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The Walls of Heaven

The Walls of Heaven, a video-essay film by Kadir Kayserilioğlu, begins with Kayserilioğlu's newfound hobby of terrarium building and transitions into a wide range of topics. The film explores topics ranging from hobbies and pet care to discussions on necropolitics, presenting viewers with surprising insights into consumer culture and the history of technology. The narrative is complemented by glimpses of activities from simulations and games, the life cycles of insects in terrariums, and selected personal experiences of the artist.

  • Kadir Kayserilioğlu
    Director
  • Kadir Kayserilioğlu
    Writer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Cennetin Duvarları
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Other
  • Genres:
    Video-essay
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    Turkey
  • Country of Filming:
    Turkey
  • Language:
    Turkish
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Kadir Kayserilioğlu

Kadir Kayserilioğlu is an artist and academic working in the fields of experimental film and video art. Born in 1987 in Istanbul, Kayserilioğlu developed a strong interest in visual arts from an early age. He earned his undergraduate degree in graphic design and worked at advertising agencies for a while. Realizing his desire to create in the field of contemporary art, he pursued a master’s degree in fine arts. During this period, he also studied in the Czech Republic, directing his interests towards animation art, avant-garde art, surrealism, and absurd theater. After completing his master’s thesis titled “Criticism of Rationalism In Early Modern Era And Avant-garde Art”, Kayserilioğlu began a PhD program and started producing the first examples of his current visual language.

At this stage, his interest in video art and experimental cinema deepened, leading him to produce various mockumentaries and video performance works. He participated in numerous competitions and group exhibitions, and his first solo exhibition featured a video work titled “A Dinner with Friends.”

Kayserilioğlu completed his doctoral studies with a dissertation titled “Video Games As Art With A Posthumanist Perspective.” Following this, he continued to hold solo exhibitions, participate in national and international screening programs and festivals, and began working as an academic. During this period, he presented his feature-length film “The Past Is An Alien Planet” as part of his second solo exhibition. The film was subsequently included in various festival and screening programs.

Expanding his areas of study to include topics like computer games, social media culture, speculative fiction, and micro-history, Kayserilioğlu has recently focused his artistic production on video essays and experimental fiction. His latest feature-length video essay, “The Walls of Heaven,” exemplifies this direction. Currently, Kadir Kayserilioğlu is an academic at İzmir University of Economics, Department of Cinema and Digital Media, where he continues his artistic production and research.

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Director Statement

Kadir Kayserilioğlu is an independent artist working in the fields of video art and experimental film. His artistic practice is centered around the concepts of play and détournement, incorporating experimental and hybrid production processes that span from video games to documentaries, research-based video essays, storytelling, and participatory art.

In his films, he sometimes documents chance-based processes and collective actions, while at other times, he creates peculiar narratives that merge academic research with personal stories. This approach often results in works that adopt a DIY aesthetic, offering a darkly humorous critique of traditional discourses and authority.

His research interests typically include topics such as social reality, power dynamics, speculative fiction, finitude, conspiracy theories, and micro-narratives.