Cannes Short Film Corner 2018 - The Run
While running on the street, running away from some(thing+one), Sercan suddenly finds himself in an apartment, in some kind of interrogation by a charismatic stranger named Caner.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Yalcin Konuk
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you! I sincerely take your kind word as a gift. ’The Run’ is my first movie, I am a singer-writer-composer based in Istanbul. The base of any creative process is really hard to describe since there is no pure logic for such a journey knowing that the outcome might be simply lost forever. But there are some elements like self-confidence, experience and sincere friends ready to support you and inject the extra motivation needed for the first step. Cinema has always been a magical door leading to an interval where daily concerns and pains are taken away for a very brief time. I’ve always wanted to make a movie starting with a blank screen with an idea, and authentic challenging idea. Cemil Agacikoglu (www.ca.com.tr) who is a fantastic photographer and film director, was the person who pushed me to write and direct a movie. I’ve had previously realised, produced, edited music videos. I do believe that filming a story of my own was a biological evolution of my ephemeral existence of earth.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
There is a myriad of reasons to do or not to do something, to turn to the right or to stop, to start or not a conversation with an attractive totally black dressed woman at a café. Watching a specific movie among the titanic offer of contents available on streaming services, theatres and on tv must require an unequalled scale of quality. But originality prevails! Love, comedy, war, treason have been themes of books for millenniums. Nevertheless it is the form and the interpretation quality which define the appeal of creative works. Time is the most valuable thing, there is no way you can get back to the time of the previous sentence just above.
And I am asking 13 minutes and 23 seconds time of the life of each individuals of the audience. That is already a lot to ask since I believe that time must be consumed consciously. But I am convinced that those 803 seconds would definitely be a joyful experience. An authentic idea linked to a close future with excellent acting crowned by the work of a very talented director of photography. I think that would be my motto: short, authentic, individual but social.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I can’t really answer this question since I do not want to disclose the idea of ‘The Run’. All I can say is that I filmed it in my neighborhood of Galata and Beyoglu in Istanbul.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
I was filming the rehearsals and during this process I was revising, revisiting the dialogues. My main criteria was “The shorter the better.” The script had to be compact, dramatic, dynamic with an evolving atmosphere. The fact of having the actors pronouncing my dialogues and giving birth to the characters was essential to give the final tune to the script. Using different rehearsal techniques have been very helpful to shape the lines and mimics.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
You have to be conscious that your close entourage would never say something negative about a work you’ve spent so much time about. But without their positiveness and encouragement things would have been disastrous. So the objective feedback would naturally come from anonymous entities and people. Unexpected, authenticity, photography, acting, the intro and final scenes have been the main gratifying comments made by the audience.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Not really since, I wanted to make a movie that I would watch myself again and again. My enjoyment is my sole reference. And my hope was that this feeling would replicate itself with other people. Seeing that the audience share the same feeling confirms that I did not do something wrong. Now the real challenge is to make a better movie.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I want to maximise the exposure of ‘The Run’ by having it on your platform and multiply this kind of interview. I want it to reach, to touch more and more people.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Everyone is more than welcome on board. There is no point to make a Mercedes if you want to keep it in the garage. You need to take it out, enjoy the ride and make it visible, accessible.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
To question how a routine behaviour might not be that routine.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
The most interesting question would be the one I am not expecting. Any question and interaction would lead to a conversation with exchange of experience and thoughts. And this is really already the whole idea: To share, to exchange.
Would you like to add anything else?
Watch the trailer, watch ‘The Run’ if you can, share it again and again.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
My new single to be released around July.
Studio recording and music video filming until then.
The writing of two scripts: A comedy and the other one is a serial killer story.
Interview: May 2018
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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The Run
While running on the street, running away from some(thing+one), Sercan suddenly finds himself in an apartment, in some kind of interrogation by a charismatic stranger named Caner.
Length: 13 min 23 sec.
Director: Yalcin Konuk
Producer: Yalcin Konuk & Cemil Agacikoglu
Writer: Yalcin Konuk
About the writer, director and producer:
Yalcin Konuk Writer-director
Born in 1970 in Liege-Belgium, he released respectively two music albums
He is the writer, composer, producer and art director of these two albums.
He wrote and directed his first short movie ‘The Run’ in 2017.
He’s trilingual: French, Turkish and English.
He lives in Istanbul.
Key cast: Sercan Badur, Huseyin Celebi, Caner Badur, Ayse Ozkoylu
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): All of them.
Social media handles: therunthemovie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/therunthemovie/
Instagram: instgram.com/theruntunemovie @therunthemovie
Funders: Yalcin Konuk & Cemil Agacikoglu
Made in association with:
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?