Interview with film director Ogulcan Atayo

This is an interview with film director Ogulcan Atayol who directed "Extremely Personal Documentary", presented at the festival of music in cinema, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• Are you interested in the relevance of music in cinema?
  Of course I'm interested.
• - Did you study film?

No, I studied photography at undergraduate and postgraduate level. I did not study film.

• 
  -What was your first foray into cinema?  

While studying photography at university, I always tried to take cinematic photographs. I wanted each frame to look like it was from a film. Eventually, still images weren't enough. So I taught myself to shoot and edit a few videos. At the time, YouTube had only been around for three years, and there weren't many ‘how-to’ videos available. So I taught myself. Then, while searching for the intersection between this and my other passion, motorcycles, I started working as a cameraman and editor on the most famous motorcycle show of the time, Altın Elbiseli Adam (The Man in the Golden Suit). When I started producing my own content for this programme, I always created cinematic content. At the same time, I started working as a director of photography on short films. Years later, in 2024, I completed my first feature-length documentary film, marking my debut as a director.

• 
  -Are you interested in cinema as art, industry or entertainment? 

Absolutely. I am building my future career in this field.

• 
  -In which category does your film intervene at this festival?  

It is primarily entered in the ‘Best documentary about music’ category, but I have also submitted it to other relevant subcategories.

• 
  -Do you have projects in progress? 
  I am currently working on a photography project and two film projects concurrently.
• 
  - Do you recognize influences in your work?  
  I did not make this film specifically because I was influenced by someone else's work. It is the biggest project I have undertaken in my life, a whole that I have created by taking inspiration from everything I have seen and read up to now, and which I consider to be unique.
• - How do you get financing?
  I financed the entire project myself. I made and completed the film on my own. Afterwards, I needed funding to start the festival circuit, and after applying to many places, I realised that funding is not provided for completed films. So I had to cover all the festival submission fees myself. However, this experience taught me how to proceed in order to obtain funding for my next film.
• 
  - Do you see the cinema as a definitive profession or only occasionally venture?  
  I am striving to make it a definite profession.
• 
  - What is your concept of cinema that interests you?
  First and foremost, I love the "realistic" approach to cinema. Every fiction has its own world and its own rules. But realism begins, above all, by not treating the audience like fools. I want to progress towards a realism that won't make people say, "that only happens in films anyway.".