Patrida means home country, fatherland in Greek. In this documentary, actress Ayça Damgacı tells us about her visit to the lands where her 87-year-old West Thracian father İsmet Damgacı was born and left due to forced migration. The journey starts in Istanbul, to Xanthi, Thessaloniki and Athens and all the way to Zurich. ‘Patrida’ is the story of a father and daughter, a family and their shared past, the questioning of ‘appointed’ belongings-identities and giving them new meanings.
“And what if a journey... Is a journey enough to understand all the violence we’ve experienced, the anger, our fears?”
Selected Festivals and Awards:
Boston Turkish Festival's 17th Annual Documentary & Short Film Competition (2022): Best Documentary Audience Award
JVDK Jury Special Award: Documentarist, Turkey (2021)
Istanbul Film Festival, Turkey (2021)
Turkish Film Critics Association (SIYAD) Awards Official Selection (2022)
Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival, Turkey (2021)
Documentarist Istanbul, Turkey (2021)
Queerfest Istanbul & Ankara, Turkey (2021)
Nürnberg Film Festival Türkei-Deutschland, Germany (2022)
Munich Turkish Film Days, Germany (2022)
International Labor Films Festival, Turkey (2022)
Directors AYÇA DAMGACI & TÜMAY GÖKTEPE
AYÇA DAMGACI
Ayça Damgacı is director, actor, and producer. Graduated from Istanbul University Theater Department. Directed and acted in several plays for Tiyatro Oyunevi. Also, performed in New York LaGuardia Performing Arts Center and LaMaMa in contemporary theater plays. Co-writer and leading actress of the film “Gitmek/My Marlon and Brando” which participated and won several awards in local and international film festivals. With this film, which is based on her journey to her lover in Iraqi Kurdistan, she won best actress prizes in Istanbul, Sarajevo, Adana, Tetouan and Nurnberg Film Festivals.
Also, acted in several well-known movies such as “Aylavyu”, “Unutma Beni Istanbul/Do not Forget Me Istanbul” and “Yozgat Blues” as well as popular Turkish TV series such as “Avlu/The Yard”. Patrida is her first feature documentary film co-directed with Tümay Göktepe. My Marlon and Brando was screened at the 8th Boston Turkish Film Festival in 2009.
TÜMAY GÖKTEPE
Tümay Göktepe is director, DOP, editor. She has business administration degree and is a self-thought social documentary photographer and videographer.
Since 2011 she works as videographer and editor. Her photographs are published in several local magazines and exhibited in both national/international art galleries and festivals.
She is producing and editing films for NGO’s based in Turkey and abroad. Patrida is her first feature documentary film co-directed with Ayça Damgacı.
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