Tülay German's tumultuous life has made its way to the big screen with Didem Pekün and Barış Doğrusöz's new documentary film on the folk singer, 'Tülay German: The Years of Fire and Cinders.' Inspired by the woman's autobiography, the film recently premiered at the 29th International Istanbul Film Festival.German chose a life of exile after being born in a well-off family, eventually moving to Paris with leftist Erdem Buri. She turned from her career in jazz to reinvent Turkey's folk sound, which today came to be known as 'Anatolian Pop.' Buri translated a Marxist book into Turkish and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, at which time the two left for France. Until her decision to quit music in 1987, she predominantly made her name singing for fellow exiles in Paris, using the lyrics of revolutionary poets in her songs.
In the documentary, Pekün travels to Paris to record the events through German's eyes, though she refused to take part in the film. She does, however, lend her voice by reading from her autobiographical book, The Black Box of The Plane Which Never Crashed,' which is the work that Pekün read in college and which inspired this movie.
