This is IMDb. But forget the glamour of popular cinema. This is Turkey. But forget the images fed to you about popular sun-and-sea tourism. Forget popular history, forget popular politics. This is a documentary, but forget National Geographic.
There is a land whose known history extends 12,000 years back. A land that has seen the rise of mankind. A land that has given birth to so many civilizations, that has seen the birth and sometimes the demise of so many religions. A land ruled by many, coveted by many and claimed by many as theirs.
Nezih Ünen and his crew has traveled Anatolia for eight years to film songs and dances of various regions, various ethnicities and religions that have existed on this land from time immemorial. After a sample of the naked form of these pieces, he adds to the music his own arrangement and weaves it into very real and very dramatic images of the land.
Transfixed to the extraordinary display, one cannot help but remember all known history of the land and find the images of the living people on stone reliefs that can be found in museums and historical sites now.
This documentary gives you a glimpse of all the colours in that tapestry of history, peoples and cultures. This is what remains when you strip the thin veneer of the flitting popular off Anatolia. And this is indeed just a glimpse of each of them; you are left to wonder what was behind all the songs, all the rituals, the life, of which you were given just a taste.
I find it difficult to express my impression of this film. It is a must see for anyone with a little sense of music and history.
