Long-kept secret of a couple in film
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Vercihan Zifloğlu
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 10, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - A new documentary reveals the 30-year secret of Ömer and Ankine, one of the most recent representatives of Turkish canto, who is known as Aysun Işık. Their story, told in 46 minutes, has been adapted for the silver screen and will be shown in Istanbul on Thursday
Since she was a young girl, Ankine’s biggest passion has been canto, and she was determined to become a canto dancer. Despite her family’s protests, Ankine followed her dream as dancer and married a man from a different religion. She is now starring in a documentary about her enduring love of both dance and a forbidden man.
From the start, Ankine’s conservative family forbade her from pursuing her dream as a stage dancer. Their biggest fear was that their daughter would be given a bad name. They asked her to stay at home and get married one day just like the other girls her age.
But Ankine’s passion was so strong that she fought her way to the stage despite her family’s protests. She made it to the stage for the first time in 1978 when an ad about a dance contest in a newspaper drew her attention. One of the jury members was revolutionary Turkish pop musician Erol Büyükburç. Ankine won the competition.
Ankine and Ömer’s 30-year secret
Ankine was a member of a family of Armenian origin. Marrying outside of her religion and dancing were forbidden for her. Ankine once again defied her family’s rules and married Ömer, a Turkish Muslim and the love of her life. Ankine’s family disowned their daughter. Ömer’s family never knew that Ankine was an Armenian and a dancer. The couple kept this secret for 30 years. Ömer has never prevented her from dancing; instead, the couple chose a stage name to conceal her identity, Aysun Işık.
Ankine and Ömer’s secret was revealed for the first time in a documentary film titled "Hayatın Ritmi: Aksak" (When the Rhythm of Life Misses a Beat). Documentary maker Yasin Ali Türkeri, who saw Ankine dancing canto in 2004, asked for Ankine and Ömer’s permission to make a documentary about their story. Türkeri told Ankine’s 48-year life from all perspectives in a 46-minute documentary.
"This is the finest example of Turkish-Armenian relations," Türkeri told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review about the couple’s love story.
Türkeri said Turkish and Armenian societies share the same conservative mind. He said canto was a branch of art that was almost forgotten and that Ankine and Nurhan Damcıoğlu, Turkey’s best-known name in canto, were the most recent representatives of this type of dancing.
Türkeri said he sometimes faced interesting questions during the filming of the documentary. "People were asking me why I filmed Ankine but not Damcıoğlu. I always gave the same answer that I did not make a documentary on the history of canto but the story of a big love."
"Hayatın Ritmi: Aksak" will be screened Thursday at the Ottoman Bank Museum on Karaköy Bankalar Street at 6:30 p.m. Right after the screening, there will be a discussion at 7:15 p.m. on "The Missing Beat in the Rhythm: Being a Minority in Turkey." Metin Meriç will moderate the talk.
Türkeri said the documentary had been shot with a budget of 25,000 Turkish Liras provided by the Culture Ministry. "I named the documentary ’When the Rhythm of Life Misses a Beat’ because there were missing beats in the lives of Ömer and Ankine," he said. "Their marriage was a secret one."
From the start, Ankine’s conservative family forbade her from pursuing her dream as a stage dancer. Their biggest fear was that their daughter would be given a bad name. They asked her to stay at home and get married one day just like the other girls her age.
But Ankine’s passion was so strong that she fought her way to the stage despite her family’s protests. She made it to the stage for the first time in 1978 when an ad about a dance contest in a newspaper drew her attention. One of the jury members was revolutionary Turkish pop musician Erol Büyükburç. Ankine won the competition.
Ankine and Ömer’s 30-year secret
Ankine was a member of a family of Armenian origin. Marrying outside of her religion and dancing were forbidden for her. Ankine once again defied her family’s rules and married Ömer, a Turkish Muslim and the love of her life. Ankine’s family disowned their daughter. Ömer’s family never knew that Ankine was an Armenian and a dancer. The couple kept this secret for 30 years. Ömer has never prevented her from dancing; instead, the couple chose a stage name to conceal her identity, Aysun Işık.
Ankine and Ömer’s secret was revealed for the first time in a documentary film titled "Hayatın Ritmi: Aksak" (When the Rhythm of Life Misses a Beat). Documentary maker Yasin Ali Türkeri, who saw Ankine dancing canto in 2004, asked for Ankine and Ömer’s permission to make a documentary about their story. Türkeri told Ankine’s 48-year life from all perspectives in a 46-minute documentary.
"This is the finest example of Turkish-Armenian relations," Türkeri told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review about the couple’s love story.
Türkeri said Turkish and Armenian societies share the same conservative mind. He said canto was a branch of art that was almost forgotten and that Ankine and Nurhan Damcıoğlu, Turkey’s best-known name in canto, were the most recent representatives of this type of dancing.
Türkeri said he sometimes faced interesting questions during the filming of the documentary. "People were asking me why I filmed Ankine but not Damcıoğlu. I always gave the same answer that I did not make a documentary on the history of canto but the story of a big love."
"Hayatın Ritmi: Aksak" will be screened Thursday at the Ottoman Bank Museum on Karaköy Bankalar Street at 6:30 p.m. Right after the screening, there will be a discussion at 7:15 p.m. on "The Missing Beat in the Rhythm: Being a Minority in Turkey." Metin Meriç will moderate the talk.
Türkeri said the documentary had been shot with a budget of 25,000 Turkish Liras provided by the Culture Ministry. "I named the documentary ’When the Rhythm of Life Misses a Beat’ because there were missing beats in the lives of Ömer and Ankine," he said. "Their marriage was a secret one."