ISFFH Q & A with Filmmaker Efe Conker
Efe Conker has won both national and international awards with his first short “Recycle Diary” including Best Experimental at the 2008 International Student Film Festival Hollywood (ISFFH). He sold his short to SBS TV in Cannes Short Film corner after being selected. He worked uncredited in the pre-production process in Juliette Lewis World tour in Los Angeles and has shot several promotional and music videos. He earned his college degree in Advertising and Film & TV at Bilgi University in Istanbul, Turkey.
We had the opportunity to have a Q & A interview with him recently and learn what he has been up to the last few years.
ISFFH: Tell us about your film Reborn and where you got the idea for it.
Actually my ideas come from various musicians and composers. I am a Rolling Stones fan since the age of reason. The song called Gimme Shelter was my inspiration for my last movie called Reborn. It’s about dead soldiers and my point of view was the other side, their wives. What these women have done after losing their husbands. I tried to show it in a global way by nature. Don’t miss the teaser trailer on www.efefilm.com.
ISFFH: Who is the audience you wrote the film for?
My audience is the people with sensitivity towards the sorrows of humanity.
ISFFH: What do you consider the elements of a good film?
Only one – to be remembered. Good film has a power that can change a human behavior, add another point of view and be experienced as a witness of a realistic (or real) story.
ISFFH: Where do you find inspiration?
My inspiration comes from the things that I cannot turn my face away from. I like to write down the incidents that touch my heart. On the other hand I usually take notes about the movies and books that I’ve experienced.
ISFFH: Who are your mentors?
I’ve only had four mentors in my entire life. The first one is my family, they are marvelous. Second is Eda Arikan who is the president at 1000 Volt Post Production and 1000 Volt Entertainment LLC. She took me as an intern as a post producer, even though my goal was being a director. She helped me learn all of the aspects of post production in the world standards. Third is Zeynep Ozbatur. She is a producer of many great films, one of the best producers in Europe. Zeynep took me in like a family member and thought me world cinema aspects in her workshop called “yapımlab” The last one is a musician called Rahman Altın. He is spectacular composer for thousands of jingles and some of the great film scores. He has an extraordinary vision of art. He worked with HBO, WB, Dreamworks etc. So I always take care of his feedbacks. He has a significant role in my career.
ISFFH: Your film Recycle Diary was a winner in the International Student Film Festival Hollywood; did that help you in any way?
Yes, I got lots of invitations from festivals all around the world. Recycle Diary has won two international and three national awards. SBS channel from Australia bought the rights for it for three years when they saw it in Cannes Film Festival. Plus it was spectacular because Mike Medavoy, Chairman & Co-Founder of Phoenix Pictures handed me the Best Experimental award in 2008 at the International Student Film Festival Hollywood. I felt so emotional after seeing his name as a producer in Black Swan. He supports indie films too.
ISFFH: Do you find film festivals helpful?
I do, yes. I found an assistant job in Paramount Pictures after winning an award. Actually I do not care about winning awards. The only thing that matters is showing your work to the audience; having connections, and developing creative production teams. Awards are cool because of the way they create material support, but I do not have ambitions to collect awards.
ISFFH: What advice do you have for student filmmakers?
I shot my short film with 16mm, these days it is hard to shoot a short film. It was so hard to find people who have the time and money to help you to create your movie. Now in a digital age everyone can shoot and edit easily. My advice is to shoot as much as you can to learn the process. A good idea will always sell itself.
ISFFH: What are your goals? Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I have a documentary project in the pre-production process which is about musicians. Plus I am almost done with a feature film in the writing process. I would love to work in Istanbul and Los Angeles at the same time in ten years.
ISFFH: How can people follow your work?
Website – efefilm.com, Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/efefilm, Twitter – https://twitter.com/efefilm, and Instagram @efefilm.
Hollywood is the capital city of the entertainment world. The International Student Film Festival Hollywood is the only film festival that embraces all ages from around the world, offering students the unique opportunity to gain the recognition of film industry leaders creating career development opportunities in their home countries as well as the United States. The opportunities provided by the ISFFH not only benefit the students, but the world community by bringing together people of diverse cultures and differing viewpoints.
The International Student Film Festival Hollywood is now accepting submissions for its 11th annual Film and Video Competition. The Festival will be held in the NoHo Arts District of North Hollywood, CA USA October 26 – 27, 2013. The competition is open to students of all ages and academic backgrounds. Submission deadline is August 15, 2013. More information and entry forms are available on the festival website www.isffhollywood.org. You can also find us on facebook www.facebook.com/ISFFHollywood.