3 June 2018 | imranahmedsg

8 | Politics, humanity, war and LGBT rights all in a gritty, realistic movie ...

The link between war, development and poverty is unequivocally demonstrated in this Turkish movie about the long standing Kurdish insurgency in the country's eastern provinces. Most people just wish to get on with their lives and have no time for nationalisms or 'isms' of other sorts. Indeed, ask the transvestite character in the film, and it's clear most of us have many of our own problems without taking on the burdens of others onto our own shoulders.



Nonetheless, humans cannot be divorced from the realities around them. Hence, the individual who joins a political movement infused with the idealism of youth. Pitted against him is his brother who believes in the power and strength of the state to deliver services, e.g. education and healthcare. As these two fight, innocent farmers and shepherds who happen to live in villages in the battleground suffer.



To suffer means economic destruction and even death.



This is the story of one such family caught up in Turkey's Kurdish insurgency. Simultaneously, the movie reveals the conservative and male dominated nature of rural Turkish society.



It's a sad movie - prepared to shed tears. But 'I Saw the Sun' is a social statement which provides powerful insights for any student of Turkish society. The movie provides few answers but forces us to ask the right questions.



A must watch for anyone interested in Turkish society.



In Turkish with English subtitles.