some of the women who were deported to Greece, and I’ve noticed both sets of women share certain similarities, such as having had difficulty in establishing new lives or starting families.

THE CONTROVERSY
The Greek Parliament, in 1994, adopted May 19 to commemorate "Turkish Genocide
against the Pontus Greeks." It has been claimed that from 1916-1923, the Greek
Orthodox population of Turkey's eastern Black Sea region became victim of a
systematic policy of extermination by Turkish authorities. In the government-organized evacuation in Winter 1916, it is estimated that between 350,000 and 500,000 Pontus Greeks died from cold, hunger and sickness on a weeks-long trek. There is an on-going debate as to the exact number of deaths. For years, various governments have avoided acknowledging these deaths for fear of insulting Turkey. The Turkish government has always been very sensitive about the unofficial part of our history, meaning anything about ethnic minorities. (As shown in WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS, Turkey's first census to include all minorities was only in 1975.) Regarding the Pontus Greek issue, it has long been taboo. We aren't taught about any of this in school. But this will hopefully change since Turkey is eager to gain admittance to the European Union.

GEOGRAPHICAL AUTHENTICITY
I shot WAITING FOR THE CLOUDS in the exact locations where the story takes
place. The town of Trebolu is located on the coast 90 kilometers west of Trabzon in
Northern Turkey. Trabzon was occupied in 1916 by the Russians, while Trebolu was
not. All the villages west of Trabzon, like Trebolu, were ordered to vacate. That’s why I wanted to shoot in that location. The Greek portion of the shoot took place in
Thessaloniki in the Kalamaria region, where the exiled Pontus Greeks settled when they arrived in Greece.

THE HIGHLANDS
I tried to find locations that still have the same conditions of life as in 1975 or before. The highlands were a very special location. There was no electricity and no actual road. To reach the highlands requires a 3500-meter uphill hike on a very narrow path. All of our equipment had to be carried up that path without motorized vehicles. Living conditions up there haven't changed for centuries. It was very exciting to find such a location, but the shooting conditions were very difficult. Life up there is very minimalist and rustic. We lived weeks in the same conditions as the villagers. I think this made us feel much closer to them. But it doesn't take long to discover how dependent we are on modern city comforts.

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Festivals and Awards:

Seattle International Film Festival: Official Selection (2005)
Sofia International Film Festival (2005)
Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Argentina (2005)
International Women Film Festival of Creteil, France (2005)
UNESCO International Film Festival against Exclusion and for Tolerance, France (2005)
Berlin International Film Festival, Panorama Section (2005)
Fajr International Film Festival, Iran (2005)
Chicago International Film Festival: Official Selection (2004)
International Thessaloniki Film Festival (2004)
Pusan International Film Festival, South Korea (2004)
International Women Film Festival, Israel (2004)
Montreal World Film Festival (2004)
International Istanbul Film Festival: Best Actress (Rüçhan Çaliskur), Special Jury Award (2004)
Sundance Film Festival: NHK International Filmmakers Award (2003)