“The world is talking this movie” project
Cathie Hubert, France.
OYUNCAKÇI Saklı Yadigarlar
Filmmaker Yağmur kartal.
The toymaker hidden Heirloom.
“ The spirit of a child”
I very much like artists portraits, when they are done via multiple points of view. They always shade different lights on the same person, to try and capture their truth. “Oyuncakçı Saklı Yadigarlar” follows this path The documentary is very clever, as it is a mix of real life filming, interviews, and beautiful animation.
It is a portrait of the life and spirit of an Istanbul toymaker, Sabahattin, born in 1930, a modest married man with a job, a wife and children, who first appears to be an ordinary working family man. And yet as soon as he can, he spends time making small toys with bits and bobs, in the back yard of his house.
The film alternates present and past, imaginary life and reality, intertwined with testimonies of his daughters, friends and professionals.
Inside/ outside:
We follow the daily life and habits of Sabahattin, a beautiful old man, from his house to his workshop, sitting with his friends, talking about his toys or looking after his ill wife. Nothing fancy, a simple, genuine, man. His surroundings are modest, his hands those of a worker. And yet, he is always filmed in a pool of light, blue shirt, white hair, a softness in his eyes, sparkles when he speaks about his toys. The camera travels from his face to his hands, carefully cutting wires and assembling them together, with a delicate focus on the slightest detail. In the process, the spectator discovers his tiny imaginary toy world. His beautiful presence in the sun and the outer world, alternates with animated images or close ups of his wire toy characters, revealing their unique twist and representing the old man soul and fantasy inner world: pirates, boats, lovers, a voyage into “ the spirit of a child” as one of the interviewees puts it.
Past and present:
At the same time, the filmmaker introduces artistic, poetic, subdued animation reels, into the documentary, memories of the past, telling the story of both Sabahattin personal life and the history of Turkey, putting in perspective the life background of the craftsman and doing so, shedding a light on the creative process and conveying a deep nostalgia for times gone by,
“ When everything had a colour”. Those animated flashbacks, magically woven into the film, reflect the old man daydreaming images, a story maker spirit.
A man’s life seen by those who love him.
Finally, in between those images are inserted interviews of his daughters and people praising his work. I was most touched by Sunay Akin, the poet and toy museum manager, who speaks about Sabahattin with such feeling, touching the very core of the artist path with his sensitive words. As he so truly says: “ Impossibilities feed the genius”. This film is a homage to all the creatives in this world, whose beauty lies in the daily gestures, those who follow their path no matter what, the dreamers, the poets. When the last image of the film ended, I felt an emotional connection with Sabahattin, the craftmaker. I remembered my grand mother, who relentlessly transferred her dreams into wonderful paintings, in her small kitchen, day after day until she died aged 95, without looking for recognition or praise. Or that friend sculptor in the middle of nowhere in Scotland, crafting his wonderful wooden sculptures. Sabahattin and the dreamers of the world touch our soul. In Istanbul, France, or China, they leave shimmering traces, examples for us to follow. They hold in their hands a fire, transmitted to new generations, illuminating darkness. Yağmur kartal the filmmaker is one of them too.