Tomato, Pepper, Depression 2024

Directed by Aybüke Avcı

Tomatoes, peppers, and all the other plants in Adana’s Çetirevli village survive on medications, just like the diagnosed depression patients who make up half of the village population. As the production of pepper paste—the village’s source of livelihood—goes through various stages such as harvesting, sorting, and grinding, the burden of physically heavy work on people’s mental worlds gradually increases. During a summer coinciding with the pepper harvest, the director retraces the summer memories of her childhood and pursues the question, "how to make pepper paste when depressed? The camera follows her uncle Mehmet, who suffers from depression, his wife Naziye, and her elder uncle Yakup, who lives in the same house and also grapples with depression.