The premier of a documentary film called "Sadan Hanım: An Istanbul Lady", which was shot to draw attention to Alzheimer's disease and raise social awareness about the scientific consulting of the Turkish Alzheimer Association, was screened on 21 September, World Alzheimer's Day. Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is becoming more and more widespread in the world, was the subject of the documentary film, which takes a look at the last five years of the life of a real person, from the time she was first diagnosed with AD, until her death.
In the film, director Göksel Gülensoy tells about Sadan Ünüvar's life in Turkey and abroad, from her childhood until her death. Famous actress Canan Ergüder, who met Sadan Ünüvar four years before she died, played the part of Sadan in the movie. Kenan Ece played Sadan’s husband Ziyaeddin Ünüvar, who was a military attaché. This is part of a six-year project with several stages, consisting of an art exhibition and a book presentation done last year, while this year's stage includes the newly-launched film, in the "texture-drama" genre, which will continue to be shown to audiences throughout this year. The film both reveals the inspiring life of Sadan Hanım and draws attention to the importance of early diagnosis of the disease in Turkey, where it is predicted that one in three people will have AD in the near future, largely due to the longer life expectancy.
Director Göksel Gülensoy, who is also the son-in-law of Sadan Ünüvar, came up with the idea of making a documentary about seven years ago, when his wife introduced him to 8mm films shot by her father, Ziyaeddin Ünüvar. He explained that they decided to make the film based on historical videos containing images of Sadan Hanım from Kadıköy, Moda, Istanbul, Washington, Rome, Casablanca and many other places, shot 60 - 70 years ago. He said: “We had a unique video archive of approximately four-and-a-half hours due to the fact that her husband was a military attaché working in many different countries and was interested in shooting videos. At the time when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's we talked to her doctor and the Turkish Alzheimer Association and with their support we filmed the stages of her disease using a scientific approach. Canan Ergüder, whom I reached out to because of her similarity to Ms Sadan and also the fact that they had met, became involved in the project since 2014. Kutsi Smart wrote the script and this movie, which we think is unique in the world, has emerged. Our film intends to draw attention to Alzheimer's, to provide guidance and motivation to people who are dealing with Alzheimer's themselves and to their relatives. I believe that our film will also convey the inspiring life of a republican woman who has lived a life to the fullest."
