A meditation on life itself, Hayat is about a young woman named Hicran who runs away from home when she is forced into an arranged marriage. Rıza, her “meant to be” fiance, embarks on a journey to find Hicran in Istanbul after he has a prophetic dream about her. What ensues is an ethereal, perspective-shifting epic that illuminates the relationship between fate and destiny.
“In 1985, I had a job hanging advertising posters in gas stations all over Anatolia. At one point on my travels, I found myself waiting for the bus on a deserted road just outside
a village. Across the road, I noticed a girl waiting by a small grocery store, as bored as
I was. We began by making eye contact and then quickly became carried away by the moment.
After a while, a bus turned up. I got on and naturally never saw the girl again. I don’t remember much about the place or how long we were there; but I have never forgotten that encounter, the girl’s loneliness, and the deep pain I felt for no reason.”
“Hayat” is a story I wrote inspired by this memory, by sto- ries I have experienced, witnessed and heard over the years, and by lifelong observations. Although it may have the look of a youth and family drama set within a specif- ic group of people, it is fundamentally an age-old story about human destiny, our helplessness in the face of it, and the sense of sheer impossibility that goes with it.
