'When we deny the darkness within ourselves, it doesn’t disappear - it only becomes invisible. Then, it returns as silent resentment, hidden hatred, guilt, or violence passed from one generation to the next,’ says Karahan “Djinn Wedding” (“Cinlerin Düğünü”), written and directed by Ferit Karahan (“Brother’s Keeper,” “The Fall From Heaven”), will have its world premiere at Toronto as part of the TIFF Platform competition. This is Karahan’s follow-up feature to “Brother’s Keeper,” which won the Berlin Film Festival’s Fipresci Award in the Panorama section.
A magic realism story about family, history and Anatolian folk tales, the film follows four siblings across three periods of time as their dark secrets and traumas begin to unravel during a family wedding. It deals with the universal themes of loss, guilt and mourning. The film stars Demit Özdemir, Kaan Yildirim, İlhan Şen, Sarp Bozkurt, Heli̇n Kandemi̇r and Evliya Aykan.
It is produced by Ferit Karahan Film, Royal Pictures, Maya Films and Arya Yapim. Luxbox is handling international sales. Variety spoke with director Ferit Karahan ahead of its world premiere in Toronto.
Can you tell me about the djinn and what they symbolize in Anatolian folklore? Ferit Karahan: In Anatolian culture specifically, but also more broadly across Islamic cultures, djinn are invisible beings who share the same world as humans. Stories about them are often intertwined with the night, abandoned places, thresholds, weddings and death.
I grew up in a region where these stories were still very much alive. It was part of everyday life for people to make sense of things they couldn’t explain through djinn, dreams or legends. The reality we live with in the Middle East today can be so harsh, and at times so irrational, that even when I try to explain it to my own child, I find myself needing elements of the surreal.
I don’t use them to soften reality or escape from it. On the contrary, I use them to make that reality tellable and bearable. Perhaps this is where my relationship with magical realism begins.
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