„SAF”, a Turkish-German-Romanian co-production, in cinemas, starting with July 5

     SAF, the second feature film of the director Ali Vatansever, a Turkish-German-Romanian co-production, will be in the Romanian cinemas starting with July 5, 2019.
The feature film had the world premiere at the 2018 Toronto Film Festival, the Discovery section. This year, Vatansever was named the Best Director at the Ankara International Film Festival, where Saadet Isil Aksoy received the Best Actress Award. The director also received the “New Voices” mention given by the Palm Springs Festival jury.
     SAF was also selected in the competitions of two other festivals: Angers European First Film Festival and Istanbul International Film Festival.
     The action of the film takes place in the Fikirtepe district, in Istanbul. The urban transformation destroys the poor communities and the Syrian refugees have to take shelter in abandoned buildings. Kamil and his wife Remziye, risks of losing their home. Being jobless for a lot of time, Kamil is forced to accept to secretly work on a construction site. Besides the fact that this way he takes the job of a Syrian refugee, the company that hired him is the one that destroys the area he lives in. The oppression and the anxiety – both in the neighbourhood, where he is afraid of being discovered and

at work where he accepted the low salary that the refugees receive – slowly change him. When Kamil disappears all of a sudden, his wife is forced to confront the consequences of his deeds, which seem to be different from what she knew about him. But Remziye refuses to give up.
     The film features Saadet Isil Aksoy, Erol Afsin, OnurBuldu, Ummu Putgul, Kida Khodr Ramadan and Mihaela Trofimov.
     The film is written and directed by Ali Vatansever, the cinematography is signed by Tudor Vladimir Panduru, the editing is made by EvrenLus, the music was composed byErdemHelvacioglu, and the sound design was signed by Alexandru Dumitru. The producers are Selin VatanseverTezcanandOyaOzden and the co-producers are Harry Flöter, JörgSiepmannand Anamaria Antoci.
     Ali Vatansever was born in Istanbul in 1981. After studying industrial design and film and television in Istanbul, he received his Master`s Degree diploma in film production at the Rochester Technology Institute in New York, In 2003, he started his film career by directing short films. He directs for Terminal Film, the production company of which he is the co-founder. His feature directorial debut, One Way or Another (2012), was screened at different international festivals and distributed in cinemas all over Turkey. Besides making films, Ali Vatansever teaches film courses at the Koç University and has a strong collaboration with NGOs dedicated to democracy and local governing.
     SAF is produced by Terminal Film (Turkey), 2Pilots Film Production (Germany) and 4 Proof Film (Romania). The production was made with the support of the Ministry of Culture in Turkey, Film und Medien Stiftung NRW, Eurimagesand Zenith Media. It was developed in cooperation with Sources 2, Meetings on the Bridge, FilmTEEP, If Sundance Lab, Global Media Makers and Connecting Cottbus Co-Production Market.
In Romania, the film is distributed by Domestic Film.
     Details: SAF FB