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

Synopsis

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.

Year: 2023
Format: Documentary
Role: Cinematographer
Director: Aylin Gökmen
Status: in distribution

Awarded

Best Short Film

Popoli Film Festival (IT)

Trailer

Watch trailer on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

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

View all 39 stillsShow fewer stills

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: 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: 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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