The announcement hit the circuits earlier today: Mucadele Cikmazi ("Struggle Alley") will have its global premiere on Netflix on March 15, 2021! As reported by Thomas Miller in Seat42f.com, here is the summary of the movie*:

Struggle Alley [film] – Starring Cagatay Ulusoy, together with Emir Ali Dogrul, the film is directed by the talented Can Ulkay (Ayla) and produced by OGM Pictures. OGM Pictures/ founder Onur Guvenatam was also behind The Protector. The script is brought to life by Ercan Mehmet Erdem (Behzat C.).

"An impoverish, old neighborhood in Istanbul, brutally shaped by emigration ... Mehmet is a cherished fellow who runs the solid waste warehouse in the neighborhood; he helps everyone in need - especially homeless children and teenagers since he was one too. Mehmet's biggest supporter is Tahsin, who has been helping him and those in need for a very long time. One day Mehmet meets an 8 year old boy (Ali) who suddenly appears in his best mate Gonzales' waste sack. Mehmet suddenly has the urge to reunite the boy with his parents; however, he doesn't realize he becomes attached to this 8 year old child."

* The movie has since been renamed to "Paper Lives/ Kagittan Hayatlar" and will stream on Netflix on March 12. See here for trailer.

And here is the announcement made by Director Can Ulkay on his Instagram account:

What we know so far:
From behind the scenes photos of the filming, we know that the cast includes a lot of child actors, on top of a few main members of the cast. Some of the known names other than Cagatay and Emir are, at least:

• Ersin Arici: interested in acting from the time he was in university, Ersin completed his education in Osman Yagmurdereli Art Academy. After completing several acting workshops, he played in many series and theater; Hundred Years of Seal , You Are Mine , Which One We Didn't Like , Little Murders, Crime of Humanity, I Wish We Had Never Growed , and finally played the character of Kadir from the series Avlu.
• Turgay Tanulku: an award winning actor who appears in the long running show Eskiya Dunyaya Hukumdar Olmaz, Turgay is a veteran actor trained in the craft at teh Theater Academy in Leningrad. Active as an actor since the 70s (theater and tv), Turgay is also known for his philanthropic work in juvenile rehabilition. He will most likely play the role of Mehmet's mentor Tahsin
• Selen Ozturk: Soon after graduation, she moved to Istanbul and started her career on stage. Aside from her career as an actress, she appeared in various movies and TV series, most notably in Muhteşem Yüzyıl as Gülfem Hatun and in Payitaht: Abdülhamid as Seniha Sultan. Since 1994, she has worked as a voice actress and has voiced over characters in the Turkish dubbed version of movies such as The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Léon: The Professional, Layer Cake and Sin City. [source wikipedia]
• Ozay Oguzhan Dilekoglu
• Okan Aysalar
• Ozkan Furkan
• Cumali Levent (child)
• Civvan Levent (child)
• Yalgin Yeter (child)
• Erdem Eren Ayas (child)
• Mirac Kuzey Erdemli (child)
• Ruzgar Diricanli (child)

Please hover over the photos for captions/ names.

The official trailer for the show is yet to be released but needless to say, Cagatay's global fans are beyond excited and very much looking forward to what looks like a thought-provoking movie brought to us by OGM.Pictures and scripted by Ercan Mehmet Erdem, who are known to create socially conscious narratives.

March cannot get here soon enough! Here's a short video summarizing what we know of the project so far:

Article copyright (c) CUNA

Last week, the production team for Mucadele Cikmazi wrapped filming. The name of the movie, which translates into “Deadlock of Struggle”, apparently derives from a street name in Istanbul. In a marketing coup yesterday, Netflix and Cagatay had a coordinated strategy to announce that the movie will be available on Netflix in 2021. While Netflix and production company OGM. Pictures announced the news on their social media channels on Instagram and Twitter, Cagatay announced through his guest appearance on Ay Yapim’s new dizi, Menajerimi Ara (“Call My Agent”) where he appeared as himself.  

Director Can Ulkay shared aesthetically beautiful shots from the sets throughout the filming, but without giving out too many clues about the subject matter. We do know that the plot involves street children, and we have finally seen some photos of Cagatay in a grungy get up, suggesting that he lives on the streets too and may work as a garbage collector.

There are mixed reports about him playing the father of one of the street children, and we will have to wait for the official plot summary to better understand his role. What is evident is how he has traded his glamorous good looks to instead look like someone who has many hardships in life.

Screenplay writer Ercan Mehmet Erdem (Behzat C.) is no stranger to writing gritty stories and one can only imagine how intricately he will weave this plot. Global fans are excited about having access to the movie through the ubiquitous Netflix, and wishes the team every success with its post-production efforts and final release.

The following video provides translations for Cagatay’s skit in Menajeremi Ara, which alludes to his philosophies in life in show business, and very creatively introduces the idea of him looking at the script of Mucadele Cikmazi. As a branding enthusiast, I am very pleased with the coordinated and sophisticated strategy in announcing the future plans for Mucadele Cikmazi.  Bring it on!

Article copyright (c) CUNA & mh.

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