 Here Without much fanfare, Netflix has listed Cagatay's upcoming movie on the platform, with streaming date moved up to March 12, 2021 (it was previously planned for March 12, 2021). The listing still says 'preview unavailable'. The fans are always ready to see Cagatay, and three days sooner is even better! #MucadeleCikmazi (#StruggleAlley) has now been renamed to #KagittanHayatlar (#PaperLives). This news has now been confirmed by the Director, Can Ulkay, as well. We have more details in a prior blog post, but here's a quick summary: "In the streets of Istanbul, ailing waste warehouse worker Mehmet takes a small boy under his wing and must soon confront his own traumatic childhood." Several more cast members are also now known, who are not listed in our post from October. Most of their resumes are from smaller roles in the feature film as opposed to dizi industry. Osman Iskender Bayer: an elderly actor, known for his role in the movie Celebration (2018). Tomris Cetinel: a mature actress known for her role in the movie Ortabereket (1990) Volkan Caliskan: Muslum (2018) and Soz (2019) Mehmet Bahattin Genc: Studio Actor Oksan Buyuk: actress who has roles as a transgender woman We are all looking forward to seeing Cagatay back on screen! Here is a short video summary of the news from today, including a few photos released by Netflix as the banner for the listing. Article (c) CUNA
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In early December, we received confirmation that Cagatay has been offered the lead role in the 2 season X 10-episode per season BluTV production "Yesilcam", to be produced by ES Films. This is the same production company that was leading the Barbaros project Cagatay was to take part in earlier in the year but eventually didn't.  Yesilcam Yesilcam (The Green Pine), is to Turkey what Hollywood is to the United States, or Bollywood to India. Supported by state subsidies between the 1950s to the 1980s, an indigenous film industry began to take shape around the Yesilcam Street in Beyoglu, Istanbul. With a rapid increase in filmmakers, cinema ceased to be an elitist activity and spread as a mode of entertainment even in the most remote villages in Anatolia. The period marks an important time in Turkey's cinematic history, with incredible creativity in local productions, with its heydays in the 1960s, producing 200 - 300 films per year, with primary focus on dramas and comedy. In 1966 Turkey was fourth, just behind India, in world film production, with 238 films. Some of the most well-known movies during this time are Susuz Yaz (Dry Summer) which received a Golden Bear Award at Berlin Film Festival in 1964; Sevmek Zamanı (Time to Love); Gurbet Kuşları (Birds of Exile); Haremde Dört Kadın (Four Women in the Harem); Yılanların Öcü (The Revenge of the Snakes); Vesikalı Yarim (My Prostitute Love); Ah Güzel İstanbul (Beautiful Istanbul); and Turist Ömer (Ömer the Tourist). A film festival, which soon became the Oscars of Turkish cinema, started in 1964 to promote Turkish cinema and help gain international recognition. (www,theguideistanbul.com) Many of these movies were "moralistic melodramas focusing on the theme of modernization and the relationships between heterosexual couples from different social and economic classes, which affirmed traditional gender roles and social values against "degenerate" modern lifestyles" (filmreference.com). It is also a time when political films thrived as the 1960 coup allowed leftists to express themselves more freely. Films during this period also touched on the problems of workers and laborers who were facing challenges posed by industrialization, rural-urban migration, and poverty. You can check out this video on the movie Susuz Yaz to better understand the kinds of stories told during that time. The YouTube Channel Green Pine Film has more to explore. 70s - 80s The 70s saw a shift into the fantasy genre when lack of copyright laws and lack of state support gave way to a spate of unauthorized low-budget films that were remakes of all sorts of iconic movies out of Hollywood, including science fiction such as Star Wars, Star Trek, E.T. and more. With shifts towards TV consumption, the film industry died out in the 80s, but the Yesilcam movies are well loved and are still referenced in current dizis and movies. Earlier dismissed as poor filmmaking, the Yesilcam era has since been an area of serious scholarly study, particularly in the context of cultural globalization and creative innovation in filmmaking. This video interview by the Yunus Emre Institute provides an interesting look into the filmmaking from this period. BluTV Series CEO of BluTV, A. Dogan Yalcindag, had mentioned this project in an April press meeting, with the title Yesilcam: Bir Sinema Hayvani (Yesilcam: A Movie Beast) and he explained that the show will go to the 1960s and portray that magical period by focusing on the life of a filmmaker, Semih Ateş, who says “I make a movie, patients get better, the season changes”. He also announced that the scriptwriting phase of the first season was already completed. A recent social media post also confirms this with "...a story of rebirth during the Yesilcam golden age". In an interview with egirism on February 6, Yalcindag mentioned that Yesilcim will drop on the platform in April.   Cast Cagatay, the first of the cast members confirmed, will play the role of filmmaker Semih Ates, who is a down and out producer of the Yesilcam era of the 1960s. The story follows his journey of reinventing himself as he finds love. One of his supposed spoken dialogue is, "Sen benim dualarımın arasında ki en güzel dileğimsin Tülin..." -- “You are my best wish among my prayers, Tulin”. Other cast mates, as they are announced are:
