Turkan and Hayat: Love in one word

Life is a struggle... Art is a struggle... Being a movie actress is a struggle in itself... Being a woman in this country is a lot of struggle... Türkan Şoray says I have been silent most of the time. She will tell but silence... Getting lost in silence, always swallowing... Her misty but bright eyes, her shy hands, as if to say I have embraced a whole world... As if she would tell a whole life if I asked a question...

Bircan Silan, who tells us about her in her new book, and here we are: "Türkan and Life"... A commentator who tells us about ourselves in her films. A cinema story that fits easily into 65 years... I leave the floor to Sultan.

- How are you these days?

I am very happy, I live as simple a life as possible. I am grateful for life. I am grateful for being Türkan Şoray, for being a mother, for my Yağmur being the center of my world at all times, for her love and for my family.

TURKAN AND LIFE

- Why is the name of the book Türkan and Hayat...

In this book, rather than talking about the film actress and director Türkan Şoray, we talked more about the emotional world of Türkan, who opens up to her loved ones. This is not my life story, but an interview about my perspective on life. Like everyone else, I have experienced ups and downs, resentments, anger, loves, assets, absences, longings, jealousies, deep loves, hatreds. Doğan Kitap suggested this name, and we liked it too. I think it is a beautiful name, don't you think?

- A long-term cinema career. Can we call the book a work in which we can read disappointments, joys, success, happiness, motherhood and cinema star Türkan Şoray with all transparency?

It really happened that way. For years, I was loved by my audience who watched me in movies and cinema. They will also get to know Türkan in Hayat. There is a Türkan Şoray in this book who has struggled, dreamed, sometimes kept quiet, mostly kept quiet… But when she started talking, she told everything she had accumulated inside… Bircan Usallı Silan, who has been my friend for years, and I felt like we were having a friendly chat. It was more like two friends sharing their troubles than a conversation. We talked about everything about life, love, and emotions. It was like an ordinary conversation, I opened up and she wrote. She even pulled out things that I had difficulty talking about from time to time. That’s why transparency is the right word.

- What did you give up to reach this day, to become Türkan Şoray?

I can't call it giving up. Türkan Şoray and Türkan always completed each other. Maybe I couldn't experience many emotions, some things were missing, I talked about these in my book a lot. As Türkan, although I loved her very much, I could rarely get on the ferry, but Türkan Şoray shot movies on the ferry, on the island. I didn't walk hand in hand with my lover on the beach, but Türkan Şoray did this, and many times... Still, what cinema gave me was much more than what I couldn't experience.

- What does cinema mean to you?

In one word: Love. Cinema is my life. I became Türkan Şoray thanks to cinema, I will always be grateful to cinema and my love for cinema will never end. Also, my responsibility towards cinema has increased a lot since I realized years ago how cinema is an art form that affects the masses. Carrying this responsibility for years, cinema has always been my priority in my life. My greatest desire was for the films I made to reach my audience and touch their hearts. This gave me the determination to work for years. I worked with love, enthusiasm and passion despite the difficult conditions.

- What do you think of today's Turkish cinema?

All of our young actors are brilliant, very talented, very brave. I am happy when I watch them. There are beautiful scripts, but there are also scripts that I criticize. I do not like projects that show violence against women and that are at the forefront of hatred. Cinema is one of the arts that can reach the widest audience. I think we have much more beautiful stories to tell.

- When you look back today, what do you miss the most?

I miss the sets so much, the sets were always like my home, my heaven. Working on the script, directing, being together with my fellow actors, working amidst the sounds of the engine and stops of the camera, feeling like I was looking at millions of people when looking at the camera... These are the things I have always missed and will miss... And of course, I love every aspect of Yağmur, but I also miss her when she was little.

PASSION FOR CINEMA

- If you were to make a sentence starting with..., what would you like to say?

I wish I loved myself more… I wish I could build more schools… I wish I had the chance to study at university…

- What makes Türkan Şoray, Türkan Şoray? Her passion for cinema? Working hard? Or her ambition?

Passion for cinema. I have always worked hard. Cinema has never been a "job" for me. It has become the reality of my life. Any job done with love is beautiful. I guess the fact that my audience has embraced the characters I identify with in the cinema has also contributed to my becoming Türkan Şoray.

- Is there a character that reflects you among the characters you have played?

Every character I have played stands out for me. I have learned a lot from each of them and also found a lot of myself. But I feel more identified with characters who make their own decisions, fight for what they love and believe in, and break out of their shells. That is why I can name characters like Mine, Dila Hanım, Nevin in Bodrum Hakimi, Sultan, and Sabiha in Vesikalı Yarim…

THE PROBLEMS IN OUR COUNTRY ARE THE PROBLEMS OF EVERY HUMAN BEING

- Do you care about our country's problems?

Is it possible not to worry? Everyone with eyes and ears and a conscience worries. Those we lost in the earthquake, people who have now lost their homes in the fire, miners who lost their lives, families struggling to make ends meet, girls who cannot go to school and many other problems... These are the problems of every human being. I wish we could do more. Not being able to solve these problems also hurts my conscience.

MAYBE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA, MAYBE BEHIND THE CAMERA, WHO KNOWS!

- Future projects, maybe a new documentary!

If there is a movie that I am happy with and that excites me, why not? Or maybe I will get behind the camera again, who knows…

'FRIEND, CONFIDENT AND COMRADE...'

Journalist Bircan Silan, a close friend of Türkan Şoray, says of the book, which she describes as a friendly conversation, "I wrote about what kind of person Türkan Şoray is, she told me, I told her."

- How did you agree to write about Türkan Şoray's life? How did the process proceed? Can you share with us the idea and creation process of the book?

This book is not Türkan Şoray's life; it is a book written about how she looks at life, how she struggles with life, how she acts in the face of events, her feelings, pains, joys. The writers she likes, the poems that influence her, a summary of her reactions to social events. It is a work that I can strongly recommend to those who are curious not about Türkan Şoray's life but about what kind of person Türkan Şoray is.

- What does Türkan Şoray mean to you?

For me, Türkan Şoray is first and foremost, in the words of dear Filiz Akın, “not my sister by blood, but by heart.” But beyond that, she is an icon who has always written her name at the top in the 65 years of our 110-year-old cinema, and who has become a part of our lives with the support she has given to education, women and young girls through her films. But for me, she is a friend, companion, confidant and comrade.

- There is something called Yeşilçam acting. How do you find and interpret it?

Yeşilçam acting is a concept that intellectuals always turn their noses up at and belittle. However, since the 80s, it has been a textbook for many actors, directors and producers that integrates life with its realities and social events. I never belittle Yeşilçam acting, I never belittle Yeşilçam. I see it as the starting point of our current cinema. This is a separate topic for discussion.