Boats out of Watermelon Rinds

The first feature film with autobiographical elements by the autodidact Turkish film director Ahmet Uluçay is an ode to his adolescent years in the Anatolian region in the 1960s, the golden age of the Turkish film industry. The story develops around two friends, Recep (Ismail Hakki Taslak) and Mehmet (Kadir Kaymaz) who live in a small town and dream of becoming film directors. The reality is different though: Recep earns his pittance by selling melons and Mehmet is an apprentice at the local barber, who makes his life a misery whenever he can. But the material indigence can not stop the young men from dreaming. In their free time, they collect old films dumped by the local cinema and organise their own ‘screenings’. They use a wooden box with light instead of a projector, and the only audience is the village idiot. Recep has another dream as well. He falls for the older Nihal, daughter of a lady to whom he brings watermelon rinds. This dream seems to be even more unrealistic than that of becoming a film director, and he enlists his friend Mehmet to help. This mesmerising movie is full of colourful images of the Turkish countryside and filled with a flavour of nostalgia and love for cinema; more than enough to please hungry eyes and caress cinematic souls. (LC)