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My Marlon and Brando (Gitmek)

When video letters from her Kurdish lover are no longer enough, Turkish actress Ayca embarks on a road trip from Istanbul to Iraq to be with Hama Ali, the man she fell in love with on a movie set. MY MARLON AND BRANDO, set during the early days of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, is based on the true story of Ayca Damgaci (who co-wrote the screenplay) and Hama Ali Khan, who played Iraq’s version of Superman. Director Huseyin Karabey cuts in the actual video love letters at points in the story when Ayca’s spirits are low and her journey to Iraq seems hopeless. With the Iraqi-Turkish border closed going west, Ayca can’t go directly from Turkey to Iraq. She finds her way to Iran and discovers that her mobile phone, now her lone connection to her lover, won’t work. She waits. And she sees for herself how difficult life is for the stranded immigrants trying to move back and forth between Turkey, Iran and Iraq, turning this journey for love into one of self-discovery. (In English, Kurdish and Turkish with English subtitles) – C.K.