Stubbornness Stories (İnat Hikayeleri) (translated)

Stubborn Stories is a German-Turkish co-production directed and written by Reis Çelik, blending experimental and documentary filmmaking. Shot through improvisation with local people in the Çıldır district of Ardahan, it stands out as an unusual work that weaves epic narrative elements into a documentary texture.

The film has no conventional pre-written screenplay. A small professional core made up of Çelik and actor Tuncel Kurtiz developed stories around the single word "stubbornness," drawing on the Anatolian minstrel tradition. From narratives gathered with villagers and amateur performers, three tales emerge around one central story: the endless rivalry between a horse-drawn sleigh driver taking a shortcut across frozen Lake Çıldır and his new competitor, a red minibus. Along the journey, the minstrels and storytellers aboard both vehicles join the contest with their own tales.

Filming took place over roughly three months spanning winter and summer in the director's home region, in villages at 2,000 meters altitude and in temperatures reaching minus thirty degrees. The film received the Alsace-Europe award at the Strasbourg Documentary Film Week.