Q&A with Fatma Belkis

Q&A

Feb 26

A conversation with filmmaker Fatma Belkis on her short film, The Friend Constant Beyond Death.

How did you first get into filmmaking?

I was in high school when I saw Pink Flamingos by John Waters for the first time. This amazing work opened a realm of unimaginable possibilities for me, non-conforming and out-of-the-box. Thanks to Joh Waters.

What was your creative process for this film?

Practically it was quite straightforward; I went through the footage, took notes, and filmed the new footage which is a commentary. Emotionally, it was complicated. It took some time for me to be able to watch to footage and took a little more to sit and talk about it. It took a few years.

What projects are you working on next, and how can people who are interested best support or follow you.

I am finalizing a feature that I co-directed with my friend Onur Gökmen. Hopefully, in a few months, I will start filming a new project which is going to be a docudrama about fear and violence.

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The Friend Constant Beyond Death

Grief work, initially defined by Freud, is redescribed by Derrida as a ‘work of mourning’ that requires an internal idealization of the voice and the body of the lost other, “ideally and quasi-literally devouring them”. A film by Fatma Belkis.