About KültAlt

The multidisciplinary blog concept that emerged during the 2013 Gezi Resistance came to life on the ground while Gezi was still ongoing. From 2015 onward, the blog began to be redeveloped to focus solely on cinema. In 2016 it was relaunched as a website under the name "KültAlt," with the aim of producing Turkish-language content on cinema's cult and subcultures. Its scope was expanded with the inclusion of exploitation cinema and classic cinema, which has itself become a subculture.

Hi, I'm Bahadır. I'm the founder, developer, and author of KültAlt. At 15, after watching two films in one night that Türker — who sold pirated films (I hope everything has gone well for you) — insisted on giving me (Reservoir Dogs and A Clockwork Orange), I had a shattering first encounter with cinema. Afterward, I spent a long time trying to learn, understand, and create. Over that time, I mostly felt the pain of not being able to create.

While questioning my need to make films, the idea of KültAlt began to take shape. Even though it may sound like a rationalization, what I would have made, had I been able to, would have been a copy or near-copy of its own precedents, like so much that had already been made. Making things was very much about me, and even if everything went well, the results could only ever be very limited. My experience of encountering cinema, on the other hand, could be obtained and spread far more easily. Even if I don't find the comparison entirely fair: another A Clockwork Orange being made might not matter to anyone but its maker, because A Clockwork Orange already exists — but a person watching the existing A Clockwork Orange at an early age can have a shattering effect similar to what I experienced (and the latter, unlike the former, is an experience that can be spread far more easily). KültAlt's starting point rests on this reckoning: confronting people with shattering films.

Over time, my perspective on cinema changed along with my perspective on life. Where I once searched for the best, the truest, or the most ideal, I later experienced a loss of meaning in almost every concept and value. All concepts became partly meaningless, and definitions partly turned grey. This shift required me to transform my approaches to everything. Films quickly stopped being bundles of ideas, technique, and motivation, and became more image and sound. By then, every film, without exception, was watchable.

I received an education unrelated to cinema, and I work in a field unrelated to cinema as well. Never having formed any financial tie to cinema, and embracing the DIY (do it yourself) ethos, have been the most important factors expanding KültAlt's freedom. I measure that my current approaches are working, so it's likely they will deepen further until the next changes.

Thank you for your time.