Interview with Idil Tekeli, Writer, Director, and Actor in No Reason
Interview by Tiffany McIntyre
Copy Edited and Posted by Sophie Schmidt
Your film shows the dark hardships two women face that go unseen by social media. What inspired you to tell this story of both hurt and friendship?
I was very much inspired by my own life and my own experiences with social media at the time. Personally, I was going through a very rough patch, yet everyone always told me how “happy” I looked constantly on social media, or that they believed I was “living the life” when it was the exact opposite for me. Nobody, for the most part, shares what their real life looks like on social media. When we post something, it’s only a small fraction of our lives, which doesn’t always reflect the reality that we’re in.
I specifically wanted to include a friendship and not tell this story from one perspective. Unfortunately, even when we feel close to someone and trust them fully, we don’t always call them the minute something goes wrong. We don’t always talk about how we feel deep down or if we are actually okay. At some point in the film, both friends see the stories that they shared on social media, smile, and think, “Oh, she looks happy! Good!” But when they see each other in person, even though they don’t talk about it out loud with their other friends right next to them, they know something is up. That shows us how social media has this immense power to deceive all of us regardless.
Idil Tekeli
No Reason is a brilliant silent film that uses music, text, and body language to tell the story. What led you to the decision to use these modes of communication rather than speech?
When I was in New York, I got to work in a few short films that didn’t have any dialogue where the directors were trying to convey the story with only the magic of music and that idea always mesmerized me. I believe that we already take a lot of our time to talk and explain our feelings with words in our daily lives, and I didn’t want to do that in this film. Besides our body language, expressions, and the always-changing color sequence of the scenes, I wanted music to tell the rest of this story. Usually, if we’re watching a film, the soundtracks play a tremendous part to make us feel what the movie intends us to feel. If we, by any chance, take out the soundtracks from a film and just watch the dialogue, it most likely wouldn’t feel like a movie at all. But that doesn’t necessarily happen when we take the dialogue out and keep the music in the background. I love that it holds such power in it.
You use three instrumental songs to break up the sections in your film. They’re quite perfect for each segment. How did you pick the music? Did you work with a composer?
I actually wanted to compose the soundtracks myself, yet I didn’t have enough time to record them, which pushed me to find no-copyright soundtracks. Honestly, it took me quite a long time to find the right pieces. I listened to countless soundtracks on many platforms, wrote down the names of the ones that I liked and watched the film while listening to them. I was very relieved that I got to find soundtracks that helped tell the story at the end of the day.
There are three different parts in the film, therefore three different soundtracks. The first one that I picked out was for the last part of the film, “Forgotten” by Pure Composition. The second I heard it, I saw the last scenes of the film in my head when I closed my eyes. With every beat and melody, it was the absolute perfect fit. For the second part, I used a soundtrack called ”Waiting” by Gabriele Cazzola, which I thought was great for those scenes because the first emotion it awakened in my soul was hope. Finding the soundtrack for the first part of the film was the hardest, and I came back and forth between a lot ideas, but I finally decided on “Stanchen” by the incredible Schubert Lizst, which consists mostly of piano and works perfectly for first section of the film, since we see a lot of different kind of emotions in that section.
Still from No Reason.
You wrote and directed your film (not to mention blew me away with your acting). What was your experience like balancing these different roles?
First of all, thank you so much! No Reason was the first film that I ever directed and acted in at the same time. Though exhausting and difficult, it was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had in my life. The hardest part for me I think was trying to describe my own scenes to my co-director and co-star, Cansu Ozsahin, and act in the meanwhile, especially during the emotionally heavy scenes. But thanks to Cansu, Yagiz, and our director of photography Jack Langford’s undeniable talent, we pulled it through.
The film was so moving and relatable to the present moment, with lots of layers and film techniques to bring your story to life. What is one thing you would like your audience to take away after watching your film?
I think there are two main ideas of this film; “It’s okay not to be okay sometimes” and “Not everything is what it seems.” I know that we all have different lives, responsibilities, jobs to go to, things to do, and we can’t unfortunately stay true to how we really feel inside all the time. In times like that, we should remind ourselves that we need to at least talk to people we feel close to and have a little more empathy towards each other.
Behind the scenes of No Reason.
I need to know, based on your talent directing, writing, and acting in this film, are you working on any other projects for the future?
I actually am! I’m working on a few short films and a musical web-series called Dancing with Allegro, which I really want to start shooting when the time is right and everything in the world is a bit better. It’s basically about a young, foreign musician who moves to New York for a job opportunity and tackles daily events along with other difficulties and obstacles that her profession brings. I came up with the idea while working on my web-series classes at school years ago and decided to give it a try for real. I’m very excited for it because I’ll be releasing one of my songs in each episode.I studied music at Avni Akyol Fine Arts High School in Turkey for four years, and I believe this is going to be a great opportunity for me to combine both my musical and acting skills!
What advice do you have for filmmakers, particularly those tackling contemporary issues as you did in No Reason?
I would say if you have a script or want to write one and create your own work, do it! Even when there’s not a huge budget or a big crew. I made this film with a little help from my talented friends and it was hard, but we were able to make something that we’re proud of and that went to many festivals globally. Last but not least, if you’re going through tough times yet feel like you need to look happy and living your “best life,” I hope you know that the most important thing we have to do first is taking care of ourselves, and that starts with staying truthful to who we are and what we feel, and we can take as much time as we need to heal.
You can connect with Idil on her website or her profile. Learn more about Tiffany on her profile.