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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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