Kedi
Director: Ceyda Torun
Talent: Bülent Üstün
Released: 30th June
Istanbul, Turkey has seen empires rise and fall, civilisations collapse and cultures collide. However, one constant over the centuries in the city has been its large population of stray cats. Kedi (the Turkish word for cat) tours Istanbul at both cat and bird’s eye level, introducing us to some of the city’s characterful residents and their human companions. You would be wrong to dismiss this documentary as being solely about cats plodding along to jaunty music, although that’s a key part. The story is as much about what animals reflect and reveal in humans, and what that says about our humanity, as it is a demonstration of supreme cuteness in unusual spots. As one human explains, meeting a cat is “like a mirror”. Certainly we are shown many types of personality in the cats we meet, “just like people”. There’s the delicate, jealous one who loves touching, the “neighbourhood psychopath”, the guy you’d want to go out with and the cat “with manners”.
It’s the relationship with wildlife in general; and how different people interact with cats, that makes the documentary intriguing. “We all face the same issues,” says a man who cites cats as the cure of his nervous breakdown. Another imagines their relationships as akin to being friends with aliens: cats are so different to us but nonetheless a relationship exists. The love of the people on screen for cats, and for life, is catching. You leave feeling warm and contemplative.
That said, with scenes, and the cat characters, divided by stunning shots of, variously, Istanbul and Turkish coastal scenery, but without any major narrative, Kedi does have you wondering when it is going to end.
Words – Sarah Taaffe-Maguire
