This year marks the first time the Mustafa V. Koç Sports Awards have been held, and the first winners are National Archer Gizem Girişmen and National Wrestler Taha Akgül. To set their stories to film is a great honor for us.
Gizem Girişmen is a young archer who turned her hardships into medals and is afraid of nothing. Taha Akgül is a young wrestler whose passion brought him to the top of world wrestling.
These two athletes help make Turkey proud not just for their Olympic medals, but for the stories that took them there. For this film, it was necessary to show the reality of their extraordinary stories. At the same time, this film had to articulate the reasons for the award, making it one of the more sensitive points of emphasis for the whole ceremony.
We wanted this film, directed by Eylem Kaftan, to tell the story of Gizem and Taha's journey through their own voices. We also received help from their family members, teachers, and friends. We added a third-person narrator in order to add overarching ideas. We showed the success stories of these two athletes unaware of each other's existence as they intertwined, and introduced the two at the end.
They inspired us, and we are convinced that they will inspire you just as much after you watch.
