Graveyard

"Graveyard" (2025) merely refers to the location of the office of Special Crimes that is in the basement, a dismal place.  The Special Crimes division was set up to solve cases where women were murdered in Turkey (femicide).  Onen was selected to lead.  She is tough and persistent.

 As a team the Special Crimes encounters lots of bureaucratic obstacles and some apathy.  There is a segment of women who wear submissive/traditional hijabs and of men who are dominant.  At the same time Turkey is more modern than other Muslim countries 

Police brutality is sometimes used to get information.  There is some opposition and ultimately success comes with a mix.  Onen is a good thinker striving to find root causes. 

Istanbul is one of the larger cities in the world and is unique in that it divides between Asia and Europe, strategically located at the outlet for the Black Sea that encompasses the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Abdullah Ogoz was the director.  He has 22 directing credits, 55 for producing and 5 for writing including "Bliss" 2007).   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/05/turkish-delight-in-book-and-movie-form.html

Onur Bober was a writer with 5 writing credits.

Cem Oget was a composer.  He has 44 composing credits, 21 for the music department and 7 for soundtrack. 

Ferhat Uzundag was the cinematographer.  He has 30 cinematography credits, 3 for the camera and clectrical department plus 2 for directing.

Hamdi Deniz was an editor.  With 43 editor credits and 2 for the editorial department.

Birce Akalay plays, the lead Onen, in charge of the special forces.  She finished 3rd for Miss Turkey and went on to the Miss Europe contest.  Birce has been involved with sports programing and hosting.  She also is teaching theatre and acting courses.  She has 22 acting credits and 1 for soundtrack.

Olgon Tokar played an aggressive police officer. He has 29 acting credits. 

 It has strong plots, very good acting and a few brutal scenes. "Graveyard" (2022) is available subtitled and dubbed on Neflix. 

 Some political context:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/08/how-to-lose-country.html  in which Turkey is described as a fascist country.  The series suggests there is corruption, but this Special division is trying to the right thing.  

The Miracle

 Teaching is one of the most noble of professions and I could not resist checking out "The Miracle" (2015) as an example of what teachers can accomplish.  The teacher, Mahir in this film was not able to get a job in the city he lived in, but accepted a job in a very remote area.  He did not realize how remote until he reached the end of the bus line.   He ended up walking over two mountains and when he arrived was shocked to learn there was no actual school.  Some of the references say the area had Kurdish connections.

 There was no money for a school and a military takeover made prospects even worse.  Nonetheless through subterfuge and innovative thinking money was raised.  The teacher added one stipulation in that he wanted girls to be educated (this was a very chauvinistic community).  Later on he invites a severely handicapped man, Aziz apparently with learning disabilities to be part of his class room.  The miracle has to do with Aziz, but the teaching plays a crucial role. 

Based on a true story the cast and crew brought it to life.

Mahsun Kirmizgul was director, writer, producer, actor and wrote some of the music.  Music played an important role in his career starting as a wedding singer.  He attended the Istanbul University-Turkish Music conservatory and came out with a degree for singing.  Before and after his film career Mahsun was a very popular singer.  He also did film composing.  He has 19 film credits as a producer, 13 as an actor and 11 as a writer.

Soykut Turan was the cinematographer with 21 film credits.

Hamdi Deniz was the editor with 35 film credits.

Talat Bulut played Mahir, the teacher.  He has 36 films credits including "Bliss" (2007), one of the first Turkish movies I saw and also read the book  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/05/turkish-delight-in-book-and-movie-form.html

Mert Turok played the very difficult role of Aziz.  He has 15 film credits.

Erol Demiroz played Chief Davut and the faher of Aziz.  He has 24 film credits.

Seda Tosun played Mizgin who becomes involved with Aziz.  She has 10 film credits.

 Teachers play a big role in my movie selections.  Check  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/11/what-teachers-make-by-taylor-mali.html  It is my belief if the world is to extricate itself from insanity it will need teachers and their educated students