Private Project

Why Am I Still Here Then?

The second film of the Pandemic Trilogy, “Why Am I Still Here Then?” is a sequel to 61 Street No 4, and it makes the audience experience the unconscious reflection of the Other who entered in the previous film.
The monologues throughout the film emphasize the character's feeling of being stuck and her confrontation with the unconscious. As a result of the confrontation, the audience is left with a mind ready to be completely liberated. Experimental narrative, creative montage and sound design come to the forefront in “Why Am I Still Here Then?”, and it narrates us understanding and accepting our unconscious.

  • Çağıl Saydam
    Director
  • Hazal Bayar
    Writer
  • Çağıl Saydam
    Producer
  • Tuncer Mert Aydın
    Producer
  • Çağıl Saydam
    Key Cast
  • Tuncer Mert Aydın
    Director of Photography
  • Ataberk Eyolcu
    Director of Photography
  • Mustafa Gül
    Production Assistant
  • Miray Kavas
    Production Assistant
  • Fikret Başar Kaya
    Art Director
  • Murat Küçükarslan
    Original Score
  • Çağıl Saydam
    Sound Design
  • Hazal Bayar
    Assistant Director
  • Oğuzhan Karagöz
    Audio Mixing & Mastering
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Peki Ben Neden Hala Buradayım?
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 16 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 26, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    Türkiye
  • Country of Filming:
    Türkiye
  • Language:
    Turkish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 56. SİYAD Ödülleri (56th SİYAD Awards)
    İstanbul
    Turkey
    Giovanni Scognamillo Fantastik Film Yarışması Finalist
  • 24. İzmir Uluslararası Kısa Film Festivali
    İzmir
    Turkey
    November 19, 2023
    Türkiye Prömiyeri
    Resmi Seçki
  • 44. İFSAK Kısa Film ve Belgesel Yarışması
    İstanbul
    Turkey
    Deneysel Kategorisi Finalist
  • 7. Uluslararası Kadın Yönetmenler Festivali
    İstanbul
    Turkey
    February 28, 2024
    Deneysel Kategorisi Finalist
Director Biography - Çağıl Saydam

Çağıl Saydam was born in 1994. After her graduation from Izmir University of Economics, Cinema and Digital Media department, she won Best Experimental Film Award at International Adana Golden Boll Film Festival with her graduation project '' 61 av. No.4''She's been interested in theatre during her university years.She's living in İzmir and working on experimental cinema.

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Director Statement

“Why Am I Still Here Then?”, the second film of the Pandemic Trilogy, in which all three films represent the process of ‘self-understanding’ and ‘self-acceptance’, goes into the darkest, deepest and most uncanny places of the unconscious. Using subjective sound design and experimental editing techniques, the film constitutes a step towards an experience, and the process of ‘understanding’ and ‘healing’ as a result of this experience.
Sometimes, to recover, we need to go to places we never wanted to go, to remember things we never wanted to remember; we need to understand them. “Why Am I Still Here Then?” paves the way to this understanding for me. The catharsis reached at the end of the road is the step that forms the third movie.

Bilinç dışımdaki yüzleşmeleri anlattığım, üç filmin de ‘kendini anlama ve kabullenme’ sürecini temsil ettiği Pandemi Üçlemesi’nin ikinci filmi olan “Peki Ben Neden Hala Buradayım?”, bilinç dışının en karanlık, en derin ve en tekinsiz yerlerine iniyor. Film, öznel ses tasarımı ve deneysel kurgu tekniklerini kullanarak bir deneyimleme; bu deneyim sonucunda ‘anlaşılma’ ve ‘iyileşme’ sürecine giden basamağı oluşturuyor.
Bazen iyileşmek için hiç gitmek istemediğimiz yerlere gidip hiç hatırlamak istemediğimiz şeyleri hatırlamamız; onları anlamamız gerekir. “Peki Ben Neden Hala Buradayım?” benim için bu anlayışa giden yolu açıyor. Yolun sonunda ulaşılan katarsis ise üçüncü filmi şekillendiren adımı oluşturuyor.