We wholeheartedly recommend that everyone watches Kedi, a full-length documentary about stray cats in Istanbul. There’s no doubt that the documentary’s creator is a complete and utter cat lover, but it’s not just the furry stars—the kittens, cats and toms—that steal the show, as the film also focuses on the special relationships, insights and feelings that the people who live alongside these creatures have.
The stories about the cats that roam the streets of Istanbul freely are told by the lovely people who see and experience them every day. The animals belong to no one, and yet to everyone as, together, the community in Istanbul takes care of them. And each story told is so very different. Take the man at a tea house for instance, who talks—with sheer admiration—about his ‘Psikopat’, a cat he has been pampering for years. Psycho by name and psycho by nature, she has such a strong personality and attitude that she’s earned the respect of the local vendors, fishmongers and even stray dogs: she’s definitely the boss of the neighborhood. And then there’s the story of the baker, who saves all his tips for visits to the vet as the cat that visits him every day is relatively clumsy.
Then there’s the remarkable man who walks through the streets with bags of fish. Dozens of meowing cats swarm around his legs and run behind him, and yet he still notices that there’s one missing. She has just given birth and he does not rest until he finds her and gives her some treats. A simple act that makes him truly happy.
These wonderful stories are set to a backdrop of imagery depicting the Turkish seaside resort in all its beauty, bringing to light that Kedi is more than just a cat movie.
Find out more about the cats and watch the trailer at kedifilm.com.
You can watch Kedi online via YouTube Red.
