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Cinema and theatre talks with the doyens of art

Masters of Art met with students at Istanbul Ticaret University

On the second day of the Cinema and Theatre Talks held within the scope of Trade Fest24, leading names of the art world such as Zihni Göktay, Gülşah Erdur, Şahin Altuğ and Dağhan Dönmez shared their experiences and views on art with the students.

Cinema and Theatre Conversations organised by the Culture and Literature Society within the scope of Trade Fest24 at Istanbul Ticaret University continued with the second part. On the last day of the talks held at the Sütlüce Campus Open Amphitheatre and attended by prominent artists, the participants were actor Zihni Göktay, actress Gülşah Erdur, director Şahin Altuğ and writer Dağhan Dönmez.

THERE WAS ALWAYS THEATER IN EVERY CORNER OF MY LIFE

The first guest of the event, moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gözde Sunal and Nursena Güngör, President of the Culture and Literature Community, was doyen actor Zihni Göktay. Göktay stated that his father never took him to a match, but always to the theatre and continued as follows “There was always theatre in every corner of my life. I went on stage with a performance in primary school and haven’t gotten off for 60 years. Like most actors, I grew up in the Eminönü Community Center, not the conservatory. My teacher was Muhsin Ertuğrul. I appeared on stage professionally in 1964. My first cinema film was “Tosun Paşa” with the insistence of Kemal Sunal.”

OFFER FOR THE BOOK OF RECORDS

Saying that he spent most of his life in theatre, the doyen actor said, “I played 76 theater plays. The game “Lüküs Hayat”, which I played for 28 years, was one of the turning points of my life. I even received an offer to enter the Guinness Book of Records with this role. “The previous record for a game was 17 years.”

WE EXPLAIN THE HUMAN TO HUMAN WITH HUMAN

Stating that Turks are better than America and Europe in terms of acting, Göktay said, “Our technology is a bit weak. In theatre, we explain human to human with human.  This is not easy to do. A person must have passion within him. Then we can deal with difficulties. When I started theater, there were times when I could not pay for my hotel room in Ankara. Since they did not let me into the hotel at night, I spent the morning at the station in zero degree cold. I asked myself, what am I doing here? Without this passion I would never have been able to continue. Young people also go to movies and theater plays. “I like the new generation.”

MY FATHER-IN-LAW FELL OFF A CAMEL AND DIED IN THE FILM

Talking about the interesting events that happened to him, the famous actor said, “There was a desert scene while shooting the film “Tosun Paşa”. We had to travel by camel. I’ve never ridden a camel before in my life. Akil Öztuna, who played my father-in-law in that scene, fell off the camel. He suffered internal bleeding and died. We continued shooting the movie.”

Zihni Göktay told the students who were thinking of acting that they should make plenty of observations and read a lot.

“THERE WAS AN ACTOR WHO TOLD ME NOT TO BE AN ACTOR, BE A BUTCHER”

The second guest of the interview was Theater Actor Gülşah Erdur. Erdur said that she was introduced to theater in Diyarbakır, the city where she was born and raised, and continued acting there. Stating that the event that she can call the turning point of her life changed after she told one of the actors after a theatre play that she wanted to be an actress, Gülşah Erdur said, “The actor I told that I wanted to be an actor told me, “Acting is hard work, go be a butcher”. This motivated me more. Years later, I talked to him again in the same play. I mean, the turning point for me was the player who told me to be a butcher.”

PLAY WHATEVER ROLE YOU WANT TO PLAY, BE GÜLŞAH

Stating that she never watched people who had played the same role before while preparing for the role, Erdur said, “My teacher Müşfik Kenter told me, “Whatever role you are going to play, be Gülşah”. I prefer not to watch it to avoid being influenced by those people. I will never forget what my teacher told me: “There are no bad plays, only bad players.” Even though I don’t like it, I will watch the play until the end.”

Stating that the problem of theatres is mostly caused by the fact that media names are actors, Erdur said, “It is really a sad situation that some names in the media are the leading roles over people who have been acting for years. I read tirelessly to improve myself. I follow the criticism. I also think that the plays were of better quality in previous years.”

Saying that people were defrauded with the promise of acting, Erdur emphasised that there are very bad people in the sector and that those who want to become an actor should pay special attention to this issue.

I DID NOT HAVE A STORY TO TELL IN MY FIRST FILM

The third guest of the event was Director Şahin Altuğ, and he said that he was a storyteller rather than a director. Stating that directing is a way to tell a story, Şahin Altuğ said, “Like you, I also studied at university and graduated from the Faculty of Communication. I shot my first movie during my university years. I think it’s really bad. But I didn’t have a story to tell then. The only thing I learned from my first movie was to keep trying. A famous director’s words, “I shoot the things I would watch myself,” are very valuable to me. Because, in the same way, I shoot films that I can watch myself. Even though I have shot things that have no story at some points in my life to make money”.

Altuğ also gave advice to the students to become a director or writer and continued: “Observe your surroundings, collect, accumulate and tell your own story. Consider yourself a cinema farmer. Even watch a director from the first film to the last film. Notice the change over the years.”

He advised the participants to read Memduh Şevket Esendal’s book “Ayaşlı and His Tenants”.

A CINEMA HALL IS A MAGICAL PLACE

The last guest of the talk, Dağhan Dönmez, started by answering the students’ questions about what cinema is. Stating that the cinema hall is a magical place, the famous writer said, “The state of people when they go to the cinema is very different from the state they leave. They can never return as the same people. They are influenced by the movie they watch. They even evaluate the movie according to their own lives. If a movie fascinates you, it’s good.”.

Stating that people no longer believe in miracles, Dönmez said: “Things that we call miracles happen on the cinema screen. Nowadays, movies serve as a tool for a new life. Therefore, cinema is a miraculous thing for us”.

Author Dağhan Dönmez also advised students to read Yusuf Atılgan’s book “The Idle Man”.