GENCO / THE TERRORIST

Synopsis
The documentary film focuses on the stories of two young men and a woman who have been forced to leave the country in different times and whose paths incidentally cross in Brussels, which leads them to reckoning and solidarity.
The main character, Genco(Genç Ali Karabulut)is a young political activist who has been arrested following the Gazi Quarter riots in 1995, spent 11 years in prison and finally received a lifetime sentence only 6 months after his release.
The film mainly follows Genco’s life. Facing lifetime imprisonment, Genco forcedly starts to make arrangements to flee from his beloved country. His destination is London. The film witnesses this period through fragments from Genco’s daily life in his neighbourhood and interviews with his family members. Besides, the archive footage and newspaper clippings mirror the recent political history of Turkey when an oppressive political atmosphere prevailed. The rich archive material includes footage and newspaper clips about the riots and massacre in Gazi Quarter, military operations against political prisoners and Saturday Mothers’ demonstrations calling the state to account for their missing children.
The only thing Genco does during the period between his release and leaving the country is to make music, especially in the urban forest near his neighbourhood. The last thing we see in the first part is Genco singing the song that goes “What should a man devote his life to…”
The second part starts with Genco, this time in Belgium. He has tried to settle down in several European countries and attempted twice to get to London yet failed, and ended up in Belgium where he was arrested during an attempt to go to London. After a month of detention, he has taken refuge in Belgium. Here the film witnesses his struggle to adapt to a new life, country and culture.
Here we meet two other people in Genco’s one-roomed flat. Both having Londonas the final destination in mind –just like Genco–, a woman (Gamze) and a man (Mahmut) who have had a tricky journey from Turkey to Belgium, are now Genco’s guests. Each coming from a different life, they are distinct characters who,with their own words, can hardly ever come together.
Genco and Mahmut are distant relatives but they have not met before. They get to know each other’s stories incidentally during the shootings of the film. Mahmut has once been a smuggler somewhat linked with JİTEM (Gendarmerie İntelligence and Anti-Terror Unit), right opposite Genco’s political cause for which he devotedly fought. The two characters from opposite political positions engage in solidarity and in turn, reckon with each other, which is witnessed by the film.
Gamze, the other side character has been unrightly stigmatized to act as a prostitute during her stay in London before. She has been deported from England upon expiry of her visa and wants to get back to London only to bring to account those who stigmatized her.
The film, through the three young characters,depictures essentially the human’s passion to life. It is the story of setting off to hang on for dear life, which demonstrate that immigration is not always caused by wars or political reasons.
These three characters have come together completely ‘accidentally’. Yet, a deeper look into immigration and immigrants will reveal that this kind of ‘accidental’ intersections are highly likely to occur.