[ lively music ] Istanbul, Türkiye is full of wonders and contradictions, as evident as the modern skyscrapers set against the backdrop of age-old mosques.

Once considered the capital of the world; a city built for empires; history, majesty, arts and literature.

A city that once had a glorious film industry.

During the 1950s and 60s, the height of its Ye█ilçam years Türkiye's version of Hollywood was the fifth largest film industry in the world.

The industry has since had a rocky road, bumping every time there's a political upheaval or military coup.

Today, despite current government restrictions, there is a strong resurgence of cinema.

[ drum roll ] [ quirky theme music ] Hi, I'm Stephanie.

I'm a 33 year old American filmmaker and a complete cinema nerd.

I love the oldies, the goodies, the New Waves or Golden Age, You name it, I'm in.

On my 33rd birthday, I decided to travel the world to meet and document other filmmakers my age.

Travel with me to over 33 countries to meet the storytellers who are dynamically challenging the status quo of the world today.

Together, we will watch their films, hear their stories, engage with their cultures, and perhaps, learn a little bit about life, love, cinema, history, and me.

[in Turkish] [ cheerful music ] [ cheerful music ] It's easy to fall in love with Istanbul.

A pleasant surprise awaits around every street corner, as you walk past obscure facades ancient buildings, compared to where I come from.

Istanbul is a modern, hip city with an old European feel.

The harbor and ferries all the more charming.

I love the daily socializing over endless amounts of çay tea or midday Turkish coffee.

Evenings are spent over music, mussels and hookah, and I devoured the world famous pistachio flavored baklava.

Who could ask for anything more?

[ energetic music ] Istanbul is a culturally complex city with the age old identity crisis of East versus West, Asia versus Europe, and now more evident than ever, Islamic law versus secular state The highlight of my trip was creating two new friends; I'm sure will last me a lifetime Itir Sezik and Sezen Kayhan.

Both extremely creative and thoughtful filmmakers forging their paths as strong women in an often patriarchal society.

Sezen and Itir were by my side when I tried my first hookah, and marveled with me in the mysticism of Sufi whirling dervishes.

I visited Sezen at her home in Kad█köy and met her husband, Ömür, a professional sound operator on Turkish films; and her lovable, mischievous cat Did you always want to be a filmmaker, or how did you come to be one?

Look, I was always interested in arts, but then I started art school in high school, and then I studied Archeology, and Art History, so it was a long journey to filmmaking.

But then I thought, I'm lucky to have this background, because if it was like only one focus, if I only focused on becoming a filmmaker, I couldn't maybe explore the other fields of arts.

Sezen is the perfect blend of true academic, and creative filmmaker.

She has a dual degree in Archeology, and Art History, and a Master of Arts in Film And Television.

When we met her, she was completing a dual Doctorate program on Media and Design.

Sezen is a published author and cinema scholar, and yet, she still finds time to have a plethora of experience on film sets; working mainly as an Art Director and Script Supervisor on crews in Türkiye, the United States, and Italy.

What I experienced in the States they are like, most of the crew they're like, educated in film, like they're graduated from film schools, but in Türkiye, you learn it on the sets, and it's really rough, the sets, and you have to become technicians; you have to start as a technician.

So this is why we have less female technicians here.

The films Sezen has written and directed have screened worldwide in some of the most prestigious film festivals: Tribeca, Berlin, Palm Springs, Vienna.

And her short, “Time of The Plums,” qualified for the Academy Awards Despite the difficulties of being a woman filmmaker in Türkiye, living in a country whose government represses free speech, and as a result, the brain drain of many of Türkiye's finest filmmakers, Sezen has chosen to stay on her own home turf to represent her cultural heritage through cinematic storytelling.

I█m focused on gender issues.

Obviously, I'm really interested this, because this is what I experience in society.

Especially in a society where, like a male dominated society, where you can experience this.

I don't know if there is any society which is not male dominated, but, when your culture is a bit more conservative, you experience it a little bit more I can say.

Sezen's first film, “Time of The Plums,” is a poetic and hypnotic look through the eyes Turkish girl who does not speak, as she deals with the death of her grandfather.

The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and won several awards, including at Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, and Rhode Island.

[ wind chimes ] My own experience within my own relationship with my grandfather, influenced this film, so it's basically about my own experience with my grandfather.

At the end, you have an inscription to your grandfather, I think, it says, “I can hear now.” What does that mean?

[ upbeat music ] Historically, the film industry in Türkiye exists in an ebb and flow with the economic stability or political unrest of the country.

The first Turkish made film appeared in 1914.

“Demolition of the Russian Monument at San Stefano.” In 1922, a second documentary was released about the Turkish War of Independence.

Filmmaking did not become a continuous endeavor until after World War II.

Türkiye's most flourishing period of cinema is affectionately known as the, the Ye█ilçam years, from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Named after Ye█ilçam Street in the Beyo█lu district of Istanbul, where many of the actors, directors, crew and studios live Ye█ilçam, which translates to mean “the green pine,” reminisces the films of Hollywood's 1930s and 40s.

