From Far Away

Aus der Ferne is a personal travelogue a documentary about a trip through Turkey Thomas Arslan who filmed the journey himself undertook the trip in MayJune 2005 The route takes him through Istanbul and Ankara to Gaziantep in the southeastern part of the country from there further eastwards via Diyarbakir and Van to Dogubayazit near the Iranian border The film describes moments during the journey that differ from the usual motifs that inform the image of presentday Turkey from impressions of daytoday life in such Western cities as Istanbul and Ankara all the way to regions in the countrys easternmost territory that were locked in battle until recently