Happy 76th Birthday, Şerif Gören! Born today in 1944, this Turkish editor, screenwriter and film director, aside from important films under his own signature, is also the winner of the Palme d'Or at the 35th Cannes Film Festival in May 1982.
Gören was born in Xanthi, Greece. Years later, he started his film career as an editor.
He then continued as an assistant director to Turkish-born Kurdish film director, scenarist, novelist, and actor Yılmaz Güney, who produced features in Turkish.
Gören and Güney started directing the 1974 Turkish drama film 'Endişe' ('Anxiety') in the beginning of their careers.
The film tells the story of Cevher (Erkan Yücel) and his family, who all work in cotton fields in the late 1970s in Turkey.
Cevher has to pay blood money to save his life. He even considers getting his daughter married to a rich and old guy.
On the cotton fields, they have to compete with machines, which are preferred to human workers. Eventually, workers unite and go on strike.
Upon release, Güney was arrested and sent to prison. Gören, however, took over and continued directing 'Endişe', which made it as the first film to be directed mainly by him. 'Endişe' was a successful feature.
Gören directed more than thirty films in a decade. Unfortunately, his activities also brought him some trouble.
As he served as the chairman of the Film Directors Association during 1979-1980, he got arrested in the aftermath of the 1980 military coup.
After his release, Gören started directing the film of which he is best known for co-directing. This was the 1982 Turkish drama/romance film 'Yol' (translated as 'The Way', 'The Road' or 'The Path').
The film was also written, co-produced and co-directed by Güney. 'Yol' is a portrait of Turkey in the aftermath of the 1980 Turkish coup d'état.
Turkish musician, author, poet, and politician Zülfü Livaneli had written the score for 'Yol'.
However, due to political atmosphere in Turkey, he used the nickname Sebastian Argol in order to avoid possible sanctions from Turkish courts which were then operating under 1980 Turkish coup d'etat.
'Yol' tells of five Turkish convicts of whom are granted one week to visit friends and family.
Seyit Ali (Tarik Akan) arrives home to learn that his wife has turned to prostitution and has been taken hostage by his family so that Seyit can perform an honor killing.
Mehmet Salih (Halil Ergün) returns and confesses to his wife that he abandoned her brother during a botched heist.
The three other prisoners all discover turmoil within their villages and families as they mull over whether to return to jail or escape.
'Yol' premiered at the 35th Cannes Film Festival in May of that same year. It tied for the top prize, the Palme d'Or, with Greek-French film director and producer Costa-Gavras' ('Z') 1982 American historical drama film 'Missing'.
The following year, 'Yol' was also selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Film but was not accepted as a nominee. This occurred at the 55th Academy Awards in mid-April 1983.
However, 'Yol' was banned in Turkey because of its negative portrayal of the country at the time, which was under the control of a military dictatorship.
Even more controversial was the limited use of the Kurdish language, music and culture, (forbidden at the time), as well as the portrayal of the hardships Kurds live through in Turkey.
One scene in the film even calls the location of Ömer's (Necmettin Çobanoğlu) village "Kürdistan".
Later in 1983, Gören co-directed the 1983 Turkish drama film 'Derman'.
The film tells of a problematic life of a newly graduated midwife in a remote village, where winters are really harsh. This film is one of which Gören is also known.
In the late 2010s, a new version of 'Yol' was released in 2017, called 'Yol: The Full Version', in which many of these controversial parts and scenes have been taken out, to make the film suitable for release in Turkey.
In order to be shown at the Turkish stand at the 70th Cannes Film Festival, the Kürdistan insert was removed.
In what critics say goes against co-director Güney's wishes and call "censorship", the frame showing "Kürdistan" as well as a highly political scene where Ömer speaks about difficulties of being Kurdish were removed.
Another new version exists for the international market with all the politically controversial scenes included.
Still, 'Yol' has caused much controversy in Turkey, and had been banned until 1999.
Gören has been active from 1962–present.
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