'Atif Abi' is 100 years old

Atıf Yılmaz was one of the first directors I met when I was just starting out in cinema. His kindness and the mischievous smile that never left his lips captivated me from our very first meeting. He was a regular at dear Arif Keskiner's "Flower Bar." He shared his table with the biggest stars of our cinema and young directors. His jokes would fill the table with laughter. There wasn't a single person in Yeşilçam who didn't love "Atıf Abi" (Atıf Abi). I had the chance to work with this great artist on a film. "Deli Kan," starring Müjde Ar and Tarık Akan, was my first film as an art director. Yılmaz, who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts for a time during his youth (his beloved wife, Deniz Türkali, always called him Yılmaz), was also loved by everyone in Istanbul's intellectual circles. He had so many friends, from Yaşar Kemal to Ara Güler, from Kemal Tahir to Duygu Asena, from Onat Kutlar to Vedat Türkali (Unfortunately, none of them are among us today)... This characteristic made him one of the main figures of our art world and caused him to climb to the top as an autodidact director.

His close ties with Istanbul's "intelligentsia" are likely one of the reasons why his films include so many literary adaptations. It's undeniable that Vedat Türkali, a close friend, and his children Deniz and Barış had a positive impact on Yılmaz's film career. Deniz contributed to some of his films as an actor, screenwriter, or assistant, while Barış Pirhasan wrote the scripts for some of Yılmaz's films. While he was close to the "National Cinema" movement spearheaded by Halit Refiğ and Metin Erksan for a time, he never severed his ties with the "Cinematek" (cinematheques), whom he considered enemies.

PASSION FOR LITERATURE

Atıf Yılmaz was a director who enjoyed exploring diverse themes and genres. His filmography spans a full 111 (some sources say 112) films, from village films to urban films, from melodrama to comedy, from social realism to films championing women's liberation. Few directors in world cinema are as prolific as this. Of course, among these, there are many he made for financial reasons, but even then, he never shied away from maintaining a certain aesthetic concern. I've always felt that our film critics and historians haven't given Atıf Yılmaz the importance he deserved. It was Atıf Yılmaz who first discovered a great actor-screenwriter-director like Yılmaz Güney; it was he who introduced stars like Müjde Ar, Hale Soygazi, and Lale Mansur to our cinema; and it was he who created some of Türkan Şoray's and Kemal Sunal's most important films.

Yılmaz, who made his first film, "Bloody Feryat" (Bloody Feryat), in 1951, adapted novels by Oğuz Özdeş, Kerime Nadir, Esat Mahmut Karakurt, Ethem İzzet Benice, and Aka Gündüz for the big screen, following a commercial comedy. He provided the first examples of social realism in our cinema with his adaptations of Kemal Bilbaşar (The Bride's Desire) in 1957 and Yaşar Kemal (The Fallen Age and Karacaoğlan's Dark Love) in 1958. In 1959, he wrote "This Homeland's Children," the script of which he co-wrote with Halit Refiğ and Yılmaz Güney. In 1960, he adapted "Doyıcılar Şahı" (Swindler Shah) from a screenplay by Vedat Türkali. In 1964, he adapted "The Epic of Keşanlı Ali" by Haldun Taner. In the second half of the 1960s, he introduced Zeki Müren to cinema with "Always That Song," written by Safa Önal; Metin Oktay with "The Crownless King," and Yıldız Kenter with Hidayet Sayın's adaptation of "Pink Woman." "Ah Güzel İstanbul," which he co-wrote with Safa Önal, is among Yeşilçam's classics. He also worked with master cinematographer Gani Turanlı on many of these films.

In the 1970s, Atıf Yılmaz, who worked as a screenwriter with master writers such as Ayşe Şasa, Bülent Oran, Selim İleri, Erdoğan Tünaş, and Umur Bugay, and master cinematographers such as Çetin Tunca, Çetin Gürtop, and Erdoğan Engin, directed Kemal Bilbaşar’s adaptation of “Cemo” and Cahit Atay’s “Kuma”; in 1974, he completed “Zavallılar,” which was left unfinished when Güney was imprisoned. In 1977, he directed “Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım” (Selvi Boy with the Red Scarf); in 1978, he directed “Kibar Feyzo,” from a script by İhsan Yüce; and in 1979 and 1980, he directed two important films with scripts by Başar Sabuncu, “Adak” and “Talihli Amele.”

TEAMWORK

The 1980s were the years when Yılmaz's productivity was at its peak. Following "Deli Kan" and "Dolap Beygiri," he made Necati Cumalı's adaptation of "Mine," which brought the theme of women's liberation to the forefront of Turkish cinema. Among Yılmaz's key films in which he emphasized women's independence are "Seni Seviyorum" (I Love You), based on a Macit Koper screenplay; "Bir Yudum Sevgi" (A Sip of Love), based on a Latife Tekin story; "Messy Bed," based on a Murathan Mungan screenplay; two adaptations of Necati Cumalı's "Adı Vasfiye" (Her Name is Vasfiye) and "A Widowed Woman," written by Barış Pirhasan; and "Aaah Belinda," adapted by Pirhasan from Vasıf Öngören's play "How to Save Asiye." Among the highlights of his filmography are Barış Pirhasan's adaptation of R.N. Güntekin's "Değirmen," Ümit Ünal's screenplay "Hayalleri m Aşkım ve Sen," Duygu Asena's "Kadın Adı Yok" (There Is No Woman's Name), and "My Friend the Devil," a product of a team effort (Ü.Ünal, H.Refiğ, A.Şasa, A.Yılmaz). Yılmaz, who places great importance on music in addition to literature and visuals in his films, has worked with master composers such as Yalçın Tura, Cahit Berkay, and Atilla Özdemiroğlu. Continuing his career with a series of adaptations in the late 1980s, Yılmaz directed Ümit Kıvanç's "Bekle Dedim Gölgeye" (I Said the Shadow) and Esma Ocak's "Berdel" (I Want to Be a Bride).

In the '90s, he directed "Gece Melek ve Bizim Çocuklar" (The Night Angel and Our Children), based on a screenplay by Yıldırım Türker; "Kazandibi Tavukgöğü" (The Chicken Breast) based on a screenplay by Zeynep Avcı; "Nihavend Mucize," adapted by Z. Avcı from a story by İpek Çalışlar; "September Storm," adapted by Gaye Boralıoğlu from a novel by Habib Bektaş; and in 2004, "Eğreti Gelin" (The Bride), based on a novel by Şükran Kozalı. Atıf Yılmaz, who has produced only one television series (Aziz Nesin's "Sweet Betüş"), has a rich filmography that exemplifies how to make films without losing touch with his audience, and can be a guide for our young filmmakers. He was a director who believed in teamwork and strove to teach his audience. He sometimes adapted to Yeşilçam's commercial rules, sometimes rebelled. But he remained always honest, always compassionate, and always enthusiastic; he always defended human dignity. His legacy was written into Yeşilçam's book of honor...