Author(s): Selma Veli
Mentor(s): Amanda Kraus, Collage of Virtual and Performing Arts
Abstract
This short film, Misafir, which translates to The Guest in English, is a mix of fantasy and drama set inside a Turkish household. The main character, Deren, invites her grandfather to her birthday celebration, unaware of the years of conflict between him and her mother. As Deren tries to uncover the truth behind their silence, an uninvited, mysterious guest appears. Her name is Kat, a cat-human who knows the family as if she holds it in the palm of her hand. And her presence stirs the tension in unsettling ways.
Misafir explores how, in uncommunicative families, the younger generation often feels displaced and even responsible for being the bridge or to pick a side. Many families carry silences and unresolved conflicts across generations, and this story shows how one small act of communication can open the door to healing.
Audio Transcript
Hi, my name is Selma Veli and I’m a film and video studies major concentrating in directing. For my senior thesis, I created a 10-minute short film supported by the Oscar research funds. With this support, I assembled a 25 person crew from George Mason University and cast seven Turkish speaking actors from New York. This short film, Misafir, which translates to “the guest” from Turkish to English, is a mix of fantasy and drama that takes place in a Turkish household. My main character, Deren, invites her grandfather to her birthday party, unaware of the conflict between him and her mother. As Deren tries to uncover the truth behind their silence, a mysterious guest appears. Her name is Kat, a cat humanlike creature that walks in the house and acts like she knows the family, but no one knows who she is or what she is and who even invited her. Misafir explores how in incommunicating families, younger generations often feel like they have to be the bridge between older generations or that they have to pick a side. And this story shows how one small act of communication can start the process of healing. One of the biggest challenges we faced was casting as it was really hard to find Turkish speaking actors, especially in the DMV area. My story was always in Turkish, but I was flexible to make it in English, but I knew it wasn’t going to be a true representation. We looked around in the DMV area. I asked friends and families, but one, no one really wanted to be in it. Second, they didn’t have the skills to be acting. So after receiving the funds, I was able to search beyond the DMV area and I found a bunch of beautiful actors in New York. But since this was a student film and I couldn’t offer payment, accommodation, their travel and stay was essential. So the funds really played a big role on helping me cover those. I also was able to achieve the look that I really wanted for the film. A lot of the props in the house or production design costume was also covered by the fund. The character cat had special props that she required. For example, her wig, her nails, her makeup, and her eye contact were some of the ways I was benefited by the Oscar found. On the production day, I’m 100% sure that our hospitality really satisfied our actors and bringed out the best performance out of them. Some of them were professional actors in the industry and they even came up to us and told us how professional and organized we were even though we’re just a student crew. Overall, the Oscar founding really made this film be a very professional, authentic, and pretty film that I’m very satisfied with. So, thank you for everyone who supported us and thank you Oscar for funding me.