On the Way to School

Ozgur Dogans movie, On the Way to School is based on a rural, under developed and illiterate
village, situated at the east edge of Turkey. The movie is about the will power and the strengths
of a recently graduated Turkish tutor, who is send to a village, where Kurdish inhabitants are
situated and his sole job is to make the children of that village learn Turkish language.
Definitely, it does not turn out be a piece of cake as his students are unaware of the basics of
their national language. Hard work and a strong communication level were required, at both
ends, which we observe throughout the movie.
This young school teacher experiences a peculiar gathering with the children, who are deprived
of the basic rights- the right to be a learned and most of all to have known their mother tongue.
The movie not only clearly differentiates between the intellectual level of the children and the
teacher but also explains the diversity of the two locations- urban and rural. To step out from the
mouth of opportunities to a place that is barely developed, the teacher showed a remarkable
aptitude. A place where there is deprivation of basic necessities like electricity, the viewer goes
into the depths of pity and sorrowfulness for the people living there.
One of the shakiest scenes of the movie was when Kurdish children felt empty and desolate on
their National Day. Not only language is a barrier, the difference in living conditions turned to
be the irony of this piece of art.
One full year of struggle and determination brings two different identities to a platform where
each one of them is willing to learn each others way of livelihood. The teachers keen interest
does not go in vain.
Nonetheless, it turns out to be a beautiful yet simple movie that connects the viewer to the
innocence and worthiness of brotherhood.