On the 18th of May, 2015, at around 3:30am, a shot rang out in the small town of Ergani, in Turkey’s Diyarbakir province. It was followed by screams and a young man running full tilt along a road, for miles, to find a stranger who was willing to help. Although they drove at breakneck speed, by the time they got to the hospital, TV reporters were already announcing that the young Kurdish singing sensation Mutlu Kaya was dead. Had they been a moment later, the doctor told her brother Hakan, that would have been true.
Mutlu – whose name means ‘happy’ – narrates this documentary, but for years after the shooting she couldn’t speak. Because of her family’s fondness for filming everyday life, and her appearance on talent show Sesi Çok Güzel, there is ample footage of her here from before the incident, during the time when she was most severely.
Mutlu – whose name means ‘happy’ – narrates this documentary, but for years after the shooting she couldn’t speak. Because of her family’s fondness for filming everyday life, and her appearance on talent show Sesi Çok Güzel, there is ample footage of her here from before the incident, during the time when she was most severely.
- 5/12/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Red Zed Films and October Films’ documentary “My Name Is Happy” will have a limited U.K. theatrical run from May 21.
Directed by Ayse Toprak (“Mr Gay Syria) and Emmy and BAFTA nominated Nick Read (“Bolshoi Babylon”), the film follows Mutlu Kaya, a Kurdish woman and promising singer from southeastern Turkey whose dreams were about to come true in 2015 when she reached the finals of “Turkey’s Got Talent.” Days before the final she was gunned down by a man whose marriage proposal she had refused. She survived – with a bullet in her brain. After years of rehabilitation from life threatening injuries, the family was again struck by violence. This time, Mutlu’s carer, her sister Dilek, did not survive a murder attempt by another jilted suitor.
The film observes the close-knit musical family through their turbulent ordeals, their struggle to recover, and their fight for justice and the rights...
Directed by Ayse Toprak (“Mr Gay Syria) and Emmy and BAFTA nominated Nick Read (“Bolshoi Babylon”), the film follows Mutlu Kaya, a Kurdish woman and promising singer from southeastern Turkey whose dreams were about to come true in 2015 when she reached the finals of “Turkey’s Got Talent.” Days before the final she was gunned down by a man whose marriage proposal she had refused. She survived – with a bullet in her brain. After years of rehabilitation from life threatening injuries, the family was again struck by violence. This time, Mutlu’s carer, her sister Dilek, did not survive a murder attempt by another jilted suitor.
The film observes the close-knit musical family through their turbulent ordeals, their struggle to recover, and their fight for justice and the rights...
- 4/26/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
At age 19 Mutlu Kaya overcame the trauma of attempted murder – but her story illuminates male violence in Turkey
Born and raised in Ergani, a small town in southeast Turkey, Kurdish singer Mutlu Kaya had the opportunity of a lifetime when, at the age of 19, she advanced to the final round of a popular TV talent show. Blessed with a melodic voice, Mutlu (whose name means happiness) was on the cusp of fame when a jealous ex-boyfriend shot her in the head out of jealousy over her burgeoning career. Following the aftermath of the horrific incident, Nick Read and Ayse Toprak’s inspirational yet sobering documentary confronts the shocking prevalence of femicide in Turkey.
Examining the conservative attitudes that exist in Mutlu’s local community, My Name Is Happy shows how patriarchal oppression is systematically established as the norm. Mutlu, for example, comments that, unlike other families who live in the same conservative neighbourhood,...
Born and raised in Ergani, a small town in southeast Turkey, Kurdish singer Mutlu Kaya had the opportunity of a lifetime when, at the age of 19, she advanced to the final round of a popular TV talent show. Blessed with a melodic voice, Mutlu (whose name means happiness) was on the cusp of fame when a jealous ex-boyfriend shot her in the head out of jealousy over her burgeoning career. Following the aftermath of the horrific incident, Nick Read and Ayse Toprak’s inspirational yet sobering documentary confronts the shocking prevalence of femicide in Turkey.
Examining the conservative attitudes that exist in Mutlu’s local community, My Name Is Happy shows how patriarchal oppression is systematically established as the norm. Mutlu, for example, comments that, unlike other families who live in the same conservative neighbourhood,...
- 2/6/2023
- by Phuong Le
- The Guardian - Film News
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