Toll Booth (film)
Encyclopedia
Toll Booth is a 2010 Turkish drama film
directed by Tolga Karaçelik, which tells the story of a reclusive toll-booth attendant. The film was selected for the 47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film Festival
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toll booth attendants, who had always intrigued him, performing the same work, day after day. Karaçelik said that one day he decided "to be cute", and told the attendant, "kolay gelsin!" (May it come easy). "He looked so bad at me," continued director, "I could not forget it." "The European Union
does not even sell tomatoes which grow near the highway, but these [toll booth attendants] live their lives there." He wrote a letter to the union of toll booth workers, Yapıyol Sen. "Actually I wrote a poem, and all my friends made fun of me," he said, but the union quickly answered, providing the name and number of a contact. He conducted interviews with toll booth attendants first in the union office and then at the tolls, shooting the film just before the tolls at the Bosphorus Bridge were removed and replaced by an automated system. "They all say, ‘We live like a machine,’" he said. "One woman told me, ‘I work like a machine all day, go home, make dinner for my husband and kids like a machine, make love with my husband like a machine and go to bed like a machine.’" "The film provides social criticism but I chose to tell it through an individual," he continued, "our generation learned to think individually."
During the day, Nurgül takes care of Kenan’s ailing father. In her early 30s, talkative and maternal, Nurgül has known the family since her childhood, including Kenan’s mother who died many years ago. Stuck between work and home, Kenan’s humdrum life takes a dramatic turn when the newly appointed toll booth manager visits for supervision.
on .
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Tolga Karaçelik, which tells the story of a reclusive toll-booth attendant. The film was selected for the 47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film Festival
47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film Festival
The 47th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival was a film festival held in Antalya, Turkey which ran from October 9 to 14, 2010. Prizes were awarded in four competitions in the course of the festival, at which 191 films were shown at 12 venues across the city with the theme Cinema...
.
Production
The film's writer-director took his inspiration from the Bosphorus BridgeBosphorus Bridge
The Bosphorus Bridge, also called the First Bosphorus Bridge is one of the two bridges in Istanbul, Turkey, spanning the Bosphorus strait and thus connecting Europe and Asia The bridge is located between Ortaköy and Beylerbeyi The Bosphorus Bridge, also called the First Bosphorus Bridge is...
toll booth attendants, who had always intrigued him, performing the same work, day after day. Karaçelik said that one day he decided "to be cute", and told the attendant, "kolay gelsin!" (May it come easy). "He looked so bad at me," continued director, "I could not forget it." "The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
does not even sell tomatoes which grow near the highway, but these [toll booth attendants] live their lives there." He wrote a letter to the union of toll booth workers, Yapıyol Sen. "Actually I wrote a poem, and all my friends made fun of me," he said, but the union quickly answered, providing the name and number of a contact. He conducted interviews with toll booth attendants first in the union office and then at the tolls, shooting the film just before the tolls at the Bosphorus Bridge were removed and replaced by an automated system. "They all say, ‘We live like a machine,’" he said. "One woman told me, ‘I work like a machine all day, go home, make dinner for my husband and kids like a machine, make love with my husband like a machine and go to bed like a machine.’" "The film provides social criticism but I chose to tell it through an individual," he continued, "our generation learned to think individually."
Plot
Kenan is a 35-year-old toll booth attendant still living with his father who suffers from heart disease. Shy and withdrawn, he prefers to live in his own head rather than engaging with the people around him. He works at a busy toll station, and is known to talk to himself occasionally while working. As with everyone else, his relationship with his father is one of reserve and distance.During the day, Nurgül takes care of Kenan’s ailing father. In her early 30s, talkative and maternal, Nurgül has known the family since her childhood, including Kenan’s mother who died many years ago. Stuck between work and home, Kenan’s humdrum life takes a dramatic turn when the newly appointed toll booth manager visits for supervision.
Premiere
The film premiered in competition at the 47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film Festival47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film Festival
The 47th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival was a film festival held in Antalya, Turkey which ran from October 9 to 14, 2010. Prizes were awarded in four competitions in the course of the festival, at which 191 films were shown at 12 venues across the city with the theme Cinema...
on .
Festival screenings
- 47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film Festival47th Antalya "Golden Orange" International Film FestivalThe 47th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival was a film festival held in Antalya, Turkey which ran from October 9 to 14, 2010. Prizes were awarded in four competitions in the course of the festival, at which 191 films were shown at 12 venues across the city with the theme Cinema...
(October 9-14, 2010)