İlker Çatak Wins Golden Bear, Emin Alper Wins Silver Bear

The 76th Berlin International Film Festival, which was marked by controversies, ended yesterday with the awards ceremony.

At the 76th Berlin Film Festival, İlker Çatak won the festival’s most prestigious award, the Golden Bear, with his film “Yellow Letters” (Sarı Zarflar), while Emin Alper was deemed worthy of the Silver Bear for his film Salvation (Kurtuluş).

Director Emin Alper, honored with the Silver Bear, stated in his Berlinale speech that his films are about "perpetrators who committed terrible crimes," saying: "Throughout the film, I wanted to understand their mindset. At the same time, I tried to understand the situation of the survivors. I thought about them a lot, and one of the things I learned was this: the most terrible kind of loneliness is the loneliness you experience while suffering. When you are losing your rights day by day, when you are hit by bullets bought with your own taxes, when you are being bombed by those who do not even see you as human, you are completely alone in those moments. But when you see that no one cares about you and no one thinks of you, you become the loneliest person in the world. So, what we can do here is to break the silence and remind them that they are truly not alone."

Greetings from Silivri to Rojava, from Gaza to Iran: We Are Not Alone

The full text of Emin Alper's speech is as follows:

"First of all, I would like to thank the Berlinale team for hosting us here, and of course, I thank the jury. This is a great honor for me. I thank my producers, my wonderful cast and crew, and everyone who supported this film.

Our film is about perpetrators who committed terrible crimes. Throughout the film, I wanted to understand their mindset. At the same time, I tried to understand the situation of the survivors.

I thought about them a lot, and one of the things I learned was this: the most terrible kind of loneliness is the loneliness you experience while suffering. When you are losing your rights day by day, when you are hit by bullets bought with your own taxes, when you are being bombed by those who do not even see you as human, you are completely alone in those moments.

But when you see that no one cares about you and no one thinks of you, you become the loneliest person in the world. So, what we can do here is to break the silence and remind them that they are truly not alone. Palestinians living and dying under the most horrific conditions in Gaza, you are not alone.

People of Iran suffering under oppression, you are not alone. Kurds fighting for their rights in Rojava and the Middle East for nearly a century, you are not alone. Finally, my people, you are not alone.

My dear friend Çiğdem, who has been in prison for four years, you are not alone. Tayfun, Can, and Mine, you are not alone either. Osman Kavala, who has been in prison for eight years; Selahattin Demirtaş for nine years; and the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and all other mayors currently in prison. You are not alone.

We are not alone. We will not be alone. A small note, this is a birthday present for my daughter. she will be three years old soon and she loves bears."

Emin Alper, who competed for the grand prize in 2019 with the film "A Tale of Three Sisters" (Kızkardeşler), returned to the main competition selection seven years later with the film Salvation (Kurtuluş). Set between Batman and Mardin, Salvation (Kurtuluş) focuses on the land conflict between the village guard (they are the government-mandated militia that acts under the Gendarmerie General Command in Türkiye) Hazeran tribe and the Bezariler, who returned to the village they were forced to leave years ago. Produced by Liman Film, the film's cinematography was handled by Ahmet Sesigürgil and Barış Aygen, editing by Özcan Vardar, and music by Christiaan Verbeek.

The Grand Prize Goes to Çatak's "Yellow Letters"

The winner of the grand prize, "Yellow Letters," is a Germany-France-Turkey co-production. Written by İlker Çatak, Ayda Meryem Çatak, and Enis Köstepen, "Yellow Letters" deals with the conflict between a family's ideals and their struggle for survival.

The film tells the story of Derya and Aziz, an artist couple living in Ankara, who lose their jobs and homes following the events after the premiere of their new play, and their efforts to build a new life in Istanbul with their 13-year-old daughter Ezgi.

Starring Özgü Namal and Tansu Biçer, the production also features Leyla Smyrna Cabas, İpek Bilgin, Aydın Işık, Aziz Çapkurt, Yusuf Akgün, Uygar Tamer, Jale Arıkan, Seda Türkmen, Emre Bakar, Elit İşcan, Sultan Ulutaş Alope, Emine Meyrem, and İpek Seyalıoğlu.

After receiving the award, Çatak said: “I had prepared a speech, and it was a political one. But I won't get into that speech right now because many people have said very smart things, and I also want to dedicate this stage to the wonderful people I made this film with; they are the true heroes of this award and I could never have made this film without them. I think the film explains itself with its political message, or rather, its questions.”