Experiencing Interruptions?

No Country for Others

A film about migration, otherness, and the fragile possibility of living together.

In Istanbul’s Aksaray district, Yeni Han is a stopover for those fleeing war and poverty. Inside, documents are translated and lives rewritten. Outside, locals and newcomers live side by side, yet apart. A film about the distances between people, the weight of unspoken fear, and the fragile possibility of living together.

  • Bingöl Elmas
    Director
  • Bingöl Elmas
    Writer
  • Bingöl Elmas
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Yeni Han
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    51 minutes 33 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 15, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    900 TRY
  • Country of Origin:
    Türkiye
  • Country of Filming:
    Türkiye
  • Language:
    Arabic, Kurdish, Russian, Turkish
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Bingöl Elmas

Bingöl Elmas graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Communication. After working at various television channels, she joined the Documentary Filmmakers Association, where she served for eight years, actively organizing workshops, conferences, and nationwide screenings. She was part of the International 1001 Documentary Film Festival committee and taught documentary workshops at several universities. She has served as a jury member at national and international festivals including Antalya Golden Orange, Ankara, Film Amed, Istanbul Short Film, İfsak and Afsad. With her debut film CicadAnt (Ağustos Karıncası), she won the Best Documentary Award at the Antalya Golden Orange and later received the Bilge Olgac Achievement Award at the Flying Broom Women’s Film Festival.

Filmography

2025 No Country for Others (Documentary, Director)
2014 Hey Neighbour! (Documentary, Director)
2013 A Handful of Land
(TRT Doc. Series (13 eps) – Dir. Bingöl Elmas & Sultan İlhan)
2012 Playing House (Documentary, Director, )
2011 My Letter to Pippa
(Documentary, Director, Article Z / Asmin Film/ ARTE France)
2008 TransAsia (Documentary, Director)
2005 CicadAnt (Documentary, Director )
42 nd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (Best Documentary Film for National Documentary Film Category)

Films in which she worked as an executive producer

2024 “A Terrible Thing Happened“ Film on the Madımak Massacre and Beyond
2019 Going To The Homeland) (Heimei Maru)
2019 Broken Balls (Documentary)
2013 I Chose Gurbet (Documentary)

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Director Statement

Aksaray is a district in Istanbul’s historic peninsula. Today, it has become a stopover for those escaping war, poverty, and erasure. Traces of Syria, Somalia, East Turkestan, and Kazakhstan merge in its streets. An Ethiopian hairdresser stands beside a Damascene restaurant; a Kazakh eatery is followed by a Gazan falafel shop. A courier from Urfa competes with a Somali counterpart. Yemenis and Uyghurs have become neighboring shopkeepers.
At the heart of this transformation lies Yeni Han — a place where many seek a way forward. From asylum applications to court petitions, school enrollments to residence permits, lives are rewritten as documents are translated. For some, it’s a refuge; for others, a noisy and unsettling space. Yeni Han is filled with moments where the official and the unofficial constantly shift places.
Right next to this intense flow, in the same building and on the same street, an invisible distance stretches between the locals and the newcomers. They live side by side, yet without touch. Sometimes built from fear, sometimes from prejudice, often in silence. A space crowded with assumptions formed without knowing, and judgments made without meeting.