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Oray

Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2019
© Christian Kochmann / filmfaust
In an argument with his wife Burcu, Oray pronounces the Islamic word for separation, ‘talaq’. The Imam informs him of the consequences: Oray must now part from Burcu for three months. Oray uses the enforced break in their relationship to make a fresh start and moves to Cologne. Here, he finds a job at a flea market and seeks out a new Muslim religious community, led by the young Imam Bilal. Soon, Oray begins preaching himself; he is especially popular with the younger members of the congregation, and this makes Bilal jealous. When Burcu pays her husband a surprise visit, they realise that the break has done them good and they still love each other. Oray asks Bilal for advice. But the latter advocates a stricter interpretation of Islamic law than the imam in Oray’s community back home: pronouncing ‘talaq’ he says, does not mean a break, but a divorce. Director Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay employs a quasi-documentary style to tell the story of an individual exhausting himself as he works his way through a religion’s complex belief system and his search for fulfilment as a human caught between his belief in love and his love for his faith.
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by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay (Written and Directed by)
with Zejhun Demirov, Deniz Orta, Cem Göktaş, Faris Yüzbaşıoğlu, Mikael Bajrami, Fırat Barıs Ar, Kais Setti, Ferhat Keskin, Şahin Eryılmaz, Ramon Machtolf Germany 2019 German, Turkish, Romani 100' Colour World premiere

With

  • Zejhun Demirov (Oray)
  • Deniz Orta (Burcu)
  • Cem Göktaş (Bilal)
  • Faris Yüzbaşıoğlu (Tanju)
  • Mikael Bajrami (Ebu Bekir)
  • Fırat Barıs Ar (Abdussamed)
  • Kais Setti (Muhammed)
  • Ferhat Keskin (Süleyman)
  • Şahin Eryılmaz (Hamza)
  • Ramon Machtolf (Osman)

Crew

Written and Directed by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Cinematography Christian Kochmann
Editing Denys Darahan
Sound Design Armin Badde
Sound Armin Badde
Production Design Jeannette Bastisch
Costumes Marisa Lattmann
Make-Up Henrike Huppertsberg
Casting Kerstin Neuwirth
Assistant Director Tessa Langhans
Commissioning Editor Christian Cloos
Production Manager Daniela Dieterich
Executive Producers Bastian Klügel, Claus Reichel
Producers Bastian Klügel, Claus Reichel
Co-Producer Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Co-Production Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln
ZDF – Das kleine Fernsehspiel Mainz

World Sales

Pluto Film

Produced by

filmfaust

Photos

Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay

© Marcus Höhn German Films

Born in Bad Hersfeld, Germany in 1987, he studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. In 2019, his film Oray screened in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section of the Berlinale where it received the GWFF Best First Feature Award before going on to win a number of international prizes. With his filmfaust production company, co-founded with Claus Herzog-Reichel, he has written and produced international and award-winning feature and documentary films including Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm (Love, Deutschmarks and Death), which screened in the 2022 Panorama.

Filmography (selection)

2013 Vor dem Tor des Ijtihad; short film 2019 Oray 2025 Hysteria

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025