Oray
Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
During a quarrel with his wife Burcu, Oray says “talaq” three times, the Islamic formula for divorce. The imam of his hometown community informs him of the consequences: Oray has to split up with her for three months. He takes advantage of the forced break and moves to Cologne to establish a new life for Burcu and himself. But the Imam of his new community, Bilal, holds a more austere opinion towards Islamic law. Oray is torn between his love of his beliefs and his belief in love.
With : Zejhun Demirov, Cem Göktaş, Deniz Orta, Faris Yüzbaşıoğlu
Screenplay : Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Image : Christian Kochmann
Sound : Armin Badde
Editing : Denys Darahan
Screenplay : Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Image : Christian Kochmann
Sound : Armin Badde
Editing : Denys Darahan
Production : Filmfaust Filmproduktion, Bastian Klügel, Claus Reichel, ZDF/Das Kleine Fernsehspiel, Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
International sales: Pluto Film Distribution Network GmbH
International sales: Pluto Film Distribution Network GmbH
Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay was born in Bad Hersfeld in 1987. He studied film and literature at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Oray is his graduation film.
“I wanted to show the life of a Muslim away from the issues of media attention, which is drawn only by negative headlines such as terror or the burqa ban, since these issues do not matter in the life of Muslims. Their Islam is the Islam of every day, and of faith. Since as a filmmaker I have the ability to take part in the framing of issues and in influencing public perception, I felt it necessary to work on the way Islam is represented and to readjust its image where it is one-sided or, at worst, distorted. In Oray I have tried to render not so much a persuasion, but as far as possible to present a mere stock-check meant to provide an idea of the complexity of that system. What easily gets out of focus in dealing with Islam is Muslims themselves – their psychology, their aspirations as human beings apart from religion; their emotions, their intrinsic ambiguity; their fears, but also their motivation. All of this, narrated through the individual, Oray, is meant to come to the fore here." (Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay)
“I wanted to show the life of a Muslim away from the issues of media attention, which is drawn only by negative headlines such as terror or the burqa ban, since these issues do not matter in the life of Muslims. Their Islam is the Islam of every day, and of faith. Since as a filmmaker I have the ability to take part in the framing of issues and in influencing public perception, I felt it necessary to work on the way Islam is represented and to readjust its image where it is one-sided or, at worst, distorted. In Oray I have tried to render not so much a persuasion, but as far as possible to present a mere stock-check meant to provide an idea of the complexity of that system. What easily gets out of focus in dealing with Islam is Muslims themselves – their psychology, their aspirations as human beings apart from religion; their emotions, their intrinsic ambiguity; their fears, but also their motivation. All of this, narrated through the individual, Oray, is meant to come to the fore here." (Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay)