Strasburg Film Festival short film The All Seeing Blind takes places as the Golds of Saddam, the last booties of the Iraqi war, are smuggled into Turkey hidden in cotton. Blind workers are used to pick the gold from the cotton and smugglers try to prevent any possible thefts by telling the workers that it is rocks they are picking from the cotton. What they don’t know is that a worker who is in fact not blind.
THE ALL SEEING BLIND will be shown on Saturday, November the 10th, 3:25 PM @ Box Office Brewery. Tickets can be found on the film’s event page.
Director Biography – Nuri Cihan Ozdogan
Ozdogan was born in 1990 in Kadirli and has lived in Adana since 1996. He is currently pursuing a masters degree in mechanical engineering at Cukurova University.
Director Statement
Sirayet means “to enure” “to rub off someone”.
When we examine the social structure we see that there’s a system and that people are a part of it. The ones who create the system sustain it for their own advantage. At the bottom of the system there’s a fraction of people who do everything they’re told, no question asked, as well as those who are aware of it all who call themselves the enlighted. The enlighted pretend to be blind as long as the system doesn’t get in their way. Then what good is it to be enlightened or to be aware of it all? When benefit is in question, “being blind” will rub off to everyone including those who are creators of the system.
When writing the scenario, I gave great care to the use of the “secret” factor throughout the film. I created the story around both the secrets between the characters of the movie and those between the movie and viewers. Thus, I would be able to surface the senses of tension and curiosity in the viewers. I wanted the viewers, who I kept interested with the secret factor, to face the main point. The film says it’s final word in the finale. The mirror I use in the final scene in a metaphor to emphasize the viewers confronting themselves.
The film tells the story of Saddam’s gold from Iraqi war being smuggled into Turkey in cotton in little pieces. The gold smugglers use bling workers to pick the gold from the cotton. The reason being their sense of touch is developed more and since they don’t know what they’re picking, the risk of theft is reduced to minimum.
To play the part of the blind, I specifically asked from our city’s association for the blind to help me cast actual blind citizens fort he film. I know that the visually impaired people take part especially in the field of music. I wanted to increase their interest towards the art of cinema and have the chance to work with Professional actors. Although they are not able to watch it, I was very affected to see how much they wanted to be a part of the film during the filming. As a technical note, this is the second film to use the demo cinema lenses produced by the Sigma Company. The film was shot in natural light without any artificial lighting whatsoever.
