Scriptwriter
Born:
26.10.1983, Istanbul (Turkey)
Education:
Istanbul University Radio-TV & Cinema Department Master Program (2011-2015)
Sakarya University International Relations Department (2001-2005)
Place of Residence:
Istanbul (Turkey)
Biography
Mehmet Selcuk Bilge was born in Istanbul in 1983. He has been working as a short film and promotional video director since 2003.
After graduating in International Relations from Sakarya University, Mehmet Selcuk studied Radio-TV and Cinema at Istanbul University, receiving his Master’s degree with a thesis entitled “Utopia and Dystopia in Cinema: Semiological Analysis of Children of Men”.
His short films competed in prominent festivals in Turkey and around world, and he won the DocuTIFF Best Balkan Film Award with his documentary, ROTTEN (2015).
Sample of previous work
Projects in development
HUMAN SADNESS
feature film
first draft
In a totalitarian country of a dystopian world, the suicide attempt of a lonely middle-aged woman is investigated by government. She is forced to give reasons for her behavior otherwise she has to appear in court because unwarranted suicide is prohibited by law. When she realizes and declares that she wanted to end her life just because of this suffocating system, the judge decides that she’s a terrorist and she has to be executed.
Attached to the project: director
Looking for: co-writer, producer
Keywords: dystopia, dark comedy, kafkaesque, chaos, survival
Filmography and Awards
2016 THE ROPE BROKE, short film, writer/director – Balkan Film Food Festival, Albania: Best Short Film (Mish Mash Awards)
2015 ROTTEN, short documentary, writer/director – DocuTIFF, Albania: Best Balkan Film
2007 MR. UNHAPPY, short fiction, writer/director – 18th Ankara Intl. Film Festival, Turkey: Best Short Film
My five favourite films
- Inland Empire (2006)
by David Lynch - Repulsion (1965)
by Roman Polanski - Vertigo (1958)
by Alfred Hitchcock - Children of Men (2006)
by Alfonso Cuaron - Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
by Peter Weir
Favourite scene I wrote
INT. SUREYYA HOUSE – DAY
Süreyya, a rather plain and unassuming woman in her forties, visited by the social worker. They are sitting on the table, Sureyya looks nervous. Social Worker hands her some documents.
SOCIAL WORKER
Fill up this paper,first…
For the Ministry of Internal
Affairs… Then this one…
For the Ministry of Religion.
SÜREYYA
Alright.
SOCIAL WORKER
Not married, right?
SÜREYYA
Divorced.
SOCIAL WORKER
Kids?
SÜREYYA
No…
Süreyya tries to fill the forms in a hurry. The social worker looks around the house then stares at her.
SOCIAL WORKER
Okay… This is for the Ministry
of Family. Write this down: “I
have no family, I have no kids.
My husband left me…” Then sign it.
SÜREYYA
Okay.
SOCIAL WORKER
Did you.. do it here?
SÜREYYA
In the bedroom.
SOCIAL WORKER
How?
SÜREYYA
Haven’t you read my testimony?
SOCIAL WORKER
We’re not supposed to read
testimonies.
SÜREYYA
The rope broke. I tied it to
the hook on the ceiling.
SOCIAL WORKER
It didn’t carry your weight,
naturally.
SÜREYYA
Naturally. I fell down. My
landlady found me.
SOCIAL WORKER
How did she open the door?
SÜREYYA
She has an extra key.
SOCIAL WORKER
There must be a bruise on your
neck.
Süreyya removes her scarf shyly and shows her neck. He sees the bruise and makes a sour face.
SOCIAL WORKER
No no… Don’t show me. Fill up
those forms, please.
SÜREYYA
I… didn’t understand these
questions.
SOCIAL WORKER
Give it to me!
He takes the paper out of her hand and starts to read and fill up himself.
SOCIAL WORKER
Are you religious?
Süreyya looks unstable, can’t respond.
SOCIAL WORKER
Either you are, or either you
are not.
SÜREYYA
I am, I guess… Write down that
I am religious.
He reads the next question.
SOCIAL WORKER
Don’t you know that attempting
suicide is a crime?
SÜREYYA
I know.
He reads the next question.
SOCIAL WORKER
Then why did you attempt
suicide?
No response.
SOCIAL WORKER
Yes?
SÜREYYA
I… I don’t know…
My favourite film quote
“Frankly, have you ever heard of anything stupider than to say to people as they teach in film schools, not to look at the camera?”
–
Sans Soleil (1983)
