Tuesday, April 10

Kazım Öz: “Bergman is a director who looks into the subconscious.”

Ten directors from Turkey picked their favorite Bergman films for the festival’s section “Bergman: 100 Years”. Wild Strawberries from 1957 was Kazım Öz’s selection and was screened at Beyoğlu Sineması. Öz attended the screening and said: “If cinema can be seen as an art of directing time or of playing with time, then the importance of this film to me is that it shows very well the connections between the past and the present. My first film is a bit similar; it tells the story of an elderly man whose village has been burnt down and who reminisces as he walks; it is a short film but I think manages to capture the feeling. Bergman grew up in a religious environment; it seemed interesting to me that he made films that appeal to human soul and express the search for freedom within strict environments. There are so many female characters in his films. It’s very important that women are there within such a harsh reality. Wild Strawberries is from the year 1957 and sometimes still inspires horror films. Another important aspect of Bergman’s cinema is that he is a director who steps out of this harsh reality, is interested in the imaginary dimension of reality and looks into the subconscious. I think he uses the shifts between the subconscious and the consciousness, and the present and the past very effectively.”

Photo: Ersin Durmuş