Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a man sits on a boulder beside a still forest pool in dappled green light

Ever Since, I Have Been Flying

directed by Aylin Gökmen

A sixty-year-old Kurdish man, who grew up in a nomadic tribe in the mountains of south-eastern Turkey, recalls moments from his youth that shaped his life. He takes us back to his idyllic childhood with his mother, his first love found in a cotton field and lost in the woods, and the mistreatment suffered at the hands of the police, in a cold and dark place.

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Year
2023
Format
Documentary
Role
Cinematographer
Director
Aylin Gökmen
Awarded

Best Short Film

Popoli Film Festival (IT)

Trailer

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Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a lone twin-trunked tree stands in a dry golden valley below green hills
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a rocky pine-covered ridge crowned by pale limestone crags under clear blue sky
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a man sits on a boulder beside a still forest pool in dappled green light
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: white handwritten Kurdish over black with subtitle about flying away when spring calls
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: an older woman in a headscarf sits from behind on a rock at the water edge
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: close view of a woman's hands trailing through clear sunlit river water
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a woman crouches at the river, one hand on rock, feet in shallow water
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: several women sit dipping their feet at a reedy riverbank in summer light
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: profile of the curly-haired mustachioed man gazing upward in a green forest
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: the man stands small among tall pine trunks, hands cupped as he calls out
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: sunlit close view of ripe cotton bolls in a field at golden hour
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: distant figures pick cotton across a wide field under a pale sky
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a dark scrubby rocky mountainside at dusk under a deep grey sky
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: grainy grey mountain ridges half hidden by drifting mist and cloud
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: dusk sky glowing yellow behind blue silhouetted hills and clouds
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: the moon breaks through cloud above a dark silhouetted hilltop at night
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a hand reaches out to touch a rough rock wall in near darkness
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: dimly lit jagged rock surface receding into deep shadow
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: near-black frame with subtitle about people taken away to be interrogated and tortured
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a small bird with a long tail perched on dark shadowed rock
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: dim close portrait of the older man speaking, subtitled about seeing the light
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: darkened cotton field at night, subtitled about flying to childhood rivers
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a dry rocky valley bowl beneath scrubby hills under a cloudy sky
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a vast flat cotton field stretching to the horizon under scattered clouds
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: an older woman's wrinkled hands rest folded in her patterned floral lap
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: ripening red pomegranates hang among dark green leaves in dappled shade
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: close portrait of an old woman in a headscarf, face lit by dappled sun
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: profile of a young woman with wind-blown hair against a sunlit green meadow
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: two large boulders on a golden dry hillside as the sun sets behind
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: low view across rocky scrubland dotted with pale plants in raking light
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a dark cave mouth set into a rugged rocky outcrop under a pale sky
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a lone figure walks through a sunlit clearing among mountain pine trees
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: close view of a woman's braid and floral shawl beside a white cloth
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: macro view of dark caterpillars crawling over soft white cotton bolls
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: an aged family photo of villagers with goats and a donkey in the mountains
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: an aged snapshot of a family gathered outside a whitewashed village house
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: a faded photograph of a woman in a white headscarf leaning against a wall
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: an old photo of women holding hands dancing in a rustic village room
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying: the green film poster with a line-drawn bird carrying a sprig, Locarno selection

Credits

Director

Aylin Gökmen

Featuring

Vakıf Çağın

Production

À Vol d'Oiseau

Producer

Aylin Gökmen

Séverine Tibi

Writer

Aylin Gökmen

Cinematographer

Victor Maes

Camera Assistant

Tomris C. Canbulat

Line de Kanel

Assistant Director

Ozan Takış

Editing

Aylin Gökmen

Color Grading

Tapia González

Sound & SFX

Utku Gürler

Sound Design & Mix

Philippe Ciompi

Sound Mix Studio

Sound Disposition

Additional Sound

Saeid Jahromi

Artistic Consultant

Claude Barras

Production Consultant

Clémence Pun

Editing Consultant

Eka Tsotsoria

Special Consultant

Hüseyin Yavuz

Music

Yom

Film Development & Scan

Cinegrell

Film Stock

Kodak

Distribution

Square Eyes

Festivals

Locarno International Film Festival (CH)

Toronto International Film Festival (CA)

Camden Film Festival (US)

Interfilm Berlin (DE)

Denver Film Festival (US)

Popoli Film Festival (IT)

Chaktomuk Film Festival (KH)

Diaspora Film Festival (CA)

Montreal International Documentary Festival (CA)

Bogoshorts Film Festival (CO)

Turkish Film Festival Berlin (DE)

RIDM Film Festival (CA)

Nuit du Court métrage (CH)

Festival En Ville (BE)

Glasgow Short Film Festival (UK)

Festival Regard (CA)

Awards

2nd Place Confrontation Competition

Interfilm Berlin (DE)

Best International Short Film

RIDM Film Festival (CA)

Winner Compétition Échappées

Festival En Ville (BE)

Specs


Film Stock

Kodak 16mm 500T

Kodak 16mm 250D

Kodak 8mm 50D


Camera

Arri 16SR3 HS

Agfa Movexoom 10


Lenses

Zeiss Distagon

Zeiss HS Planar


Aspect Ratio

5:3 — 1.66

4:3 — 1.44

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