Mein Vater, der Türke
Germany,
2006, 89 min
Shown in 2007
CREDITS
- dir
-
Marcus Vetter, Ariane Riecker
- prod
-
Gudrun Hanke-El Ghomri
- cam
-
Dragomir Radosavljevic
- editor
-
Saskia Metten
- source
-
Telepool GmbH, Hans-Bredow-Strasse 22a, D-76530 Baden-Baden, Germany FAX: +49-7221-929-4676. EMAIL: helgarunte-langenbein@swr.de.
- gga award
-
Best TV Documentary Long Form
- premiere
-
North American Premiere
-
COMMENTS
Marcus Vetter attended.
OTHER
“For the first time in my life I feel happiness and sorrow at the same time.” These words, from the confused daughter of an absentee dad, sum up the messy emotional landscape in this spellbinding documentary. Fascinating from the first frame, this real-life drama follows filmmaker Vetter as he sets off for a small Turkish town to visit the father he has never known. With dancing eyes and a quick wit, 72-year-old Cahit Cubuk is a charming man on the surface. However, for the son and daughters who grew up without their father, his pleasant smile and innocent shoulder shrugs don’t alleviate a lifetime of pain and puzzlement. Combining candid interviews, multiple narrators, mesmerizing music and wonderful footage of contemporary Turkey and 1960s Germany, Vetter paints a complex, detailed portrait of how one man’s actions changed the course of an entire family. As we listen to intimate discussions about everything from sexual politics to religion, Vetter focuses on the striking faces of these remarkable characters to capture more than 30 years of pent-up feelings and questions. In the end, Vetter weaves a profound story about the power of memories and the cost of forgiveness.
—Brendan Peterson
FACTOID #99
Philadelphia-born, British-raised director Richard Lester, who shot the trippy Petulia in San Francisco during the 1967 Summer of Love, directed our Opening Night film and attended the Festival two years in a row, accompanying 1966’s A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Forum and 1967’s How I Won the War.
