gül

A summer's day between languages, meals and misunderstandings. Far from home, Gül lives and works with a patchwork family in a Turkish village. While Filiz, the youngest of the family, is killing time, Gül has to leave the village earlier than expected. Divided, her thoughts revolve around home and family in everyday life, as well as in the distance; Meanwhile, the village, seemingly untouched, continues to swing to its own rhythm.

When the fringes of a carpet or piece of clothing become entangled or intertwined with the fringes of another carpet or piece of clothing, there emerges a new, unpredictable pattern that no longer obeys the principles of order and origin, but rather creates multiple ratios of components. The individual fringes, in a sense, lose their own discrete identity by hooking onto, knotting, and entangling themselves with the others, thereby forming unruly ornaments that deviate from the actual original design. gül is like this sort of beautiful fringed carpet, as it constantly weaves the outer edges of a multilingual and transcultural nature without ever aiming to reach a point where these fringes could be unraveled.  

Gül works and lives with a Turkish-Austrian family in a Turkish beach town: where Gül comes from (she speaks Russian and Ukrainian in addition to Turkish), whether she is related to the Kumpas family or not, whether she is employed by the family or is just helping out, where she will move on to, whether the Kumpas family lives in the town or is just on vacation – all of this is left in radical limbo. Gül is surrounded by a melancholic indeterminacy and homelessness, but at the same time a tender bond develops between her and the family’s youngest daughter, Filiz, so that they are united in speechless solidarity at the end of the film. It could also be said that they have become intertwined. The shared perception of the place creates an understanding for one another that was not possible through language. (Sulgi Lie)

Orig. Title
gül
Year
2024
Country
Austria
Duration
28 min
Category
Short fiction, hybride
Orig. Language
Turkish, German, russian, ukrainian, uzbek
Subtitles
English
Downloads
gül 01 (Image)
gül 02 (Image)
gül 03 (Image)
Credits
Director
Lidija-Rukiye Kumpas
Cinematography
Stella-Joya Puelacher
Montage
Martin Weiss, Sarah Kučera
Sound
Fabian Rausch
Sound Design
Svea Malin Peters
Actor/Actress
Gullola Kutlieva, Ali Muhsin Kumpas, Filiz Kumpas, Iryna Yusyk, Esma Kurt, Luisa Reiterer, Ayşe Kumpas
Available Formats
Festivals (Selection)
2024
Sarajevo - Int. Film Festival
Wien - VIS Vienna Shorts (Best Newcomer)
Graz - Diagonale, Festival des österreichischen Films
Saarbrücken - Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis