Mutlu Kaya, aged 19, stardom beckoned when she reached the finals of Turkey’s Got Talent. Days later she was shot by a man trying to abduct her. Mutlu survived, but with life-changing injuries and a bullet in her brain.
‘My Name is Happy’ tells the inspirational story of teenage singing sensation Mutlu Kaya as she makes a remarkable journey from gunshot victim to fearless survivor. As she battles to heal her haunting voice, she campaigns for women’s right in Turkey and beyond. Mutlu means ‘happy’ in Turkish.
UK/ TURKEY, 2022, 82 min., Turkish with English and Bulgarian subtitles
Script: Ayse Toprak and Nick Read
Directors: Ayse Toprak and Nick Read
Cinematography: MERYEM YAVUK
Music: Smith & Elms
Production: An October Films, Red Zed Films, Horovel Films production
Director’s Biography:
Nick Read is an EMMY & BAFTA nominated filmmaker known for making acclaimed observational documentaries. He has shot & directed over 50 films, many of them in remote or high-risk locations His work has won 2 Foreign Press Association awards, the Rory Peck Impact Award and the Creative Diversity Award for best documentary.
Ayse Toprak recently relocated from Istanbul to London. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, she has an MA in Media Studies at the New School. From 2011, she worked extensively for Al Jazeera in Turkey, London and Doha, producing social and political documentaries in the Middle East. In 2016 Ayse began work on her first feature documentary, MR GAY SYRIA. The film won 14 awards, most of which were granted for enlightening human rights.