No Country for Others

A film about migration, otherness, and the fragile possibility of living together.

In Istanbul's Aksaray district, traces of distant geographies collide — Syria, Somalia, East Turkestan, Kazakhstan. An Ethiopian hairdresser stands beside a Damascene restaurant; a Kazakh eatery is followed by a Gazan falafel shop. A courier from Urfa competes with a Somali counterpart. Yemenis and Uyghurs have become neighboring shopkeepers. At the heart of this convergence lies Yeni Han — a stopover for those fleeing war and poverty, where many seek a way forward. From asylum applications to court petitions, school enrollments to residence permits, lives are rewritten as documents are translated. For some it is a refuge; for others a noisy and unsettling space, filled with moments where the official and the unofficial constantly shift places. Right next to this intense flow, in the same building and on the same street, an invisible distance stretches between locals and newcomers. They live side by side, yet without touch — sometimes built from fear, sometimes from prejudice, often in silence. This film listens to that silence, and to the fragile possibility of living together.

Director — Bingöl Elmas

Bingöl Elmas graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Communication. After working at various television channels, she joined the Documentary Filmmakers Association, where she served for eight years, organizing workshops, conferences and nationwide documentary screenings. She was part of the International 1001 Documentary Film Festival committee and taught documentary workshops at several universities. She has served as a jury member at national and international festivals including Antalya Golden Orange, Ankara, FilmAmed, Istanbul Short Film, İfsak and Afsad. With her debut film CicadAnt she won the Best Documentary Award at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, and later received the Bilge Olgaç Achievement Award at the Flying Broom Women's Film Festival. Her films include Hey Neighbour! (2014), A Handful of Land (2013), Playing House (2012), My Letter to Pippa (2011) and TransAsia (2008).