Click on their pictures below to see a more detailed bio for each. Selin Kahraman does not have a profile on IMDB yet. The film is planned to be one of BluTV's biggest in-house productions. The scenarists Volkan Sumbul (Icerde) and Levent Cantek (Bozkir on BluTV), had shared their first thoughts after the completed script had been turned in.  Twitter post by Volkan Sumbul  Blog post by Levent Cantek Yesilcam is directed by Cagan Irmak (Babam Ve Oglum). It promises to provide an incredible insight into Turkish filmmaking and perhaps shed light on how it has shaped cinematic production and consumption in the modern era, while seen through the lens of the protagonist and fictitious filmmaker, Semih Ates. It is written as a drama and NOT an autobiography of known personalities from that time. Recently, industry insider Oya Dogan, founder of www.dizidoktoru.com answered some questions about the project on Instagram live, and she said that the project will start filming on January 10, 2021. We have also learnt that the cast started reading rehearsals from December 30, 2020. Here is a translated version of the short interview with Ms. Dogan. Filming On January 11, the fans got some first glimpses of photoshoots of actors in costume. We saw pictures of Nurcan Sirin and Efe Tuncar, where Nurcan was definitely wearing a period piece. On January 15th, the fans got the first glimpse into the set design through a short clip uploaded by the director, accompanied by a sample of the possible soundtrack or genre of music to be used. It seems colorful and a little whimsical. In addition, we also got a few first pictures from sets, one even shared by Cagatay via his Instagram story. The following photo was shared by Engin Aykanat (Cagatay's manager), leading to confusion about the producers who were previously listed at ES Films. As it turns out, ES Films and Eastern Sunrise Films are both owned by Yusuf Esenkal, and Eastern Sunrise Films just happens to be the Los Angeles based entity. It's still the original team but perhaps a US entity being listed as producer increases opportunities for international distribution once the show has been broadcast.  From the photos and clips shared so far, we get the sense of a very clever script which will probably invite a deeper understanding of the dialogue and skits, which at first glance will seem a lot simpler than it is. That is the value of an excellent work of Art - a depth of meaning lies beneath the surface. For a compilation of all the BTS photos and clips shared until February 10, 2021, check out this short video. Author remarks We already know from earlier reports that Cagatay has also been roped in for the lead role in Amazon Prime's Museum of Innocence, an adaptation of the eponymous book by Nobel prize winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk. Musuem of Innocence is also set in the cultural backdrop of Istanbul in the 1970s, which may indicate the importance of the overall period, marked by political upheaval, economic and social change, that greatly influenced the arts in the then secular Turkey. There are some suggestions that Cagatay's look from his birthday photo is in preparation for this project, but we await final confirmation of this detail.  Fans are beyond excited to see Cagatay back on the screens again, and we remain as excited about all the ways Cagatay continues to grow as an actor. For a first look at the teaser released on February 12, go to our blog post here. Article Copyright (c) CUNA Updated February 15, 2021 Articles referenced for the information: An Offer for Cagatay Ulusoy Yesilcam, The Wild Lo-Fi World of Turkish B Movies Turkish Remakesploitation BluTV Projects Yesilcam Green Pine Cinema 100 Years of Turkish Cinema Levent Cantek Blog Birsen Altuntas Wikipedia IMDB  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:
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.
#CagatayUlusoy #MucadeleCikmazi #Netflix #OGMPictures #CanUlkay #ErcanMehmetErdem  We already know that Cagatay is the protagonist for Netflix’s first Turkish original, The Protector. As posted earlier, fans came to learn that he will be part of one of Turkey’s highest budget historical series called Barbaros, and the protagonist and co-producer in the first Turkish original by Amazon Prime video, in an adaptation of Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence.
Read this article on North America TEN for an analytical look at how Cagatay may be stepping into the next phase of his career. Article Copyright (c) by North America TEN, mh. & CUNA All photos belong to owners. No copyright infringement intended. |
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