A cat lover explores the endemic animal’s cohabitation of Istanbul in Kedi.
The people of Istanbul share their daily lives with a large, nomadic population of cats. Unlike cats in other areas of the world, these creatures are mainly solitary animals that live more as equals than pets. A Turkish documentary filmmaker, Ceyda Torun, presents us with a love story of the animals that she grew up adoring and their special place in Istanbul culture.
This is an undeniably curious, compelling premise and nothing more. Within minutes, we realize that Torun is essentially providing the world with a 78-minute YouTube video of various cats walking in and lounging around the city. That’s pretty much it.
Her film raises a multitude of obvious questions, but it doesn’t seem interested in answering any of them. We get no data on their numbers. We get no discussion on their overall impact or welfare. Instead, we just watch a few different cats go about their lives. There’s no real point to it. If you love cats, queue up a series of online videos and save yourself the cost of admission.
