Experiencing Interruptions?

Early Stages of Carrying the Boulder

Early Stages of Carrying the Boulder is an experimental documentary, edited with an existential gaze using VHS footage recorded by the director’s father since 1993. Following the personal life of a couple, it shows the intimate moments of their baby adapting to the ways of life - from managing gravity to the socio-political context of Turkey in the late 90s.

  • Ela Kazdal
    Director
    Editor
  • Osman Kazdal
    Cinematographer
  • Bo Deurloo
    Sound
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 7, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    Turkey
  • Country of Filming:
    Turkey
  • Language:
    English, Turkish
  • Shooting Format:
    VHS tapes transferred to video.
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival Official Selection
    Istanbul
    Turkey
    November 25, 2022
    Honorary Mention - First Experiment
  • 3x3 Short Film Screenings @ Istanbul Beyoglu Cinema
    Istanbul
    Turkey
    October 12, 2024
    Q&A with Ceylan Ozgun Ozcelik
  • The Creation of the World, The Now, The End (Group Exhibition) @ ÆDEN
    Berlin
    Germany
    June 17, 2022
    Video Installation
Director Biography - Ela Kazdal

Ela Kazdal (b. 2001, Istanbul) is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the intersection of materiality, image, and personal history. Born in Istanbul, her practice draws from memories, cultural references, and femininity.

Primarily working with 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm film, Kazdal integrates contemporary technology to push the boundaries of the film strip. Using tools like laser cutting, UV printing, and software such as Adobe and Runway, she creates analog-digital hybrids that foster a dialogue between past and present, material and film. Her work is deeply engaged with the dual nature of moving images as both physical objects and projected experiences.

She has presented her films at Everyman Cinema in London, Æden in Berlin, Salt Beyoğlu in Istanbul as part of the 4th Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival and in the UK tour of Platform Asia’s ‘Germinate’ screenings at Firstsite, Fabrica Gallery and Royal College of Art.

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Director Statement

In 2022, I found my father’s home video archive. His documentations of our “home situations” (ev hali as he called it in Turkish) start in 1993 in Istanbul, Turkey. The selected footage has minor editing. No changes have been made in terms of sound, colour and framing. This is what my dad filmed and what I made out of it. It is unfinished, but here is a glimpse of the past.