During the Ye█ilçam years, Türkiye's film industry boomed, producing 100 films a year and 300 in 1970.

[ film clip in Turkish ] Then came a brief period of erotic cinema, which permeated the mainstream.

But by the 1980s, amidst the political unrest, the tanking economy, and the dawning of television, killed off Ye█ilçam for good.

The icing on the cake was the 1980 Coup d'état and film production in Türkiye disappeared almost entirely.

[ bouzouki music ] We spent a lot of time in Kad█köy, where Sezen lives, the hip growing neighborhood on Türkiye's Asian side; the creative hub of Istanbul.

We visited the Kad█köy Cinema and spoke with owner, Funda Kocada█, and admired the stunning architecture of their cinema space.

Fade up on a tea plantation in Türkiye, where 16 year old Elene, an illegal immigrant from neighboring Georgia, works to help her family survive.

Elene catches the eye of a local boy but is forced to remain invisible to protect her family status.

Sezen█s sophomore short film, “Elene,” premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, and won Best International Short at the Montreal World Film Fest.

[ film clip in Turkish ] Part of my family lives in the Black Sea region, so I went there to work with them, and this is the time when I met with the Georgian workers.

And I worked with them, listened to their stories, and it's what inspired this film to tell their stories.

[ film clip in Turkish ] I feel very close to my second short character, Elene.

I have never been in the same position with her, but when I think myself in her shoes, I think, probably it's the way I would behave.

They all seem to be stories that revolve around a strong but silent woman character in it Is that a conscious theme?

Actually, it's a really interesting question because, this is something I just realize when you asked the question.

It was not a conscious choice, I can say.

And when you put it that way, I█m thinking, I█m also a silent person most of the time, even like when I need to resist or accept something, I do it, like in an ironic or maybe a silent way.

So this is the main connection between them, I guess.

Itir Sezik, 34-year-old corporate business woman by day, indie filmmaker by night.

She is as personable and likable as they come.

Like Sezen, Itir has a dual degree, an MFA and MBA from New York University, where she studied both Filmmaking and Business.

Despite this education, Itir does not yet consider herself a professional filmmaker, but she is well on her way.

So you see a future for yourself as a filmmaker here?

Okay, so I have this full time job, I'm earning my money.

On the side, I█m writing my web series, which I want to launch through YouTube.

So I want to do the first season online.

On YouTube.

Then hopefully, some online platform supports me for the following series, and then I could leave my job.

One thing I cannot get over is the amount of censorship that Turkish filmmakers face.

During my time in Türkiye, I obsessed over this.

I guess I don't like censorship, but I mean, who does?

It's ridiculous, for instance, if there were wine here instead of coffee and we were screening on air or on TV, they would be blurred, like really stupid stuff like that.

Yes, Salud.

A couple months before our visit Türkiye, passed the “Popcorn Law.” Sounds yummy, right?

On the surface, the law is said to help filmmakers, by reducing the profits movie theater moguls make from screenings and concessions.

Underneath, is the REAL law, which requires all films, shorts and indies too, to receive a permit from the government in order to screen anywhere in the country.

Your film can get censored, because there is a commission who watches the film, who screens the film, and then decides if your film get█s a screening permit or not.

So as long as this commission screens your film, they have a control on the content of the film, and whether to screen it in movie theaters or not.

So this is not a good situation.

I mean, I just hope the censorship will cease eventually but if it doesn't, I think artists will find a way to be more creative.

It's challenging enough to be a filmmaker, let alone a woman filmmaker, let alone a woman filmmaker in Türkiye, where censorship is a real issue Both Itir and Sezen have opportunities to live and work abroad.

So why do they choose to stay in Türkiye rather than move to a country, where they would be free to distribute the content they wish without government censorship?

In New York, or in Europe, I don't know, there are, better filmmakers.

It's more competitive.

They have better networks, and so and so...

I think I'm even more disadvantaged there, Here at least I have a network, I have material, you know, I have some local material that I could work with.

I don't want to move, because this is our stories.

This is our culture.

This is what I know.

This is what I grew up in.

So I don't know what would I do if I had to move and were not able to tell my own stories.

So it's a very difficult situation.

Beykoz Kundura is a family owned, woman run film studio, located on a historical preservation site.

First opened as a tanning yard in 1810, it operated as a shoe factory for many years.

In the early days, the factory would treat its workers to weekly film screenings, the feature attraction often being an American Western.

Tradition continues as Beykoz Kundura offers the local community film screenings, retrospectives, and creative workshops.

We spoke with owner Buse Yildirim, who toured us around the complex They can create whatever they want in these sites.

It's a former shoe factory, in a sense, but now it█s a factory of stories.

Very nice to meet you.

Good luck with this.

Thank you.

[ film clip in Turkish ] I had the pleasure to see Sezen's film, “A Hard Day In The Empire,” screen at not one, but two festivals during my stay in Türkiye.

“A Hard Day In The Empire” is a political satire masked in straight comedy, poking fun at Turkish soap operas.

It is a film within a film.

Sezen used her actual film crew as the actors to play the film crew on screen.

