Seksenbeş by Elif Kahveci

I had spent fifteen days at Plevna, a city in Bulgaria in 2014. I have always been interested in the old Eastern Block countries. I feel like they live in a non-existent time frame between the past and the present, yet to open up to the world. We see the same dilemma in this series. I had the chance to attend the 85th birthday of Mrs. Nermin, who is a Plevna born Turk. I liked the contrast between the ornamental and hysterical atmosphere and the colorful aesthetic of Mrs. Nermin and her friends. Facially expressing their burden of the past, these people who have witnessed the different periods of Bulgaria immortalized in 2014’s Plevna in my eyes. Leaving me with traces on migration, being a minority, and the old and the new world.