BHAGWAN MAHAVIR ROAD: Renowned Turkish filmmaker and producer Mevlüt Akkaya had never heard about Kannada cinema till a month ago. In the city to judge Kannada films at the ongoing Bengaluru International Film Festival, as part of the NETPAC (Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema) jury, Akkaya was surprised at the vast potential of the Kannada industry.
"Before I came to India this week, I didn't know anything about Kannada cinema. So when I got the invitation to come down here as part of the NETPAC jury, I did some research and found to my surprise that Kannada cinema has a very rich and diverse history," he said.
"It's clear that Kannada cinema has the potential to reach a much wider audience. No one outside India has heard of this huge industry. People talk about Bollywood and other regional cinema like Marathi, Bengali or even Malayalam. But Kannada cinema needs to raise its voice," he said.
An award-winning producer and director of the stage and screen, Akkaya has been an active member of the international entertainment community for over a decade. He wrote and directed the film
A Jazz Story, featuring jazz legend Gary Bartz. Kanake, shot in Germany, tackles the subject of racism. His love for films was kindled by none other than Satyajit Ray. "The Apu trilogy convinced me that filmmaking was my calling. I loved Indian cinema for the way it let both mainstream and art-house cinema thrive in the same space at the time," he said. But he added that things were "definitely different" now.
In addition to directing and producing, Akkaya has been heavily involved in organising film festivals. He serves as a cultural bridge between the United States and Europe, having founded the New York Turkish Film Festival, and is, in effect, responsible for the screening of more than 500 Turkish films in the United States.
“It has not been an easy ride at all. The American audience wasn’t used to Turkish cinema at all. Iranian and Korean films worked better at the festivals there. Even the Turkish community didn’t watch Turkish cinema in the US at that point,” Akkaya said. But through the director’s vision and persistence, things slowly started changing for the better.
“We kept at it, not just with the film festival, but we travelled across the country with a handful of films, just spreading the word about Turkish cinema,” he said.
He also likened the Turkish film industry to its Indian counterpart, saying though the former sees around 100 films a year, the Turkish box-office is ruled by commercial and comedy films, just like in India.
The challenges in Independent cinema too are similar as well. “We don’t find enough audiences, neither do they (films) get financed easily,” he said. Most independent films in Turkey are financed either by private investors, the government or through co-production, a model that is yet to take off in India.
The winners of the Kannada film competition will be announced by the NETPAC jury at an award ceremony at Ambedkar Bhavan at 6 pm on Wednesday.