The Film
In this story we follow Kaya (25), a Dutch-Turkish photographer, who struggles with the lack of a sense of home. When his mother sends him a tulip bulb with the instruction to plant it, he begins an introspective journey. During this search he meets Kate, a young British woman with her own questions about identity and home. Their conversations challenge Kaya to think about who he is and where he belongs. A Quarter Century Tulip is a warm and hopeful story about identity, displacement and the search for a home. The film shows that "home" is not necessarily a fixed place, but something you can find within yourself. Three languages are spoken in the film: Dutch, Turkish and English, which reflects Kaya's multilingual and bicultural experience.
Why Made I This Film?
I am born in the Netherlands. Yet I do not feel Dutch because of my appearance, nor Turkish, because in Turkiye people see me as an outsider because of my Dutch accent and behavior. I have carried this feeling of displacement with me all my life. Balancing between two cultures has taught me to look at the world differently, to observe and reflect on language, identity and what 'home' actually means.
In a world that is becoming increasingly culturally mixed, many people struggle with questions of identity and a sense of belonging. For bicultural people, this can be a constant search: you belong to two worlds, but sometimes you do not feel completely at home anywhere. This is an experience that is rarely told in a sincere and layered way in films. With "A Quarter Century Tulip" I wanted to portray this search for identity and a sense of belonging. I believe that many people in a multicultural society share this feeling. Sometimes we do not feel good enough, excluded or different. But by offering a new perspective, I wanted to show that if you don't belong anywhere, you can still be at home anywhere. Because sometimes home isn't in one fixed place, but in the way you connect with the world around you.
Links to more information of the short film:
IMDB
Letterboxd
