A portrait that holds on to life with its poems

Tugce Celik

For the first time, a documentary has been produced about Nilgün Marmara, who left a lasting impact on generations during her short life. Director Tolga Oskar traces the misinformation that has circulated for years and reconstructs the poet's portrait. The documentary, which will also compete for the Golden Orange Prize, features interviews on Marmara's life and poetry, featuring poets and writers Haydar Ergülen, Gülseli İnal, Akif Kurtuluş, Orhan Alkaya, Feryal Çeviköz, Cezmi Ersöz, Orhan Kahyaoğlu, and Beliz İnal. Marmara's lines are voiced by actors Tilbe Saran and Nazan Kesal.

Oskar explains the genesis of the documentary: “It was unacceptable that the life of such a widely read, beloved, and influential poet remained shrouded in obscurity. In my research, I encountered numerous misinformation. Even worse, these inaccuracies were repeatedly quoted and propagated. This needed to be stopped. The documentary was, in fact, the product of an effort to eliminate these misrepresentations.”

TRACES OF LACK OF BELONGING

The documentary's visual choices also offer clues about Marmara's life. The black-and-white scenes represent the past, while the female figure walking among the crowds with her suitcase is a cinematic metaphor for the poet's feeling of being out of place. Oskar explains this language as follows: "The feeling of not belonging was very strong in Nilgün Marmara's life. I wanted to transform this into a cinematic narrative." The documentary process was also a turning point for the director. Undertaking extensive research, ranging from archive pages and field notes to books and personal testimonies, Oskar says he read more than thirty books before beginning filming: "I needed to know her, understand her, and feel her. This process transformed me; I began to think more about life and death."

A midnight experience was unforgettable: “One night, on my way home, I passed a cemetery. I remembered Nilgün was there. I couldn't just walk past her. It was around 2 or 3 a.m., and I went inside, terrified. I could hear dogs barking and crows flapping their wings. I searched for half an hour, and just as I was about to give up, I found her grave right in front of me. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not, but at that moment, I felt a connection with her.”

Oskar explains the reason why Nilgün Marmara's poems remain influential: "Because there's a fundamental critique of the system in her lines. But she establishes this within an aesthetic structure. Because the system hasn't changed, those lines still speak to us today."

Marmara's verses often convey existential pangs that seep through the everyday. A suitcase, the night, a crow, a shadow... In his poetry, these objects are no longer ordinary, but become beacons of the disoriented self. The tension between the individual's existential loneliness and the grinding mechanisms of the social order imbues his poems with a timeless critique. The documentary's visual language also aligns with this poetic atmosphere; the black-and-white scenes evoke the emptiness in Marmara's verses, while the female figure walking with her suitcase through the crowds re-enacts her nomadic spirit.

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Making Space in Memory

Born in Istanbul in 1958 and writing a thesis on Sylvia Plath at Boğaziçi University, Marmara was nourished by Plath's existential pangs. Despite her short life, the images, sharp critiques, and poetic language she left behind continue to influence new generations today. Tolga Oskar's documentary, however, is a glimmer of light not only on the poet's life but also on the memory of a generation. This time, Nilgün Marmara's voice resonates through cinema; accompanied by the testimonies of her friends and the powerful voices of actors, it lingers like a low-pitched but persistent echo.