As Usual, Good Things Are Happening With OCTAA!

Orange County Turkish American Association & Irvine Multicultural Association’s Joint Turkish Movie Event Thanks

The Third Turkish Film Event jointly sponsored by the Irvine Multicultural Association (IMA) and Orange County Turkish American Association (OCTAA) was held on November 8, 2006 at the Irvine Civic Center Council Chambers.  Nearly 70 people attended this outreach event.  Among the guests were members of IMA and other Irvine residents as well as members of the Turkish-American community in Orange County and in surrounding counties.  The objective of this event was to introduce Turkish culture to the greater community in Orange County through film as a media.

The movie we selected was about a Turkish man’s relationship with his father and his son in Babam ve Oğlum (My Father and My Son).  Sadik is one of the rebellious youth who has been politically active as a university student and became a left-wing journalist in the 70's, despite his father's expectations of him becoming an agricultural engineer and taking control of their family farm in an Aegean village. On the dawn of September 12, 1980, when a merciless military coup hits the country, they cannot find access to any hospital or a doctor and his wife dies while giving birth to their only child, Deniz. After a long-lasting period of torture, trials, and jail time, Sadik returns to his village with 7-8 years old Deniz, knowing that it will be hard to correct things with his father, Huseyin.  The movie left the audience in tears with many good things to say about the film.

OCTAA extends its gratitude to the following organizations and individuals who were instrumental in making this event a success and a memorable one:

v     Irvine Multicultural Association for allowing us the opportunity to introduce the Turkish culture to the greater community through film media.  We especially thank IMA’s President Sarah Mar for coordinating along with other IMA members for providing refreshments during this event.

v     City of Irvine for providing a great venue for our movie event free of charge. 

v     Our proud sponsor of this event: Cevdet Uğur from BAKLAVA KING and Treasurer Volkan Alemdar from bringing the home-made baklava all the way from San Diego to support this event to share another wonderful aspect of the Turkish culture.  Baklava was a hit and stole the show at this event.

v     Our volunteer Lucy Arias for documenting this event by taking photos and helping with set up before the event.

v     OCTAA’s Board of Directors Chair Michelle Deniz Drousé for planning and organizing this event.

v     OCTAA’s supportive members & other friends who joined us from far-reaching corners of Orange County for their continued support.

We intend to make the Turkish Movie Event an annual tradition to be held jointly with IMA in Irvine each November. 

Selam ve Sevgiler,
OCTAA Team
www.octaa.org