Zeki Demirkubuz takes a jab at Netflix: 'We know whose films they will acquire'

Director Zeki Demirkubuz was the guest at the first 'Director Talks' event, organized by the Küçükçekmece Municipality and the Film Office. The talk, held at the Sefaköy Culture and Art Center, drew interest from cinema enthusiasts as well as Demirkubuz's fans. Demirkubuz answered questions about his films, his life, and cinema, and shared his insights.

Director Zeki Demirkubuz stated that his latest film, 'Hayat', would be available on digital platforms within a few months, but that this platform would not be Netflix. Demirkubuz remarked, "We know whose films Netflix will acquire."

"THIS IS WHAT COMES OUT OF MY 12 FILMS: IRRATIONALITY"

Zeki Demirkubuz, who returned to the silver screen after a long hiatus with his film Hayat, explained his screenwriting process during the talk: “For me, this is not a matter of a path, method, or technique. I try to write in a way that is extremely open to emotional adventures. This is not a job, even if it is technically so. There are no grand methods, mathematics, or chemistry involved. I don't do it that way.

I make sure of my emotions. I look for ways to tell the issues I have accumulated as a human being over the years. The most impressive of these is the dark side of human nature. This is what comes out of my 12 films, more or less: irrationality. I draw from philosophers and great literary writers for most of these. Like Nietzsche and Camus. Don't think of this as something very special. It's like writing a letter to someone… Think simply. If your emotions are provoked and you have a sense of helplessness, if there is a lot of emotion inside you, you write at length. You progress by never being satisfied with what you have written.”

"THESE ARE FILMS DEVOID OF ESSENCE AND FIRE"

Expressing that cinema has also had its share of postmodern times, Demirkubuz said, “Nowadays, films that are concocted at a desk, made with calculations and planning—like Bob Ross saying 'we need something here'—and are devoid of emotion, are more appealing to today's people. These are films devoid of essence and fire. This is starting to happen not just in commercial cinema, but in art films as well.”

"LIKE LÜTFÜ AKAD, YILMAZ GÜNEY, TARKOVSKY"

“It is important to me to do this work by staying true to yourself, focusing on themes that are inward-looking rather than outward-looking, themes that are your own, that trouble you, telling stories that hurt you, by putting in the effort, working hard, without getting tired, by doubting yourself, and by trying to be innovative, as a seeker. It is very important to be people who have essence and fire… Like Lütfü Akad, Yılmaz Güney, Tarkovsky… The importance of having essence and fire together is being able to be original,” he said.

A JAB AT NETFLIX: WE KNOW WHOSE FILMS THEY WILL ACQUIRE

When asked by a fan, “When will your latest film ‘Hayat’ fall to piracy or digital platforms?”, the famous director Zeki Demirkubuz replied, “When ‘Hayat’ falls to piracy depends not on me, but on the skill of the pirates. As for digital platforms, it will arrive in a few months; it won't come to Netflix, but we know whose films Netflix will acquire.”

"NO ONE IS REVEALING WHAT IS UNIQUE WITHIN THEMSELVES"

Giving advice to aspiring actors, Demirkubuz said, “The problem in this country is the clichés and nonsense taught in the name of acting, the lies taught in the name of acting. Al Pacino and Nicholson—neither of them puts on a costume for a character, they don't use heavy makeup, they don't change their shape, and these are Hollywood men. Al Pacino plays by capturing the emotion of the character he is going to play.”

"THEY REPEAT WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED LIKE PARROTS"

“The issue here is being able to capture the emotion of what we are going to tell. If we can capture that firmly, we can then embellish it, feed it with lies, and make it interesting. Those who want to be actors; they highlight the equivalents of acting in Turkey, the sense of justice, the inequalities in auditions, the problems of the sector, and so on, finding excuses without ever questioning themselves—'Why am I acting?', 'What would I do if I were given an opportunity?'—and they repeat what they have learned like parrots. No one is revealing what is unique within themselves,” he said.