Private Project

M/OTHER

Iren, who went to visit her grandmother with her mother (Lal), finds her grandmother dead at home. Lal is forced to stay at the deceased mother's house with her child (Iren) for a while to host guests and clean the house. Due to the stress of the situation, Iren is unable to speak (selective mutism/temporary mutism). Lal becomes overly protective of her daughter due to her mutism. Her greatest fear is leaving more wounds with her death than she did while alive. Already afraid of leaving permanent marks, Lal cannot remove the stain left on the wooden floor where her mother died and becomes increasingly tense. In an attempt to conceal it, she covers the stain with a cabinet and tries to entertain guests this way. Meanwhile, Iren begins to hear noises coming from under the unrevealed stain. Despite Lal's efforts to protect her daughter, Iren starts to become a part of the family amid these sounds.

  • İzem Ayşegül Topal
    Writer
    Writer
  • İzem Ayşegül Topal
    Director
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Dolap
  • Project Type:
    Student, Screenplay, Short Script, Treatment
  • Genres:
    Horror, Psychological horror, Psychological
  • Number of Pages:
    9
  • Country of Origin:
    Turkey
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Istanbul University State Conservatory
Writer Biography - İzem Ayşegül Topal

Izem Ayşegül Topal was born in Ankara in 1999. In 2022, she graduated from the Psychology Department of Okan University's Faculty of Communication. Since 2020, she has been interning at the laboratory 'RESCUE FOOD REWARD IN OBESITY WITH NEURO-MODULATION OF GUT-BRAIN SIGNALS', established by Dr. Maria Veldhuizen at Yale University School of Medicine and supported by TUBITAK BIDEB 2232.

In 2019, Topal took on the roles of producer, director, and screenwriter for her first short film 'MODEM'. Recognizing her potential in directing, she was invited to attend the classes of Dr. Bahar Kılıç Adilce at the Okan University Department of Cinema and TV between 2020 and 2022 for further training. In 2021, she sold her film to BluTV. Since September 2022, she has been taking courses in Dramaturgy, Theater Management, Theater History, Mythology, and Cultural Thought from Dr. Associate Professor Sündüz Haşar at the Aydın University Faculty of Fine Arts Drama and Acting Department to develop her new film 'Dolap'.

In August 2023, she successfully started her second bachelor's degree in Opera Main Art at Istanbul University State Conservatory.

Topal's diverse background in psychology, music, filmmaking, and neuro-modulation, along with her curiosity for exploring the human experience and multidisciplinary approach, demonstrate her versatility.

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Writer Statement

Have you ever spent a lifetime in unnamed mourning? 'The Wardrobe' is the story of a mother whose fears bring her child closer to the fate she is trying to protect him from. The scar we see on the arm of the dying grandmother at the beginning of the movie is also on the mother's arm, and at the end of the movie, it is unintentionally left to the child by the mother. Thus, this movie is about the transmission of trauma between generations.
When do we heal? How do we distinguish between avoiding and healing? What if we don't want to heal and the scars left by our pain are the last remnants of what we have lost?