Zephyr

Zefir

Zephyr

Belma Baş

»The film’s title literally means “soft breeze blowing from the west.” It is the mythological name for the god of the west wind, the jealous Zephyrus. The mother’s name is Ay – which means moon in Turkish – also because of its mythological connotations. The mother is quite a secretive character. To concentrate more on Zephyr’s filial obsession and solitary existence, I chose to provide only a few pointers about the mother’s reasons for leaving. So that the dark side of the moon remains in darkness throughout the film.«
– Belma Baş

Zephyr, a strong-willed adolescent girl, spends the summer at her grandparents’ country home on the foothills of Turkey’s Eastern Black Sea Mountains. She roams around carefree and helps them with daily chores. Her grandfather explains things to her about the woods, about mushrooms, together they bury dead animals that they find. All the while she deeply longs for her mother and hopes that she will soon come to take her home. Her mother finally shows up, but only to say farewell before taking up voluntary work abroad. Zephyr hears Ay’s explanation in total silence. On the day of Ay’s departure, Zephyr sneaks out of the house and she follows her mother to the end of the road.
This is the German premiere of Zephyr.

Director / Script

Belma Baş

Cinematography

Mehmet Y. Zengin

Editing

Berke Baş

Sound

Ismail Karadaş, Çağrı Ayyıldız

Cast

Şeyma Uzunlar, Vahide Perçin, Sevinç Baş, O. Rüştü Baş, Fatma
Uzunlar, Harun Uzunlar

Production

Seyhan Kaya, Birol Akbaba

Contact

Akin Duyar

Portrait of Belma Baş

Belma Baş

Belma Baş was born 1969 in Ordu, Turkey. She earned her BA degree in english Literature from Istanbul University in 1992. A literary translator since 1990, she has also worked full-time for Turkish film institutions as a manager for international relations and as a festival manager from 1991 to 1998. She is a former member of the committee that recommends Turkish films for Cannes and Montreal. Her debut short film Poyraz was premiered in the competition at the 59th Cannes Film Festival, her first feature film Zefir (Zephyr) won the international Debut Feature Film Competition at the IFFF Dortmund+Köln in 2012.


Films by Belma Baş
Zefir 2010 | Poyraz 2006