INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
THE DIARY OF AN EXILE
Director: Mert Güncüer
Türkiye / 2024 / Colour / 73’ / Turkish, Greek; Turkish, English subtitles
Screenplay: Mert Güncüer
Cinematography: Mert Güncüer, Deniz Göçmen, Burak Oğuz Saguner
Editing: Mert Güncüer
The Diary of an Exile unfolds around the memories and daily life of revolutionary musician Fuat Saka, who had to leave Türkiye just before the military coup d’etat in 1980 because of his political views and a fascist attack against him on the eve of 1979. Following his escape, Saka lived in exile for nearly 20 years starting from the 1980s and through the 1990s. His music was shaped during the exile and gained diversity. He borrowed the traditions of Anatolian music and mixed it with the music of various cultures. His perspective and attitude towards music would enable him as an artist to produce music in different genres and become one of the pioneers in the emergence of the genre that would later be called World Music. The film takes the viewer back and forth in time and tells the ups and downs of Saka’s life and music.
TRAILER
Mert Güncüer
Mert Güncüer completed his undergraduate studies in Communication and Design at Bilkent University. In 2015, he joined Luksuz Produkcija, a European Union-supported organization, where he collaborated with artists from around the world on short films, music videos, and documentaries.
He earned his master’s degree in Radio, Television, and Cinema from Başkent University in 2019. In 2021, with support from the Turkish Ministry of Culture, he began working on his first feature-length film, Çikizinin İki Tarafı (Together Apart). That same year, he also started production on Bir Sürgünün Not Defteri: Misina (The Diary of an Exile), a documentary centered on the life of musician Fuat Saka.
Since 2013, Güncüer has participated in numerous national and international film festivals with his works. His 2020 short film Yarın&Yarın (Tomorrow&Tomorrow) was featured in the European Film Market, the 43rd Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival Film Market, the Turkish Cinema Catalog, and the 77th Cannes Film Festival Film Market.
In the same year, his film Zamansız Zamanlar (Time-less) received the Jury Special Award for Best Cinematography at the Europe Film Festival U.K.