Movie ‘Ot' on effects of terror to come out this week

The movie "Ot" (Herb), which is about the effects of terrorism before 1999 in Turkey, especially on the lives of Anatolians, produced by Altınyaprak Film and directed by Burak Donay, is out this Friday. Starring Erkan Yavuz, Melike Kurt and Erol Koçan, the movie tells the struggle of a villager who sells the herbs he collects from the mountains as he roams around with a donkey he bought with a loan while at the same time trying to send his children to school with his limited funds.

The film features the life of Zeytin (Olive), the main character who is the donkey, and a family who reside in an Anatolian village in 1999, which is caught in the line of fire during terrorist attacks in southeastern Turkey. Shooting for the film took place in Tokat's Reşadiye district, which is the hometown of the producer, and lasted for five weeks. Zeytin became the mascot of the crew and followed them with a truck assigned only for him throughout the shooting. According to the crew, he didn't cause any trouble during the movie and made his first silver screen appearance and is on his way to becoming an actor.

The script written by Yavuz tells the story of Şeref, who tries to make a living from the herbs he collects and look aft

er his wife, who is suffering from myolysis, and his three children. His main hope in this life is for his children to get a proper education. As the school is far away from the village, he buys a donkey to carry his children to the school so they don't get tired and they can arrive on time. He listens to the advice of the salesman and gets a credit card to buy the donkey. The only way to pay off this debt is to collect the herb, Gulin, which is from the higher parts of the mountains, however neither the military nor the terrorists deployed in the area allow this. As he knows he has no other choice; he takes the risk of being between a rock and a hard place.