Screening and Conversation:
Ali'nin Tabiatı [Ali's Nature]
Levent Çetin, Çimen Günay Erkol, Ezgi Hamzaçebi
Salt Beyoğlu
March 15, 2025 14.00
Still from the film Ali’nin Tabiatı [Ali’s Nature] (2020)
Courtesy Levent Çetin
Courtesy Levent Çetin
Walk-in Cinema
Ali’nin Tabiatı [Ali’s Nature] (2020)
Director: Levent Çetin
Actors: Ozan Ayhan, Algı Eke, Meli Bendeli, Mehmet Usta
87 minutes
Turkish
Ali’nin Tabiatı [Ali’s Nature] tells the story of Ali and Meryem, the last practitioners of a tradition in which fish are considered sacred, and are interred in a fish graveyard within coffins following ritualistic prayers.
After the screening, director Levent Çetin and academic Çimen Günay Erkol will engage in a discussion moderated by Ezgi Hamzaçebi, who leads the “Speculative Fiction” research strand within Water Assemblies. The discussion will explore alternative modes of existence and agency within traditional structures. Çetin will address non-anthropocentric practices and the notion of sacred ecology in Alevi culture, while Erkol will examine the film through the lens of critical masculinity, with a focus on the intersections between ecology and gender.
This free-admission program will be held in Turkish and is open to everyone.
Levent Çetin earned his undergraduate degree in Cinema and Television from Marmara University and his master’s from Istanbul Bilgi University. His experimental film and video works have been showcased at national and international film festivals and exhibitions. In 2012, he directed his debut feature film Sivil [Civilian]. His short film At Hikâyeleri [Horse Stories] (2017), produced with the support of New Film Funding, was featured at the Viscult Festival. Exploring the relationship between ecology and tradition, his second feature film, Ali’nin Tabiatı [Ali’s Nature] (2020), has been screened at international film festivals and has won several awards. Currently, he is working on a documentary project in collaboration with artist Nil Yalter.
Çimen Günay Erkol is an Associate Professor at Özyeğin University. She earned her PhD from Leiden University in 2008 with a dissertation titled “Cold War Masculinities in Turkish Literature: A Survey of March 12 Novels.” Her research has resulted in several publications, focusing on literature produced during coup d’état periods, as well as issues of trauma and masculinity. Her current work centers on the “backlash” against gender-related issues.
Ezgi Hamzaçebi is a lecturer at Özyeğin University. She completed her master’s in Turkish Language and Literature at Boğaziçi University, with her thesis titled “The Literary Representation of the Non-Human: An Ecocritical Approach to Yere Düşen Dualar and Yeryüzü Halleri,” and received her PhD from the same institution with her dissertation “Promises of Monsters: Those Haunting Turkish Feminist Speculative Fiction.” Between 2017-2019, Hamzaçebi co-organized the conference series “Interdisciplinary Ecoethical Encounters” at Boğaziçi University. She has published articles and reviews in peer-reviewed journals such as Feminist Tahayyül, Monograf, Metafor, and Kampfplatz, and contributed chapters to several books, including Anlatı Üzerine II: Hayatı Yeniden Kurmak (Livera, 2024), Turkish Ecocriticism: From Neolithic to Contemporary Timescapes (Lexington Books, 2020), Animals, Plants, and Landscapes: An Ecology of Turkish Literature and Film (Routledge, 2019), and Gaflet: Modern Türkçe Edebiyatın Cinsiyetçi Sinir Uçları (Metis, 2019). She is the co-editor of Sosyal Bilimler Ne İşe Yarar? (Boğaziçi University Press, 2015). Her research areas include animal and plant studies, ecocriticism, monster studies, and feminist speculative fiction. Beyond her academic work, she has collaborated with interdisciplinary platforms such as Garp Sessions, Proje Difüzyon, and digitaLABperformance.
Ali’nin Tabiatı [Ali’s Nature] (2020)
Director: Levent Çetin
Actors: Ozan Ayhan, Algı Eke, Meli Bendeli, Mehmet Usta
87 minutes
Turkish
Ali’nin Tabiatı [Ali’s Nature] tells the story of Ali and Meryem, the last practitioners of a tradition in which fish are considered sacred, and are interred in a fish graveyard within coffins following ritualistic prayers.
After the screening, director Levent Çetin and academic Çimen Günay Erkol will engage in a discussion moderated by Ezgi Hamzaçebi, who leads the “Speculative Fiction” research strand within Water Assemblies. The discussion will explore alternative modes of existence and agency within traditional structures. Çetin will address non-anthropocentric practices and the notion of sacred ecology in Alevi culture, while Erkol will examine the film through the lens of critical masculinity, with a focus on the intersections between ecology and gender.
This free-admission program will be held in Turkish and is open to everyone.
Levent Çetin earned his undergraduate degree in Cinema and Television from Marmara University and his master’s from Istanbul Bilgi University. His experimental film and video works have been showcased at national and international film festivals and exhibitions. In 2012, he directed his debut feature film Sivil [Civilian]. His short film At Hikâyeleri [Horse Stories] (2017), produced with the support of New Film Funding, was featured at the Viscult Festival. Exploring the relationship between ecology and tradition, his second feature film, Ali’nin Tabiatı [Ali’s Nature] (2020), has been screened at international film festivals and has won several awards. Currently, he is working on a documentary project in collaboration with artist Nil Yalter.
Çimen Günay Erkol is an Associate Professor at Özyeğin University. She earned her PhD from Leiden University in 2008 with a dissertation titled “Cold War Masculinities in Turkish Literature: A Survey of March 12 Novels.” Her research has resulted in several publications, focusing on literature produced during coup d’état periods, as well as issues of trauma and masculinity. Her current work centers on the “backlash” against gender-related issues.
Ezgi Hamzaçebi is a lecturer at Özyeğin University. She completed her master’s in Turkish Language and Literature at Boğaziçi University, with her thesis titled “The Literary Representation of the Non-Human: An Ecocritical Approach to Yere Düşen Dualar and Yeryüzü Halleri,” and received her PhD from the same institution with her dissertation “Promises of Monsters: Those Haunting Turkish Feminist Speculative Fiction.” Between 2017-2019, Hamzaçebi co-organized the conference series “Interdisciplinary Ecoethical Encounters” at Boğaziçi University. She has published articles and reviews in peer-reviewed journals such as Feminist Tahayyül, Monograf, Metafor, and Kampfplatz, and contributed chapters to several books, including Anlatı Üzerine II: Hayatı Yeniden Kurmak (Livera, 2024), Turkish Ecocriticism: From Neolithic to Contemporary Timescapes (Lexington Books, 2020), Animals, Plants, and Landscapes: An Ecology of Turkish Literature and Film (Routledge, 2019), and Gaflet: Modern Türkçe Edebiyatın Cinsiyetçi Sinir Uçları (Metis, 2019). She is the co-editor of Sosyal Bilimler Ne İşe Yarar? (Boğaziçi University Press, 2015). Her research areas include animal and plant studies, ecocriticism, monster studies, and feminist speculative fiction. Beyond her academic work, she has collaborated with interdisciplinary platforms such as Garp Sessions, Proje Difüzyon, and digitaLABperformance.
