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Gamze Terra and A Warm Gaze
September 18, 2026
By Bessy ADUT
Born in Aydın in 1990, Gamze Terra graduated from the Department of Media and Communication, Film Studies at Izmir University of Economics. She worked as a journalist for many years and continues to work as a video editor and filmmaker. Her interests include documentary and experimental cinema. She lives and continues her creative work in Istanbul.
Could you tell us a little bit about your life and career?
I studied Media and Communication at Izmir University of Economics. After graduating, I started working in post-production and editing. I worked in video journalism and editing at BirGün TV, and later continued working independently on documentaries, short films, and music videos. At the same time, I have been developing my own experimental films and documentaries.
How did you get started and what led you to where you are today?
I started working in cinema through editing and post-production. Over time, I moved into documentary filmmaking and video journalism, which gave me the opportunity to work with different stories and forms of storytelling. As I started making my own films, I became more interested in experimental cinema. Today, I continue to work both as an editor and a filmmaker.
Gamze, you have a strong background in experimental and short-form documentaries—such as "The Possibility of an Encounter" and "Seeking of the Distance"; how did your previous formal explorations shape your approach to your debut feature documentary, "A Warm Gaze"?
My experience with experimental short films, along with my years of working on documentary editing, gradually increased my interest in stories focused on people and their lives. Working on documentary editing also shaped the way I approached *A Warm Gaze - Sıcak Bir Göz*. I wanted to bring archive footage, interviews, and observational material together within a chronological structure. At the same time, this process made me enjoy documentary storytelling even more.
Transitioning from shorts to a feature-length documentary about an iconic, multi-disciplinary figure like Mehmet Güreli must have been a distinct journey. What was the most challenging aspect of scaling up your narrative structure for a feature?
I have known Mehmet Güreli for many years, and having worked with him on different projects before, was a great advantage in making this film. We had previously worked together on the editing of three different documentaries about *Abdurrahman Keskiner, Necip Sarıcı, and Biket İlhan*. So we already knew each other’s way of working and had a long-standing creative relationship. Connecting the different disciplines and periods of Mehmet’s life was sometimes challenging, but it was also a very enjoyable and educational process for me.
It was also a great advantage to work with people who have known Mehmet and worked with him for many years. Ahmet Sesigürgil, who has been Mehmet’s cinematographer for many years and knows him very well, was especially valuable to the project. His long-term relationship with Mehmet contributed greatly to both the filming process and our understanding of his world.
At the same time, my producers, *Görkem Yeltan and Yalçın Akyıldız*, also played a very important role. Their effort and support helped us create a comfortable, safe, and respectful working environment, which was essential for making the film in the best possible way.
Güreli’s artistic universe is heavily influenced by a sense of melancholy, nocturnal wandering, and deep observation (much like his literary adaptations like "Dört Köşeli Üçgen" or his musical works). How did you capture this distinctive atmospheric mood visually within the documentary?
I chose to observe Mehmet’s everyday spaces, walks, working moments, and his relationship with Istanbul rather than trying to recreate his world directly. At this point, the contribution of my cinematographer **Arda Yıldıran and our strong camera team** was very important. Being able to capture the small moments of Mehmet’s everyday life and his relationship with the city in a natural way was essential in shaping the film’s visual language. We also filmed part of the documentary in Paris, which allowed us to visually follow different periods of his life and his relationship with different cities.
The contribution of **Süheyla İlay Arıkan, who edited the film,** was also very important in creating its atmosphere. The rhythm she created between real-life moments, archival footage, and sound shaped the film’s narrative. **Our colorist, Oğuzhan Akkoç, also approached the film with great care and created a color palette that suited the nature of the film. We are very happy with the first color grade; I think it completes the atmosphere and visual unity of the film very well.**
How did you approach the sound design and musical choices in the documentary, especially considering Güreli's own iconic musical footprint?
Music has an important place throughout the film. We used many tracks from **“Vapurlar-Blues,” one of Mehmet’s first albums**. Since the album is instrumental, the music could accompany the images and the story without taking over. It was also important for me to use Mehmet’s own music because it is not just a soundtrack, but also an important part of his artistic world. I think these pieces fit the atmosphere of the film very well.
Our **sound designer, Kerem Aktaş, and his team** also worked very carefully on the sound design. Sound has an important role in the film, not only through the music but also through the natural sounds of the spaces and everyday life. They paid close attention to creating a sound world that suited the atmosphere of the film. Balancing the natural sounds of different places and moments with the music helped strengthen the overall atmosphere.
Being selected for the prestigious Golden Boll (Adana Film Festival) competition with your feature-length directorial debut is a significant milestone. What does it mean to you to premiere this deeply rooted cultural portrait on such a prominent national and international platform?
It is very meaningful for me that the film will premiere at one of Turkey’s important film festivals, especially as my feature-length directorial debut. Mehmet Güreli has a very rich and layered artistic world, and we tried to show how his work in different periods and the people he has worked with have influenced and shaped each other. I think his way of creating together with people who inspire him is also an important part of his artistic world. I hope the audience can not only connect with Mehmet and discover the lesser-known sides of his work, but also find some inspiration for their own creative journeys.
Please provide media links to share...
"A Warm Gaze: Mehmet Güreli" trailer (with English subtitles): https://vimeo.com/1207379702
Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?
Here is the official introduction of "A Warm Gaze":
Karina Film proudly presents A Warm Gaze: Mehmet Güreli, a documentary directed by Gamze Terra that explores the artistic legacy of Mehmet Güreli - one of Turkey’s foremost artists and a distinguished figure in music, cinema, painting, and literature. The film offers audiences a bridge through the history of Turkish art by examining the remarkable body of work of this multidisciplinary master.
Through the lens of Gamze Terra, the documentary takes viewers on a journey into the profound and captivating world of Mehmet Güreli.
A Warm Gaze: Mehmet Güreli
Karina Film
Producers: Yalçın Akyıldız, Görkem Yeltan
Co-Producers: Ahmet Sesigürgil, Eda Arıkan, Cemal Okan Project Consultants: Emre Arda, Derya Genç Acar Director of Photography: Arda Yıldıran Art Directors: Ekim Betül Uçar, Yelda Bilal Music: Mehmet Güreli Editors: Süheyla İlay Arıkan, A. Afrail Gök Post Production: 1000 Volt, Fono Film Colorist: Oğuzhan Akkoç Re-Recording Mixer: Kerem Aktaş Işık Şefi: Hakan Altunkök Gaffer: Hakan Altunkök Sound Recording: Emircan Altay Second Camera: Emre Köktaş, Ahmet Açıkkol, Nihan Hoşbakan A Camera: Seçkin Aydın B Camera: Ulaş Öztorun Poster Design, Typography & Animation: Nalan Alaca English Subtitles: Yağmur Ertan DIT: A. Afrail Gök, Nihan Hoşbakan Camera Assistants: İsmail Kağan Bozkurt, Berkay Zengin, Yasemin Akyıldız
Project Assistants: Ecem Zaralıoğlu, Yağmur Bozacı, Derin Yeltan, Alin Yeltan, Kerem Berk Bayır Transportation: Hayrettin Bodur
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