A feud between two film directors, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Zeki Demirkubuz, has continued to grow following statements made by Demirkubuz in an interview with TV channel HaberTürk. The feud between the two, simmering for years, received new life Tuesday (December 26) when Demirkubuz made comments criticizing Ceylan’s work and reopened long running accusations of plagiarism.
Following the interview, Nuri Bilge Ceylan broke his silence, escalating the feud with his colleague.
Responding to Demirkubuz following comments made by the former in his interview, Ceylan said: “It would be wise for him to open a YouTube channel for himself now.”
Demirkubuz shot back in response: “Sit down where you are and continue gritting your teeth.”
In his most recent social media post, Zeki Demirkubuz said the following:
“If I had even a little confidence in the society’s sense of justice, in the curiosity of these idiots who claim to be ‘opposition’, and if I had not hesitated to become the talk of the nation, I would have settled the scores at that time and made you a ‘national hero’. I repeat: sit down and continue gritting your teeth.”
Ceylan, active in the Turkish film industry since the 1990s, has directed films such as Winter Sleep, which was the recipient of the Palme d’Or award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. Demirkubuz’ film Kader was the recipient of the ‘Best Film’ award at 2006’s Antalya Film Festival over Ceylan’s İklimler film, a source of tension between the two directors.
Written by Leo Kendrick
