Musicians

BLACK, NOT GRAY: ANKARA ROCKS!

• Director: Ufuk Önen
• TURKEY / 2017

• Screenplay: Ufuk Önen, Aycan Yücel, Neslihan Atcan Altan, Gülden Treske
• Director of Photography: Yusuf Akçura
• Editing: Aycan Yücel
• Music: Gürbüz Barlas, Süleyman Bağcıoğlu, Ufuk Önen
• Producer: Ufuk Önen

This documentary explores the rock and metal scenes of Ankara from the ‘70s to the ‘90s through bars, studios, concerts, Yüksel and Tunalı streets, and record stores. Black, Not Gray: Ankara Rocks! presents the exciting underground music community of Ankara through interviews, concerts, and archival footage as it examines a “made and lived” lifestyle and youth sub-culture in the city. Thanks to director-producer-screenwriter Ufuk Önen’s background as guitarist-vocalist of Hazy Hill, a band that is part of the Ankara scene, the film manages to be candid and direct. Black, Not Gray: Ankara Rocks! emphasizes the love/hate relationship between musicians and Ankara as it tells a story of music and the city. Önen states that “you will be laughing, clapping and getting a little bit misty eyed”.

This film was a Meetings on the Bridge participant.