I came across a work that had a consistent story, whose characters suited the movie very well, and whose music was clearly prepared. While chatting with its director Sinan Sertel after the screening, I told him that this movie definitely deserves its audience. It was released on Friday (May 27, 2022). As one of those who were most happy with this news, I talked to the director of the film's journey. I asked, Sinan Setel answered with all sincerity. Here you go…
For those who do not know and hear your name for the first time; Who is Sinan Sertel? What's the matter of him?
I've been wanting to make good movies for a long time. Thank goodness I don't mind. I'm not a complainer. What is an intellectually good movie? How do the stories of these lands become a movie? I'm the one who cares about this. I also try what I find myself in movies.
How did “The Hero In Me” come about?
I've said this in several places. When I was little, I believed I was a superhero for a while. I had a strength. When I found it, I would be a hero. This went on for a long time. I can say that this story started when I realized that why I could not be a hero. This insight held a place in me. It's in me. It has always puzzled me that there is someone who self-righteously directs destiny. I can say that this is how the movie started. I have always tried to be sincere in this regard. I didn't ignore the movies and comics that influenced me. It was not my aim to reply in kind to them. It can be like that. It was a need like "Let's just think about it".
Nowadays, it is difficult to find support for making films, and the set process is also difficult. Did you have any difficulties during the production process?
A lot. We planned 4 weeks of preparation. It was closed in the 3rd week. We waited months. We held online rehearsals and meetings. It was a difficult and interesting process. Very upset. It was devastating both mentally and financially. But thank you very much to the people I work with. Without them it would not have come to life. I could give up. My producer Halil Kardaş has always produced a solution. We have always progressed. We didn't stop. All my creative team and actors. Good thing they are. We worked well together. Making a movie was not just making the movie in this process. It was also doing what was necessary to make the movie. This is always the case, but those who make films during the pandemic will understand me. It was a jarring process. But thankfully it finally realized. Such was fate. Like I said, our team is full of superheroes. I say this sincerely.
How do digital platforms affect cinema?
I think we are just at the beginning of the process. An early comment would be all. Because there was both a digital frenzy and a pandemic. We both lived together. I think we can talk more comfortably about the impact of digital from now on. I find the transitions very positive. The directors who go to the cinema with digital, or it would be more accurate to say, directors who work in digital also create a different richness with what they produce. I find it positive in every way. I find it very meaningful and attractive to be able to reach the audience, especially in a practical way.
We wanted to use the same difference in music. Sythwave is old, newly resurrected but It's a style that's ingrained in the ears of his 80’s generation.
We need to underline the name of Ali Saran. Looks like we'll be hearing more of his name. I didn't hide that I liked the soundtrack of the movie anyway... It's not like the festival movies, actually, "The Hero In Me". But there was a festive process.
How was this trip?
If we think of boring, colorless and provincial films when we say festival films, we can say that we are not like them. I care a lot about the audience. It is very important for me to gain the appreciation of the masses, rather than a group of jury members gathered in a room at the festivals. But I don't want to compromise my story just because the audience wants it and the audience likes it. I also have the respect for the cinema of the jury members gathered in that room. I was intending to make a good movie. Festivals must have seen this intention as well. It made me very happy that the festivals saw the film. We are watching very different and ambitious works at important festivals abroad. It's a world where the Joker gets a best movie. It can be said that the festivals in our country occupy a place in an area they are more familiar with. But the choice of our film is also promising that something will change. I hope we will watch many different films at our country festivals.
The festival journey was very important to me. The audience of the festival is an audience with a high level of pleasure and expectation. That's why the feedback I get from this channel was important. It made me very happy that it was positive.
It made me very happy that the festivals saw the film. We are watching very different and ambitious works at important festivals abroad. It's a world where the Joker gets a best movie.
The colors and music of the movie show themselves. Who have you worked with?
Our story was different. It required a different design. That's what we did. We wanted it to be a movie with its own world, its own reality. We worked so hard for it. Colors were important. We wanted each of them to have a contribution and meaning to this surreal atmosphere. I used comics and the tradition of the earlier superhero genre. We can say that the aesthetic of the film was formed on this basis.
We wanted to use the same difference in music. Sythwave is a style that is old, that has recently come to the fore, but has somehow become a part of the ears of the 80's generation. Music is a major actor in the movie. I think its contribution to the atmosphere is great. Ali Saran made our music. He is a very talented musician that I have worked with for two films. His touches carried the film to a very different place.
We waited months. We held online rehearsals and meetings. It was a difficult and interesting process.
Is Turkish cinema a cinema that has created an identity?
No. A very sharp no. I'm very clear on this. I hope it happens one day. There are trials and seeds. There is no need to be hopeless. However, it is necessary to stop following a formula that works and reproducing the same ones. I see the same formula being repeated over and over in some hit serials and even movies. This turns into an obstacle over time. The perception of the right thing is being carved.
Every storyteller has a story that he could never write. What's yours?
I don't want to describe myself as a writer. I worked with two different writers on this film. One of them is screenwriter Ümit Cihan Canpolat, and the other is Mustafa Çiftçi, the master pen of the popular TV series "Gönül Dagi". They write. I was just with them.
We have stories that didn't come to life. I would like to make them. Written but not recorded.
Thank you for this pleasant conversation. You should definitely see this movie. You should follow its colorful world and its troubles. Another surprise awaits you at the end of the movie. Without spoilers, let's close the issue. “The Hero In Me” carries traces of us to the screen. Hurry to see what belongs to you…
THE HERO IN ME:
Director: Sinan Sertel
Screenwriter: Sinan Sertel, Ümit Cihan Canpolat
Cast: Ahmet Melih Yılmaz, Ulvi Kahyaoğlu, Öykü Naz Altay
Interview: Bilali Yildirim