Im toten Winkel
In the Blind Spot
A German documentary film project in north-eastern Turkey. Simone wants to learn more about Hatice, whose son was abducted a quarter of a century ago. Storytelling to prevent forgetting, rituals to contest disappearance. The lives of the Kurdish people – lives lived in a blind spot – are characterised by violence and resistance to an uncertain existence. Strange incidents soon overshadow the filming as well: turning up alongside interpreter Leyla and directly in front of the camera is the neighbour’s little daughter Melek, with her pretty purple dress and a mysterious gaze that goes right through you.
What follows is a subtly framed, coldly brutal political thriller told in three chapters and from multiple perspectives. For it is not only the strategies of sinister organisations and the logic of paranoia that is the focus of this clever and complex cinematic conundrum, but the act of seeing itself – in all its dimensions, from observation to prophecy. The blind spot is in fact trauma, of the transgenerational kind. German-Kurdish director, screenwriter and producer Ayşe Polat stages it to perfection.
Source: 73. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)
Credits
Director
Screenplay
Director of photography
Editing
Music
Cast
- Simone
- Zafer
- Melek
- Leyla
- Christian
- Sibel
- Hatiçe
- Hasan
- Burhan
- Eyüp
Production company
Producer
Alle Credits
Director
Assistant director
Script supervisor
Screenplay
Director of photography
Assistant camera
Colour grading
Visual effects
Still photography
Lighting design
Production design
Art director
Make-up artist
Costume design
Editing
Sound editor
Foley editor
Sound design
Sound
Sound assistant
Foley artist
Audio mixing
Choreographer
Special effects
Casting
Music
Cast
- Simone
- Zafer
- Melek
- Leyla
- Christian
- Sibel
- Hatiçe
- Hasan
- Burhan
- Eyüp
Production company
in co-production with
Producer
Co-Producer
Producer (TV)
Executive producer
Line producer
Unit production manager
Production assistant
Production coordinator
Post-production
Original distributor
Shoot
- 24.04.2021 - 24.06.2021: Türkei, Hamburg
FSK-Prüfung (DE): 10.10.2023, 247832, ab 16 Jahre / feiertagsfrei
Uraufführung (DE): 19.02.2023, Berlin, IFF - Encounters;
Kinostart (DE): 04.01.2024
Titles
- Originaltitel (DE) Im toten Winkel
- Arbeitstitel (DE) Eine Woche in Diyarbakir
- Weiterer Titel (eng) In the Blind Spot
Versions
Original
FSK-Prüfung (DE): 10.10.2023, 247832, ab 16 Jahre / feiertagsfrei
Uraufführung (DE): 19.02.2023, Berlin, IFF - Encounters;
Kinostart (DE): 04.01.2024
Awards
- Preis der deutschen Filmkritik, Bestes Drehbuch
- Regiepreis
- Filmstiftung NRW Schnitt Preis, Spielfilm
- Deutscher Kamerapreis, Beste Kamera / Fiktion Kino
- Lola, Beste Regie
- Lola, Bestes Drehbuch
- Lola, Bester Spielfilm in Bronze
- German Independence Award, Bester Film