Asylum
Director: Busra Coduroglu
United States, 2021, 15 min
Shooting Format:RED
Festival Year:2022
Category:Narrative Short
Genre:Drama
Cast:Nazli Sarpkaya, Vildan Urfan
Crew:Producer: Matt Hagemeier. Cinematographer: Chumpon Jaruphianlert
Email:mcbh@hey.com
Synopsis
For Asli, being granted asylum in the US comes at a cost. When Zeynep takes it upon herself to translate, she must decide whether to honor Asli’s safety or her voice.
Trailer
About the director
Busra is a Turkish-American filmmaker who has studied directing at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema. Busra’s work is shaped by her growing fascination with dance, movement, vulnerability and how traumas manifest in individual bodies and across generations.
With her earlier short films Pride, 2015 (Official Selection BLOW-UP Film Festival) and Bulletproof, 2019 (International Chicago Social Change Festival), Busra has embraced chaotic near-futures filled with unrest as a backdrop to portray historically marginalized characters, not as victims but as complex characters with dignity.
Busra’s distaste for politics translates in her characters, who often have to navigate political situations only to situate defiance in small acts of grace and beauty. Her film Asylum, 2020 was inspired by her experiences translating for Turkish refugees seeking political asylum in the US. The film is a contemplation on the thin line between offering to help someone in need and speaking for them.
Busra teaches Directing at ReelWorks and is currently in post-production with her short film; I Dream of Whirling.