ebru gündeş: the young princess of fantezi music
march 2021 • 5 episodes • 136 minutes total • 1.93 million views
the story of singer ebru gündeş was interesting for several reasons: her name was in an international money laundering case through her sensational husband reza zarrab. she was from a working-class background, loved by millions, especially after her public brain hemorrhage on live tv, and after this marriage she was shied away from the public eye, except for 1-2 concerts a year.
her fame spans not only turkey, but the whole middle east region. still to this day i meet people from the region who say they love her as a conversation opener.
the research process
for this project i contacted a mega-fan of gündeş, and he trusted us to share his extensive archives. due to that, the series had immersive video archival footage that is not present online.
we imagined the series as a form of fairytale, starting from her childhood to her tragic health situation on tv, ignoring the second part of her life after 2000. this required deep research and an episode about her marriage with iranian businessman reza zarrab, who is currently under the witness protection program in the usa under a different name.
i still have a draft that i want to publish in the future as a bonus episode that investigates her relationship with zarrab and their corruption scandal.
the complete series
episode 1: “cinderella story”
exploring:
- gündeş’ childhood and rise to fame at 18 years of age
- inner dynamics of turkish music cassette production industry (unkapanı) in the 1990s
- history of turkish art music and connection to gündeş
- class conflict and taste in 1990s turkey
episode 2: “the liar’s candle”
exploring:
- gündeş’ curated public image, pr campaigns by her music company
- young gündeş’ navigation of fame
- celebrity industry of the 1990s
- private tvs, creation of turkish “drama” industry
- history of movies and tv dramas led by popular singers
episode 3: “thunderstorms”
exploring:
- modernization of gündeş’ image and its position in popular music industry
- populism and militarization in popular culture in 1990s turkey
- “fantazi” music genre and youth culture of 1990s turkey
- “music video clip” industry in turkey, turkey’s “mtv” kral tv’s history and its connection to media groups and the awards industry
- the public conversation of “infidelity” in the 1990s
- private radios in 1990s turkey, liberalization and its impact on pop music industry
episode 4: “dance with the wolves”
exploring:
- the case of fake ebrus
- a public custody case in the 1990s and feminist backlash
- class mobilization of gündeş, her changed taste and her gender identity
- beauty in the music industry
- nostalgia wave
- “televole” culture and football industry
censorship note: this episode has been censored due to a warning we received from the lawyer of an akp parliament member and ex-footballer alpay özalan. he requested us to delete the parts where we give evidence and witness statements about his attention-seeking and lying personality back in his celebrity days.
episode 5: “super final”
exploring:
- the rise and demise of raks company
- racism and sexism in the 1990s music industry
- rise of nationalism due to the 75th anniversary of the republic and its impact on popular culture
- the case of ahmet kaya, where he was attacked for announcing he would sing a kurdish song during an award show, which led to his exile to paris and death
- fans of ebru gündeş
- process leading to her brain hemorrhage during her album launch, its impact and its instrumentalization for fame
impact & recognition
- 1.93 million total views across all episodes
- 136 minutes of comprehensive documentary content
- exclusive archival footage not available elsewhere online
- critical analysis of 1990s turkish music industry and celebrity culture
methodology
- archival research: extensive use of rare footage from mega-fan collections
- historical contextualization: connecting personal story to broader social and political trends
- narrative structure: fairytale format from childhood to tragedy
- critical framework: class, gender, and cultural analysis of celebrity construction
personal reflection
after this series, i decided to move to germany for certain. the self-censorship i felt during creating this series was very depressing for me. i was also feeling very limited with our capabilities, due to our team becoming only a few people now. around the same time, we had a chance to meet controversial popular figure yeşim salkım for a non-released interview project. she shared a horrible abuse story involving another very famous woman singer. then she added, “you are young and smart, go travel the world. don’t bother with these things - it’s too deep and dirty.” this was coming from too powerful a source to ignore.
tags: music industry, celebrity culture, 1990s turkey, gender studies, documentary series