A JOURNEY OF 100 MILLION YEARS
100 Milyon Yıllık Yolculuk

In Competition

Directed by Murat Toy, Arda Kalaycı
Doc. / 72 min. / 2013

Synopsis

20 nesting beaches... four universities... three countries... and a story older than mankind. A Journey of 100 Million Years explores two endangered sea turtle species in the Mediterranean Basin: Caretta Caretta and Chelonia Mydas. The 100 million year old history of sea turtles, the future of the species, devoted biologists, conservation activists, underwater photographers, rehabilitation centers, and research studies all take part in the documentary. Nesting beaches taken up by industrial plants, coastal erosion, sea turtles mutilated by fishermen, beaches transformed into garbage dumps are part of the threats that sea turtles face today in the Mediterranean. A Journey of 100 Million Years features important nesting beaches in Turkey and Northern Cyprus, as well as rehabilitation centers in Turkey and Italy. The film also witnesses the release of two rehabilitated sea turtles with satellite tracking equipment to the Mediterranean Sea: Melissa from Iztuzu Beach in Turkey and Ilaria from Fusaro Beach in Italy. Each year, female sea turtles return to the beach where they have hatched to lay their eggs. They confide the future deep inside our beaches. But will this treasure be safely kept?

 

Murat TOY

Born in 1972 in Istanbul, director Murat Toy studied communication in Marmara University. He started his career in 1997 as the assistant director of “Haberci”, Turkey’s longest-lasting TV documentary series. Between 2000-2002, he became director of the same program. Beginning from 2002, he worked as a freelance director and directed or edited various TV shows for different TV channels. He also directed corporate films. In 2003, he established his own production companies; “81 Production” and “Şarküteri Production”.  He is still in charge of “Şarküteri Production”, which is the founder and producer of Turkey’s first documentary channel, IZ.

Selected Filmography as Director:

Haberci (TV program, 130 episodes, 1997-2000 assistant director, 2000-2002 director)
Raja (children’s doc., 2000)
Salut Abidin (documentary for special screening in Paris in commemoration of the 14th anniversary of the death of artist Abidin Dino)
Documentaries for Iz TV (Over 50 documentaries for Turkey’s first documentary channel, 2006-2013)
Corporate films (1998-2005)

Arda KALAYCI

Arda Kalaycı was born in 1978 in Zonguldak. He received his undergraduate degrees from Mimar Sinan University in History and from Marmara University in Journalism. In 2004 he started working for Kanal D as a production and stage management assistant for programs, "Zaga" and "Herkes Bunu Konuşuyor". In 2005 he joined Iz TV as a production assistant, and between 2005-2006 he worked as film editor and sound editor for documentaries and travel programs. Since 2010 he works as assistant director and director for documentaries, corporate and commercial films.

Selected Filmography as Director/Assistant Director:

Yeryüzünün Enerjisi: Jeotermal (doc., 2013)
Portrait/Documentary Series: Bir Usta Bin Usta (doc., 2010), Taşın Dili: Mardin (doc., 2011), İpek Dokusu: Hatay (doc., 2011), Cama Can Üflemek (doc., 2012), Yazmanın Adı: Tokat (doc., 2012), Toprağın Çağrısı: Avanos (doc., 2012), Namrun Ovası (doc., 2013), Rize'nin Sepetleri (doc., 2013), Ahşabın Büyüsü (doc., 2013)
Kaş Kekova'da Hayat Var (doc., 2012)
Sehan Havzası'na Yolculuk (doc., 2011)
Rahvan Adımlar (Doc. for Iz TV, 2010)
Tek Işık (Doc. for Iz TV, 2009)
Menemen (TV program for CNN Turk, 2010)
Yeryüzü Notları (TV program for NTV, 2010)