PODCAST | Matt Micucci interviews Deniz Tortum, director of the film Phases of Matter.

To listen to the interview, click on the ► icon on the right, just above the picture

An interview with Deniz Tortum, who presented his feature documentary debut Phases of Matter in the Bright Future strand of the 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film is set in a hospital, filmed when plans for its complete demolition seemed to be set in motion. But it is also a location that has a personal connection with Tortum – he was born there and his father is a doctor there. In this film, he talks in more detail about his desire to film in this particular location, the way in which it humanises the representation of patients and doctors on film, the similarities between filmmakers and doctors, and more.

Phases of Matter: The professor strides resolutely through the old Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Hospital. She stops next to a patient. Having professionally exchanged some medical data, she interestedly asks the elderly woman on the bed what book she is reading. The professor picks it up and reads a love poem aloud – an unexpected contrast in Deniz Tortum’s depiction of the parallel world of doctors and other workers in the hospital where he was born and where his father is a doctor.

To discover more about the festival, click here.