ARADA
TURKEY 2018 88′
Director: MuTunç
Writer: MuTunç
Cinematography: Utku Sönmezer
Music: Orkun Tunç
Cast: Burak Deniz; Büşra Develi; Eriş Akman; Deniz Celiloğlu; Selim Bayraktar
Producers: Aylin Çobanoğlu
Production Company: Rue de Pera Films
Synopsis
In 90’s İstanbul, Ozan is a young punk rocker who dreams of releasing a record in California. His father, Altan, is a former musician whose career was ended by a coup attempt. On the day of Ozan’s birthday, they get into a heated argument about Ozan’s future. Ozan leaves home to meet with his friend Deniz who tells him about a cruise ticket to California the next morning. Ozan and his girlfriend Lara set out through the city to house parties and underground rave party at a junkyard, to shisha bar on the search for the ticket.

MU TUNC
director
Mu Tunc was born in 1986 in Istanbul. He was born to a family of musicians, where his father was a Turkish folk singer and his brother was a member of one of the pioneering hardcore punk bands in Istanbul. Mu completed his Undergraduate studies in the field of Design, and received his Master’s Degree in Cinema. He began using the camera at a very early age, recording his older brother’s punk concerts. At nineteen, Mu shot his first commercial film, and became one of the youngest creative directors in Turkey after university. Having worked in various ad-agencies such as McCann, Mu directed numerous advertising and digital marketing campaigns including ones for Coca-Cola, L’Oreal, MasterCard, Starbucks as well as a variety of other international brands. He also served as a brand director for streaming service MUBI as well as famed luxury streetwear fashion house Les Benjamins.
His search for independent cinema led him to find an experimental video series called Diary of Mu in 2010. Diary of Mu became one of the leading Vlogger projects on the web. The experimental series of video episodes displayed conversations with world’s creative minds including Melissa George, Asia Argento, Roisin Murphy and Francesco Carrozzini, shot in various cities in Europe.
His debut feature film ARADA was released in 2018, which tells the story of a punk kid who wants to leave his hometown Istanbul in pursuit of following his music career abroad.
Awards and nominations
- 2019 – MAD Museum of Arts and Design New York
- 2018 – PhilaMOCA Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art,
- 2018 – Istanbul Modern Museum
- 2018 – SENSORIA Film and Music Festival
- 2018 – Rome Independent Film Festival