
“Sabine Küper Büsch and Thoman Büsch are German independent filmmakers based in Istanbul. Bringing together their respective backgrounds in socio-politics and culture, the pair focuses on producing contemporary documentaries on human rights issues, politics and the arts. They aim to alter some of the Turkish cultural stereotypes present in Europe and strengthen the cultural ties between Germany and Turkey.
(…) Attributing the rise of problems for some women to the growing discrepancy between urban and rural culture, Küper Büsch referred to the popular Turkish soap opera ‘Fatmagül’ün Suçu ne?’ (What’s Fatmagül’s crime?) to illustrate her point. Describing how she hated the TV series at the beginning due to its rape scene, which was repeatedly screened, Küper Büsch commented on the differing opinion between her and her Turkish friend, Hava. “I have a friend who comes here weekly to work and as she grew up in a village close to Ankara, she watches this series every week and likes it. When I asked her why she likes it, she replied that, ‘It’s because it’s how things are.’”
Küper Büsch said the portrayal of rape or sexual abuse scenes on television was a new phenomenon in Turkey, but that she saw it as a sign of progress that women such as Hava from rural backgrounds were accepting these scenes without any problems with the rest of their family. “She [Hava] is from a rural background and she knows the problems of being married against her will and of underage marriage. So what I usually hear from her is, ‘Well it’s terrible what they are showing on this series, but it’s the reality I know and money wins. You cannot change things.’”(…)
Source : Hürriyet Daily News