“New Dawn Fades” explores reason with Istanbul as the main character

Turkish writer-director Gürcan Keltek (Meteors, gulyabani) has so far focused on short films and documentaries. On Thursday, he presented the world premiere of his first feature-length fiction film The new dawn fades (As the new dawn fades), a reflection on mental health, on the competition programme of the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival.

The film’s director of photography is Peter Zeitlinger (Meetings at the end of the world), known for his collaborations with Abel Ferrara, Ulrich Seidl and especially Werner Herzog. The film’s cast includes Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu, Ayla Algan, Erol Babaoğlu, Suzan Kardeş, Dilan Düzgüner and Gürkan Gedikli.

“The new dawn fades “Akin reflects on the idea that madness is another social construct, depicting the main protagonist’s final days before a nervous breakdown,” the film’s press kit notes. “It’s been years since Akin was last hospitalized. He is relentless, angry, and in shock at being stuck in the system. Since his release, he’s well aware that his old life is long gone. He’s become unable to leave his family home except for occasional visits to Istanbul’s religious monuments. During these visits, he falls into a state of ecstasy as he tries to seek refuge in God. These divine structures trigger something within him. As he loses touch with his true self, his mind shifts to another reality.”

Check out a teaser for the film below.

Before arriving in Locarno, Keltek took the time to speak to THRGeorg Szalai via Zoom explains how the film evolved from a documentary to a fiction film, the importance of Istanbul as a character, how sound and music (by British creator Son of Philip) are essential in helping to explore the protagonist’s state of mind and his thoughts on mental health and religion.

So far, you have mainly worked on documentaries. Why did you decide to change things up and take a fictional approach for your new film?

When I originally pitched this film, it was about a real person I was spending time with. As a documentary filmmaker, I wanted to show the audience how a [mental health] The attack takes place over several days and these attacks come in waves. So that was my first plan. Then my main character went through a really difficult time. He couldn’t go out, he couldn’t meet people. He had fears and visions in his head. So I couldn’t make that happen.

Then I decided to make a fiction film. But since I was making documentaries, I didn’t feel comfortable with fiction. Everything changed financially, with the actors and everything else. So I wanted to experiment with the idea of ​​putting a documentary idea on the table and making it into a fiction film.

That’s why we shot the film as a documentary actually. We went to most of the locations, some very private and special, in Istanbul like a guerrilla. So we shot there…