Turkish Airlines teases new 'Journey' short film

By Nilay Kar Onum

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey's national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, released on Wednesday a teaser look behind-the-scenes its new short film “Journey.”

In the two-minute-plus video posted on Twitter, famed movie director Ridley Scott and actress Syvia Hoeks talk about the short, a clip from which will air during the U.S. football Super Bowl this Sunday.

“Journey” shows a cat-and-mouse chase through the picturesque landmarks of Istanbul, and features actresses Sylvia Hoeks, known for her role in Blade Runner 2049 and France’s Aure Atika.

The airline, which is taking up its new home at Istanbul Airport, made the film to promote scenic Istanbul.

“We are in Istanbul shooting because Turkish Airlines is celebrating 85 years as a company,” Fabian Berglund, executive creative director at ad agency Anomaly Amsterdam, says in the teaser.

“We want to make something that celebrates both the airline and this new airport but also this city of Istanbul.

“That’s why we landed in making more of a movie than your regular 60-second spot,” he added.

Scott said: “What we take [is] two unusual travelers, who are both nice representations of high-end travel, and there is an evolution that occurs between them which becomes very interesting.”

Saying this is his first time visiting Istanbul, Scott said: “The thing I was completely knocked out by was the spectacular nature of the harbor, which leads you to the open sea, and the thing is the staggeringly amazing awe of all the mosques.”

The movie features the city’s iconic locations and monuments including Ortakoy district, Bosphorus, Ciragan Palace, and Galata Tower as well as cultural treasures like Turkish coffee.

Hoeks said of the film: “As an audience, you’re chasing that woman with the main character trying to figure out who she is. I think that mystery leads in a sense to ‘go travel’.”

“At the end when, she has seen all these places in Istanbul through chasing that person, we end up back in the plane, which is basically to say to people, ‘Go widen your world, widen your scope. Learn new cultures, see new things and enjoy it’,” she said.

Atika also expressed her enthusiasm for Istanbul.

“At the beginning of the first day, I thought I won’t have time to visit the city and now with the locations for this movie, we’re going to the most beautiful places,” she said.

The film will be posted on all of Turkish Airlines' social media platforms, and the teasers will run in movie theaters and on TV.