“Kaya” - A film exploring the Alevi community

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Words by Lara Köse, Edited by Evar Hussayni

“Kaya” is an outsider, even in her orphanage. She is unlike her obedient friends and is drawn to a clandestine group, the forbidden Alevi, and their meetings occurring next door. 

Making this short film allowed me to explore my own Alevi ancestry, something I was ignorant of as an Australian born child of Turkish migrants, displaced from my heritage. 

The Alevi faith is a humanist belief system which has its roots in Anatolia, modern day Turkey. They see the presence of the divine as residing in the heart of all human beings and refer to God as “hakk”, meaning truth. They are Turkey’s largest religious minority and consist of Turkish and Kurdish ethnicities. Estimates of the population range from 10-20% but with no official census the exact number is unknown. They have no official recognition as a distinct religious identity and their place of worship, the cemevi, is still not recognized by the state. Some claim the Alevi faith as an Islamic sect, but the only purpose of this has been to assimilate and dispose of the Alevi identity. In fact, in Alevi practices we can see aspects of Zoroastrianism and Shamanism, dating much further back than Islam. The most important Alevi ritual is the Cem, where they perform a spiritual dance called the Semah. Its twirling movement symbolises the flight of a Crane that flies upwards towards truth and love. Eastern Turkey’s Munzur Valley is the heartland of the Alevi identity. The region’s isolation has insulated them from external influence. They do not believe in the afterlife and the serene mountains and Euphrates river act as their heaven on earth, as they live with a very sacred and respectful relationship to the land. The Alevi have faced extreme discrimination and trauma. Their history is a history of massacre and oppression. The Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic are responsible for multiple massacres in attempts to dilute the Alevi identity with the 1937-38 Dersim massacre killing thousands of Kurdish Alevis and the 1995 Sivas massacre which saw 33 intellectuals, mostly Alevi, burn in a hotel set alight by an angry mob. Police officers joined in their cheers as they watched. These are only two of many such events, and while the Alevi face continued discrimination today they struggle to financially and spiritually survive in modern Turkey. These cultural and ethnic cleansings have forcibly displaced traditionally rural Alevis into urbanized western Turkey and Europe. They have fled to save their lives and the Alevi diaspora has spread all over the world as far as Australia. With such drastic geographical displacement and cultural oppression the future generations of Turkish and Kurdish Alevis face extinction of their identity. 

When my dad retired he was free at last to return to his birthplace, a remote village in eastern Turkey called Yahşiler. A trip he’d been dreaming of for years. He’d told me many stories of his childhood, of his walks through the snowy mountains to school and of his small brick home with no electricity or running water, where his mother cooked simple meals. After supporting my mum and I for 30 years, he finally felt deserving to nurture himself and his own fundamental need: for home. 

I was intrigued by my father’s yearning and it stirred a curiosity in me I’d never felt, for a way of life I’d never learned about. I immediately began researching and writing a film about the Alevi told through the eyes of a child, (me), whose world is expanded when she learns of the Alevi and their beliefs. 

I met my dad in Istanbul in the summer of 2017. Together we rode the bus for 13 hours across the country until the incredible mountains of the Erzincan region signalled our arrival. The overpopulation of Istanbul a distant memory, here nothing towered above you except the clear blue skies and the yellow mountains. So serene. We continued by train along the river until we reached a hidden community of houses nestled in a mountainous valley. It was a pilgrimage to reach Yahşiler, and my journey had just begun. 

The two months before filming were some of the best of my life. I lived a routine of early Turkish breakfasts, cucumber and tomatoes from our garden, the best homemade flat bread ever and tea, always tea. In the afternoons the community shelter from the 40 degree day in their homes and emerge at sweet dusk to drink Efes and Raki and welcome an evening of barbeques and dancing. I felt whole every night when it was time to make the beds and fall into a blissful sleep, in a room full of snoring family and the lullaby of the river and crickets. 

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Filming in remote Turkey was a battle. I was unfamiliar with the industry and relied heavily on our Turkish crew. I was telling the story of a community and place that were very much alive and it was so important to me that I tell it with truth and integrity. In order to do that we needed the guidance of the community and they were there every step of the way. Their generosity is astounding. Every single face you see in the film is a community member. I didn't have the resources to hold auditions so we were forced to cast entirely from the village. This strengthens the authenticity of the film and allows me to watch and rewatch the beautiful faces from my first ever trip to Yahşiler. Since production, I’ve been back to Yahsiler for two more summers. I’m thinking next time I’ll visit in Spring because it’s so damn hot! 

When I landed in Melbourne after my trip last year, I felt a wave of heartache and began to cry. I was home, I should be happy. But having left my parents in Turkey and returning alone, to a land that doesn’t speak my ancestral language or understand the customs I was raised with, was a reminder of my fractured identity and lifelong yearning I’ll have for “home”, just like my father. 

Starring Kayra Bektaş, Tuana Argun and Elif Alan

Written, directed and edited by Lara Köse

Produced by Stephanie Westwood

Director of Photography - Josh Farmelo

Sound Design by Troy Mauri and Niels Gabriels

Composer - Oscar Vicente Slorach-Thorn

Colourist - Daniel Stonehouse

VFX - Drew Moden

Re-recording Mixer - David Williams

Production Assistants - Yusuf Köse and Songül Köksoy