Experiencing Interruptions?

The Partridge - Home

Since the Covid-19 Pandemic had broken out, I temporarily moved to my hometown which is a Mediterranean forest village: Nif-Fethiye/Turkey. In our neighbourhood, multigenerational family members live together.

My mother’s ethnic group is “Yoruk” which means walkers. They are referred to as nomadic tribes of Turkmen origin who had emigrated from the steppes of central Asia to Anatolia. My mother's nomadic grand-grandparents used to live in the tents. During the summer, they shepherd their goats to the mountain plateaus, where lower temperatures helped keep farm animals cool. When the autumn rain came and the grasses grew again, they headed to the coast. Though my close relatives have become fully sedentary now, they maintain the tradition of keeping a mountain house in the Nif Village for the summers and generally return to their Fethiye Coastline house in the winters. In this project, I wanted to document my Yörük aunties’ relationship between social organization and their summer house.

  • Bengisu Uykusu
    Director
  • Saziye Oral
    Key Cast
    "The wife of my grandparents' first child: Salim Oral."
  • Ahmet Oral & Betul Oral
    Key Cast
    "My grandparents' second child and his wife."
  • The Blonde Bride
    Key Cast
    "The wife of my mother's cousin: Halil Oral."
  • Elif Oral
    Key Cast
    "My grandparents' third child."
  • Oznur Oral
    Key Cast
    "My grandparents' fourth child."
  • Munevver Oral
    Key Cast
    "My grandparents' fifth child."
  • Sevim Oral
    Key Cast
    "The wife of my grandparents' seventh child: Can Oral"
  • Ayhan Gursoy & Sinan Gursoy
    Key Cast
    "My mother who is the eighth child of my grandparents and my father."
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Keklik - Ev
  • Project Type:
    Other
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 28 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 9, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    Turkey
  • Country of Filming:
    Turkey
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Switch 2020 Video Art Festival
    Nenagh
    Ireland
    December 11, 2020
Director Biography - Bengisu Uykusu

Bengisu Uykusu is a multidisciplinary artist working in the fields of photography, video and sound-art. She studied at SAE Institute İstanbul (Major: Cinema & TV), Bahcesehir University Music Department (Major: Jazz-half scholarship) and received her BA degrees from Istanbul Bilgi University (Major: Music-full scholarship). As part of the Erasmus exchange programme, she went on exchange at the Malmö Music Academy-Electroacoustic Music Composition Department in Sweden. She is currently studying philosophy through Istanbul University-Distance Education Centre. She works for documentary video production companies and advertising agencies. She has participated in a number of group exhibitions and performances in Canada, China, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Sweden, Thailand and Turkey.

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Director Statement

Since Bengisu Uykusu is very curious about the universe, her current works explore cultural memory and the environment. As Socrates puts it in "The unexamined life is not worth living." Bengisu is a storyteller who designs the materials and vibrations that are extracted from the surrounding environment. For her, making art is a process of interacting with the cosmos.