Looking closely, I see a familiar face: Sezen█s sound operator husband, Ömür, plays the sound guy in the film, while actually recording the film's sound on set.

“A Hard Day” is based on Sezen█s personal experiences working on crews as a woman Art Director, while poking fun at greater politics, which she otherwise could not address directly without being censored.

[ film clip in Turkish ] I wrote the script as a revenge project from, like, all the directors, like dictator kind of directors that I worked with.

It was kind of like a revenge project for me, like a dealing mechanism.

And I thought like, the best revenge is to make fun of it.

You can really deal with many difficult situations in a creative way, with humor.

[ film clip in Turkish ] Ten years ago when I started, I was like, just aiming for the festivals and awards.

But now sharing your film with the audience, and really expressing yourself to them, matters more to me than being in a festival.

I feel at home in Istanbul.

At heart, I am a city girl.

But, I was struck by the amount of real life issues Sezen and Itir have gone through as women my age living in Istanbul.

Participating in the Gezi Park protests of 2013, the failed coup attempt and the suicide bombings of 2016 near the main cinema of the Istanbul Film Festival.

I was working as a hospitality coordinator in the festival.

We were scared to go to the venues, because we were afraid that the bombings could happen again.

But the next year, the same venues were full.

I mean, the tickets were sold out.

So, we were also thinking like, oh, people just forget about it.

We forget things so quickly, but then I think, like otherwise how could we go on?

If I always am scared about going to these places, and then never forget anything, always scared, then I cannot move on.

Or maybe it's a good thing to forget sometimes, and then just move on.

My trip to Istanbul coincided with a time when politics in Türkiye seems increasingly polarized.

President Recep Tayyip Erdo█an is a dominant force in Türkiye█s political life.

From Mayor to Prime Minister to President, Erdo█an has held office for over a quarter of a century.

And in 2017, a constitutional amendment has given him even more power.

Erdo█an█s authoritative rule is in direct contrast to that of revered leader and founder of independent Türkiye, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Erdo█an attempts to limit the role of women in Türkiye's society, and he limited freedom of expression.

and he has limited freedom of ex [swelling music] After seeing a photo of women soccer fans, Sezen was intrigued to accept a commission to direct a documentary film about the former fans of a Turkish soccer team.

A first, Sezen was not sure she would be interested in directing a film about soccer but upon learning of the group of women who devotedly cheered on this team, she found a way to merge her interest in telling stories about gender roles in society, and directing a film for hire about a sport many Turks are fanatic about.

[ loud cheering ] So the documentary also tells many things about gender issues in the ‘70s in Türkiye, because when I talked with them, I just saw that they're not only football fans, but they were so fond of this stadium, and the games, that they go every Sunday, because it was like an area of liberation for them.

And some say, that we were not allowed to speak loudly or like, laugh loudly in the public, but we were free in the stadium, so we can shout, and get our stress out.

In the stadium.

So it's really nice for us; an area of freedom for us.

The stadiums.

Through the years, Türkiye's political stability has teetered and citizens have attempted to fight back for their rights: most notably in the 2013 Gezi Park protests, where citizens demonstrated against an urban development plan for Taksim█s Gezi Park.

[tap dancing in film clip] One of the most memorable films I have ever seen in a global film festival, is a 2015 short documentary, “One Million Steps.” Filmed during the Gezi protests, “One Million Steps” follows a tap dancer through the streets of Istanbul, to spread joy and cheer during an otherwise dark time.

█ singing in Turkish █ It was not until the early 2000s that Türkiye has seen a revival of its cinema movement, with international acclaim for directors such as Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Fatih Akin.

While the ever popular Ceylan█s films are not my particular cup of “çay ”, one film I cannot recommend enough is a Turkish-French film from 2015, “Mustang,” nominated for Best Foreign Language Oscar.

“Mustang” tells the story of five orphan girls from Türkiye, who grew up in a rural village, where patriarchal views still rule the day.

One by one, the girls are married off.

The youngest rebels, and attempts to escape the same fate as her older sisters.

[ film clip in Turkish ] What does it mean to you to be 33?

It feels old.

Well, you always have this feeling of like, missing things.

Oh, I'm 33, and I still haven't done this.

I didn't do that.

But it's also thinking, okay, I█m not that old, so, I still have so much time to do these things that I have in my mind.

Do you think society, or your family, has any expectations for you as a 34-year-old Turkish woman?

I think they hoped that I█d get married some time, but probably they gave up on it.

It is not difficult to understand why Sezen chooses to stay in her home country.

Istanbul is one of my all time favorite cities to visit.

The harbor█s fresh breeze, the inspiring architecture, compelling stories, delectable cuisine, and warm hospitality will stay with me as I journey onwards.

The Sufi Dervishes spinning towards karmic perfection, spreading love through their dance and devotion, whirls in my memory.

The survival and beauty of this ceremony, gives me hope that with the smarts, pluck, and creative drive that Sezen possesses, she too will persevere through these unpredictable times and come out on top, shining brightly in the world of cinema.

█ drum and flute music █ To learn more about the Cinema Nomad filmmakers and dive deeper into the exciting world of global cinema visit our website: CinemaNomad.TV