Director Ali İlhan was hosted in the "Come Tell Me About My Job" series of events organized by Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU) Faculty of Fine Arts (GSF) Communication and Design Department and moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nagihan Çakar Bikiç. In the event, which took place on Wednesday, November 17 with the participation of Director Ali İlhan, a talk titled "A Director's Journey" was held.
The ninth event of the "Come Tell Me About My Job", organized for our students to meet with the leading representatives of the sector and to follow the sector's works closely, was held at the conference hall of the Faculty of Fine Arts (GSF) of Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU) on Wednesday, 17 November at 15.00. Director Ali İlhan, who participated as a guest in the ninth "Come Tell My Job" event series, founded "www.benimsinemalarim.com", Turkey's only website that publishes short films and teaches film shooting, and won the Golden Spider award with this site. He is also a director who won many international awards for his movie "Being Italian with Signora Enrica", which he wrote and directed himself.
“I Won An Award Years Later With My First Short Film.”
Director and screenwriter Ali İlhan started his talk titled “A Director's Journey” by telling his own life story and his story that intersects with cinema. Mr. İlhan said that when he was in his 20s, there were two films that could be considered important in terms of cinema in our country, and these two were "Istanbul Under My Wings" and "Bandit". He said that the cinema and film industry is not that advanced when compared to its current state. Ali İlhan, who made a short film at that time due to his passion for cinema, was able to receive an award years later with this first film, contrary to what was thought. The first short film he shot did not even make it to the top 18 in various festivals held in our country, but this turned into a motivation that spurred Ali İlhan. Ali İlhan expresses this situation in his own words as follows:
“The first short film I made was not even in the top 18. It was eating me up. The results were not very good. But then I sent my film abroad (in Germany) to other festivals and competitions. Here, my film was in the top 5. At that time, I thought: They don't understand me in Turkey, so I should deliver my films to people who understand me elsewhere.”
The idea of conveying his films to other people around the world who understand him prompted Ali İlhan to establish "benimsinemalarim.com". Currently, he had to close mysinemalarim.com, which he thought would rival platforms such as Netflix, Gain or Blutv if it continued. He explains the reason as his budget goes to this site in order to shoot the movie of his dreams.
“Not Receiving an Award Whips Me.”
Director and screenwriter Ali İlhan said that not getting an award is not something that will cause a loss of motivation, contrary to what is thought, and that he undertook a triggering task for his cinema adventure. He stated that he received an award years later, but that he would not have been able to achieve the same success in his career if he had received 15 different awards instantly from his first film. Mr. Ali İlhan said, “I think awards are nonsense. What we call an award is just a tool to be visible…”
“How Did The Adventure Of Being Italian With Signora Erica Start?”
Ali İlhan described the adventure of Signora Erica in his own words:
“The adventure of Signora Erica actually started when I had the opportunity to go to Italy for a month at a time when I was very bored with Turkey. At the age of 24, I went to Rimini, Italy. The birth story of Signora Erica began at this very point. It was a lunchtime Christmas time, we were having dinner. We took a picture there with Signora Erica.” Looking at this photo, Ali İlhan, who thought that it would be a good movie, decided to make his film inspired by this frame
“A Life Extending from Italy to Mardin”
He stated that the ratings of the Hercai series were in numbers like 3 and that the directing proposal came to Ali İlhan at that time. Ali İlhan accepted this offer and increased the Hercai series to 7 figures. He stated that there were many people who said that he could not do it because he did not have experience in TV series at that time, but he saved the series.
Finally, he emphasized to the participants that this profession is not for the shy, and the necessity of being shameless by constantly knocking on the doors.
The interview was followed by a question and answer session, which was attended by a large number of participants. After the pleasant conversation, a plaque and flowers were presented to Director Ali İlhan.
