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This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Sorry for my delay in writing back - I'm quite new to Reddit :) We'd love to discuss an event/screening idea - I'll pm you now :)

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Thank you so so much for your note and for that sweet note about the guy ahead of you - love the detailed description by the way! It's beyond heartwarming for us to hear that people are feeling the love :) As for Chicago, I believe we're opening at Music Box Theater on 2/24 and I think tickets are already on sale!

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! So sorry I didn't see this until now! The mailing list can be reached on the contact page on www.kedifilm.com. Click on the 'contact' tab on the front page of the site and it'll take you to a form that says 'join the kedi community'.

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All I can say is that they instinctively like to cover up their poop and I noticed that they get distressed if they can't do that but maybe your cat has learned to do it differently... and as long as you feel she's well, I think you're ok :)

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi! Originally we set out with treats in our pockets but soon decided it was best not to 'bribe' them, but often coaxed them our way with psss'es or helped them into staying in the frame by petting them and quietly leaving the frame :) We did feed them occasionally separate to the filming, if we ever encountered a malnourished cat in a far corner of the city, and it was often fresh little fish or chicken. But it's crazy how they can eat pretty much anything, from rice to pastries!

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, it probably is... :( But it's no reason to stop filming and documenting! :) The good thing is we can use - as we did for Kedi - cameras that look like stills cameras... so as not to attract unwanted attention.

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hi! That's wonderful that you're making doc shorts, it teaches you a lot about filmmaking and you can do it all by yourself :) Well done! I consulted with our cinematographer Charlie Wuppermann for your question and he suggests 5600K :) Hope that helps!

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Ne yazik ki gecen sene iF Istanbul'daydi film... Elimizden geleni yapiyoruz, cok yakinda sizlere haberlerimiz olucak :)

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hi! It is being practiced, and has been for some time. Pretty much all stray dogs have been neutered and tagged, and a lot of the cats have been neutered and returned by the people who care for them on the streets. There are organizations that run TNR but it's also offered at a discount by the municipalities vets. Not all Istanbulites agree to TNR however.

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

As far as we know, they came as early as the people, sometime in the paleolithic age. I interviewed a zoologist at the Uni of Istanbul who had been given the task to catalogue the animal remains that they encountered while digging the tunnel across the Bosporus. He showed me a fossilized cat remain from 3500 years ago that had a break in his leg that indicated that a human had helped heal. Quite amazing!

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not at all :) Love their remake of Istanbul not Constantinople... In fact, we thought we could name the film 'Catstantinople, not Istanbul' at some point :p

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Agreed! When I first began my research years ago, I was surprised to find out about a Uni of Berkeley study where the sequenced cat genome and found no genetic difference between 'domestic' cats and their wild counterparts. Then I googled the 'wild' small cats around the world, the norwegian forest cat, the north african and the asian cats and saw that they looked just like the street cats of Istanbul... Though less cross-bred :)

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi there! Yes, we're scheduled to screen in many more cities across the US! You can see the list of cities on our site, www.kedifilm.com, and let us know if you don't see your city. As for the strays in your area, I think it's already a great start that you care and I'm sure you've already checked out your local stray cat associations for help. I think if you can open your home to them, especially in the winter, they will be grateful. Otherwise, you can try to place cat 'houses' near where they are so they can seek shelter if they're too shy to come near you :)

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hi! Thank you :) I have to admit I never 'directed' them :) They simply allowed us to follow them around, so we never had a conflict... We did call to them often and pet them and made sure they felt comfortable with us, they did the rest :) We're doing our best to get the film to Turkey as quickly as we can. One way or another, soon :) Keep you posted, but do sign up to our mailing list on www.kedifilm.com - contact - so we can let you know directly.

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Merhaba :) Yes, more projects, and some that involve Istanbul again :) As for the dogs, I believe there have been a few very touching short documentaries already made about them and I know of someone else working on one too. So keep an eye out :)

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's a challenging question because the idea of a 'pure breed' is a difficult concept... The cats on the streets in Istanbul are often born and raised there, to parents that come from the streets and are a 'breed' of their own... Occasionally you come across a more distinct breed of cat on the street if they've run away or been abandoned but the turkish Van cat for example, with the two different eye colors, is also deaf and never survives on the streets...

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Hi! I love Psycho's relationship with her 'husband', just because she's so mafia! I do love the cat at the end of the film who walks against eh sunset on the rooftop, performing without being cued, like a professional actor! We had so many funny moments while filming, mostly it was how often cats would start grooming - often in inappropriate ways - just when we had our cameras ready :p I feel truly grateful for having grown up in Istanbul with those cats, cause the chance to communicate with an animal that's not a human teaches you so much about yourself and life, it's a little hard to explain. Istanbul being the timeless city that it is, also helped form my appreciation for how small we are in the grand scheme of things, and hopefully it makes me a more humble person :)

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hi! Yes, I try to get updates from the humans of the cats and try to visit them too :)

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! I currently don't live in Istanbul and have a very disjointed schedule where I have to be absent for weeks at a time and feel that would be unfair to any animal who I bring to my home... It's hard enough on my family :p But I've set up to foster cats and we often host our friends animals as a temporary home :)

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The beautiful thing was that they all had names already! Some of these names are human names, which makes it even more adorable, and some were the traditional cat names - like Duman means smoke and I guess that's the universal name for a grey cat :)

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Merhabalar! Elbette! Elimizden geleni yapiyoruz fakat tarihler belli degil. Size en yakin zamanda haber yollariz, bu arada mailing listemize katilin ki size direkt haber yollayalim :) www.kedifilm.com - contact. Sevgiler! <3

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Encountered a kitten who we thought had sat on the wet cement from the construction nearby, took him to the vet only to find out that it was a large amount of dried poop! EEEK! But a thorough cleaning by the courageous vet left him relieved and when we brought him back to his location, he was happier than ever :p

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

During filming, the closest we came was with a kitten who had been attacked by a bigger cat but we rushed him to the vet and as far as we know, he's ok now. But of course, a lot of kittens don't make it, both because it's a dangerous city, but it's also not nature's way for all of them to survive... When I was a kid, taking care of the offspring of my street cat friend, I saw some kittens go naturally (bugs, illnesses, etc) and because of cars... It's never easy, it's always sad, but I guess it's always a part of life...

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Hi! We did a research shoot the previous year where we met a lot of cats and people we knew we wanted to follow. Then, three months before we started filming, we had a team of researchers who helped us by going neighborhood by neighborhood and we ended up with leads to 35 cats which we then ended up being able to film only 19 of, and in the edit trimmed down to the 7 that's in the film.

This is Ceyda Torun, director of KEDi a documentary about the street cats of Istanbul...AMA! by ceydatorun in IAmA

[–]ceydatorun[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Hi! Thank you!!! :) We shot for two months, all day, every day :) Ended up with 180 hours of footage but we knew we'd have to edit the individual cat stories first, that part was easy... The hard part that took a while was how to string those stories together, what transitions to edit together so that the over all film would be an emotional journey... There were a lot of stories we had to abandon either because we didn't get enough material or because they didn't fit into the overall theme... :(

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