State-appointed trustee to turn Yılmaz Güney Movie House into decorative pool

Speaking to Mezopotamya Agency, Batman Municipality sources have said that the area where the movie house named after late Kurdish director Güney was located will be a part of the nearby park and a decorative pool will be constructed there.

İstanbul

State-appointed trustee to turn Yılmaz Güney Movie House into decorative pool

* Photo: Mezopotamya Agency (MA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Provincial Municipality built a movie house in Turkey's southeastern province of Batman in 2004 and named it after Yılmaz Güney, the late Kurdish film director who lost his life in exile in France in 1984.

However, the movie house was closed by the state-appointed trustee in the previous term in 2016. One year later, the Yılmaz Güney Movie House was burned down due to an alleged electrical contact.

Elected in the last local elections on March 31, 2019, Batman Co-Mayors from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) decided to reconstruct the Yılmaz Günvey Movie House, which was not in a state suitable for use.

While the planning of the movie hall was adjourned till 2020 due to a debt of 307 million Turkish Lira (TRY) from the trustee period, the project has been completely suspended after a trustee was appointed to the Batman Municipality on March 23, 2020. The area where the movie house was located had long been long surrounded by a fence.

However, recently, the fence has been removed. The municipality is reportedly planning to incorporate this area into the nearby Atatürk Park. Speaking to Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the municipality sources have indicated that the area will be a part of the park and a decorative pool will be built there. While excavation works have started in the area within this context, water pipes of the pool have started to be laid.

Speaking about the issue, dismissed Co-Mayor of Batman Songül Korkmaz has said, "Yılmaz Güney Movie House is not solely a hall, but it is also an area which has come to be identified with the city. We started working to rebuild it for this reason. Continuity is essential in institutions; therefore, this movie house needs to be reconstructed."

In operation for 10 years, the movie house turned into one of the symbols of the city, provided cheap and quality services and hosted several festivals, panel discussions and exhibitions in this period.

About Yılmaz Güney

Yılmaz Güney (born Yılmaz Pütün, 1 April 1937 – 9 September 1984) was a Kurdish film director, scenarist, novelist, and actor, who produced movies in Turkish. He quickly rose to prominence in Turkish Film Industry.

Many of his works were devoted to the plight of ordinary, working class people in Turkey. Yılmaz Güney won the Palme d'Or with the film Yol (The Road) he co-produced with Şerif Gören at Cannes Film Festival in 1982.

He was at constant odds with the Turkish government because of his portrayals of Kurdish culture, people and language in his movies. After being accused of killing a judge, something Yılmaz claimed to be innocent of, and being convicted in a controversial trial in 1974, he fled the country and later lost his citizenship.

In September 1980, his works were banned by the new military junta. Güney said, "There are only two possibilities: to fight or to give up, I chose to fight". After escaping from prison in 1981 and fleeing to France, Güney won the Palme d'Or at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival for his film Yol, whose director in the field was once again Şerif Gören.

It was not until 1983 that Güney resumed directing, telling a brutal tale of imprisoned children in his final film, Duvar (The Wall, 1983), made in France with the cooperation of the French government. Meanwhile, Turkey's government revoked his citizenship and a court sentenced him to twenty-two extra years in jail.

Yılmaz Güney died of gastric cancer in 1984, in Paris, France.