Hiçbir Şey Normal Değil

Turkey's first “eco” hotel, Naturland Eco Park and Resort, opened in 1991 and operated until 2014. A hybrid of documentary, black satirical comedy and circus-style performance, the film builds on fictional voice-overs that depict the experiences of hotel guests and staff and the gradual decay of the once-pompous and now dilapidated abandoned complex, which was closed due to overwhelming debts and left virtually untouched. Strange Abandoned Deranged is a kaleidoscopic portrait of an ambivalent place that is full of faded colours, scratched walls and kitschy life-size animal sculptures. Like the site itself, which was once a premier tourist attraction and a haven for local politicians and royalty, the unfulfilled dream of a harmonious fusion of capitalism and ecology is increasingly unravelling, revealing an unpleasant reality that has been carefully hidden behind the walls of a man-made paradise. Both the absurdity and the controversy surrounding Naturland are symptomatic of Turkey's modern history.