Onun Haricinde, İyiyim

Other Than That, I’m Fine
Aslı is new in Berlin and works as a voice-over artist. After she records the Turkish version of the Pergamon Museum’s audio guide, the camera gazes at the famous altar, lingers on the fragment of a raised arm, on a bearded face without a nose, on a curly head of hair, on a ruffled dress of stone. The aspect ratio is smaller; the rest of the screen is black. “The friezes,” Aslı says in voiceover, “represent the battle of the gods against the Titans.”
In his short film Onun Haricinde, İyiyim, Eren Aksu evokes a recent transnational movement and an older one: that of immigrants from Turkey coming to Berlin in the late 2010s and that of the friezes that were excavated in Pergamon and brought to Germany in the 19th century. Loss is unavoidable: the fact that Aslı speaks Turkish more fluently than a colleague who has been in Berlin since she was born puts the newcomer at an advantage and the local at a disadvantage. The Hercules fragments are missing from the friezes, and in the temple complex, which the film wanders through in generous, luminous wide shots in its final moments, the pieces later added to replace them stand out in gleaming bright white.
by Eren Aksu
with Seda Güngör, Ruth Hornemann, Dilan GeZaza, Gizem Özbek, Oğuzhan Okumuş, Sıla Sönmez, Fatma Aksu, Cavo Kernich
Germany / Turkey 2020 German, Turkish 14’ Colour

With

  • Seda Güngör
  • Ruth Hornemann
  • Dilan GeZaza
  • Gizem Özbek
  • Oğuzhan Okumuş
  • Sıla Sönmez
  • Fatma Aksu
  • Cavo Kernich

Crew

Director Eren Aksu
Cinematography Katharina Hauke
Editing Eren Aksu
Music Mehmet Güren
Sound Design Jochen Jezussek
Sound Mehmet Can Koçak
Costumes Hanna Döring, Marie Rasper
Assistant Director Cavo Kernich
Producer Eren Aksu

Eren Aksu

Born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1987, he studied film and then earned an MFA in arts and media. Eren Aksu works as a filmmaker in Berlin. His short films have been invited to many festivals.

Filmography

2015 Cosmorama; 8 min. 2018 Routines; 18 min. 2020 Onun Haricinde, İyiyim (Other Than That, I’m Fine); 14 min.

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023