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Martha Vonk gaat naar Istanbul

Short documentary, 2007, 50 min.

Ahmet is a carpet seller in Istanbul. At the beginning of the documentary, he apologises to the Dutch public for the lies he told them to make a living. One of the lies was the story that he was married to the Dutch Martha Vonk. With this story, he lured Dutch tourists to his store. Director Hester Overmars follows the sympathetic Ahmet in his unrelenting attempts to address potential customers on the street and, once inside his shop, to make them buy a carpet. Meanwhile, he tells about himself, about the tricks he uses to sell carpets, about his real wife and about his dilemma: as a good Muslim, he should not lie. Now and then, he shows a picture of Martha Vonk, whose guide he was twenty years ago in Istanbul and whom he - if only for commercial reasons - will never forget.

nominations

  • NL - Netherlands Film Festival Golden Calf

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