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Zenne (Turkish/English) [Dancer]

By Golu
This was a fantastic film. Inspired by true events and story of Ahmed Yildiz who was murdered for being gay, this is a heart wrenching story. I am not sure how the whole gay scene in Turkey is like but I do know that all the military scenes that were shown for gays are pretty real. The fact that my boyfriend did go for the turkish military and had some interesting tidbits to share made this film a close to home film.

Can is a free spirited youngster, who is trying o avoid military and is hiding at his aunt's home. He works as a zenne (male belly dancer) in a nightclub. He is trying to hide from cops and thats the reason he works at night. We also have a German photographer Daniel, who himself is trying to run away from his past and is spending time in Istanbul. FInally we have Ahmet, a university student in Istanbul, born and raised in very traditional family in South-Eastern Turkey. As the friendship between the trip progresses, the viewers are shown some other facets of their life. Ahmet's mother has spies on her son because she is obsessed with cleaning and thinks her son is unto something. Ahmet and daniel soon become a couple and want to start a life together. But like it is mandatory for every Turkish male to do military, both Can and Ahmet are avoiding military. We go through Can's struggle, his longing for his family, his mother's desperate attempts to keep her son safe. On the other hand we have Ahmet's mother, who is so much into honor, that she would not mind getting rid of her son completely for being gay to save her family honor. In between all this we have Daniel, who wants to make a difference for Ahmet and Can both. After struggles and proving (a very degrading process for Turkish military) that they are gay, both Can and Ahmet are exempt from military. Ahmet comes out to his father and wants to break free and leave with Daniel to Germany but in a shocking turn of events, is killed by his own father, who as it stands has still not been put to trial.

The acting by all principal actors is very very good. You feel their pain, their anguish and struggles about just going through with their everyday chores. On one side we have a loving mother of Can but we also see a completely different side of motherhood in Ahmet's mother who would stop nothing short to keep her honor. Some of the dance scenes are well blended into the film using parallel editing with scenes. It was also good to see that Can's aunt's boyfriend's support to these gay guys. I think the film tried to show that there will be haters and there will be supporters for you being gay but there will be balance. There will be struggles but if you try, you can get through. Apparently Turkish military possess the largest collection of porn because of these pictures of gay men. Truly disgusting!!

I would strongly recommend. Although it describes Turkish society, it also goes far beyond, questioning generic values such as family, pride, tradition. (8/10)
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