Life Through A Lens: Mustafa’s Journey To Documentary Filmmaking

“Travelling was my big dream. In my childhood, I would run into one of the rooms in our house with a big window, and I would dream that it was a ship and that I was travelling on an atlas, you know? I would go everywhere in my imagination.”

Mustafa Ünlü sits at a small cafe table and paints a whimsical picture of childhood dreams and aspirations.

​Born in 1963 to a pharmacist and soldier/writer, Mustafa grew up in Anker (despite his family originally being from Harput), Mustafa graduated from a communications school intending to become an investigative journalist. He gained experience through internships at multiple journals and newspapers before discovering that his true calling was documentary filmmaking. He first experienced working in electronic media in a job at TRT (Turkish Radio & Television), where he helped with the English news. The same team then created a documentary on the issues in Cyprus, and Mustafa “fell in love” with filmmaking. “The thought behind it, how it works…so I continued that”. 

After transitioning from journalism to filmmaking, Mustafa worked as a director, producer, cameraman, and writer. “In Türkiye’s conditions, it’s difficult to finance making documentaries. Having a bigger team doesn’t always work, so I do everything.”

With most of his documentaries focusing on human issues, Mustafa has had opportunities to travel around the globe, meeting people and learning about different ways of life.

“There are many favourite places. I liked Sri Lanka, I liked the people and relations in Iran, I liked Moscow as a city, Greece is one of my favourites. I can count more…when you travel as a filmmaker, the first thing you see isn’t the tourist parts [or] the shallow parts (actually, this is the last thing). First, you go into the people, into the culture, behind the scenes, which is the best part, actually.” 

Having travelled around the world and covered many different social and political issues, Mustafa has gained a perspective on life that few others could match. When asked what others would consider his best quality to be, his reply was “empathy.”

“I think that [empathy] is my best habit. I can manage to empathise with anyone about anything. This is something I’m proud of, and I am angry at myself when I am unable to do this. But I am trying to have my first reaction to anything be empathy. Of course, not to justify when people act badly because sometimes you can’t even justify some people’s actions, even when you try. But still, this helps me actually, and I hope it will be easier”. His humbly optimistic view of the world is inspiring, and (considering the topics he covers in his films) it is a necessary character trait that can only enhance others’ understanding of global issues.

Many of Mustafa’s films cover current social and political issues, including Turkiye’s military coup, the ISIS suicide bombings in Ankara (he emphasises that this film is about the victims, not the terrorist group itself), and many, many more.

One of his current projects focuses on freedom of speech in Turkiye (specifically in the press). It is centred around one of the oldest independent Turkish newspapers called Cumhuriyet (meaning ‘The Republic). With around 95% of the media in Turkiye being controlled by the government, independent newspapers such as these are incredibly important to the public, and the scandal around protecting the newspaper is the main theme of Mustafa’s documentary.

“There were many court cases, many of the journalists and managers of the newspaper were jailed, and this project is mainly about this period.”

His other new documentary looks at democracy through a musical lens. He compares the necessity of unity in a community to that of a choir. 

“Because you have to hear the person beside you, and you have to be in harmony with everyone in the choir. You cannot be quieter or louder than anyone else. There are (for example) four different groups (soprano, alto, etc.) singing totally different parts in harmony, which is the same as living in a democracy. So my new documentary will be about that.” Despite the importance of media coverage of issues and ideas like these, Mustafa admits that the Turkish film industry is incredibly difficult to be a part of.

“Some of [my documentaries] have gained international attention, others haven’t - anyone who doesn’t care about a certain issue, person or place won’t have any knowledge on it, but if you present it right, you can also captivate them. They can also identify with the issue, but sometimes (without the right budget or time), you have to finish it sooner, so that film is less quality and is less likely to gain attention than others. Being in the filmmaking industry is difficult, especially in developing countries like Türkiye, with these kinds of capitalist programs. Culture is viewed as an aside and not the main issue. When you have a crisis (for example), priorities are different. All money goes to popular things, and it shouldn’t have to be popular when dealing with culture and social issues, and art. Especially if you have a different voice or a different song to sing, so it’s difficult to finance, and when it’s difficult to finance, the organisation is imperfect. There are very few production organisations for documentaries in Türkiye. It’s also incredibly difficult to find channels that will air the films. When you have this gap, it’s difficult to finance in your country because there are no funds and there are no television programs broadcasting documentaries, but only popular ones. To get into an international network to finance your films, you need producers, you need funds, it’s a big ordeal. It’s difficult. But it’s the same in every country, really. Big companies are dominating the field, and for independent art makers and independent filmmakers it’s getting more and more difficult. But people are doing it, and they always will.”

His determination to continue educating people on social/political issues across the globe shows not only his dedication to his career, but also his love and passion for what he does. It is this persistence that will hopefully inspire others to pursue their passions with the same vivacity, and to impact the world as Mustafa has done.