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Young talents of our country continue to achieve success abroad. Finally, the thesis film of a young Turkish director from Izmir at New York University Tisch School of the Arts premiered at NFFTY and received an award as the 'best thesis film' at the school.

TURKEY - New York University Film School is known as the best film school where famous directors of Hollywood are trained. It is seen as a great success that Nepal Arslan's film was selected as the best film by beating other thesis films in this environment.

Young talents of our country continue to gain success abroad. "Shell", the half Turkish and half English thesis film of Nepal Arslan, a young Turkish director at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts, premiered at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) and was selected as the "Programmers' Choice". "Kabuk" was selected as 'Best Thesis Film' at NYU and won the Russell Hexter Scholarship. The young director is paving his way to Hollywood.

Stating that the film stars Turkish actors, teaches Turkish to an American actor and includes Turkish traditions, Nepal Arslan said, "I grew up in Izmir and then settled in the US. At the age of 17, I gave a TEDx talk about the art of film as a young director. At the age of 18, I won the 'Best Drama' award at America's largest student short film festival and received a full scholarship at New York University. My Turkish-English thesis film 'Kabuk', which I made while graduating, was selected as the best film award from NYU. Now, I am working non-stop on my first feature film to be shot in California and Turkey."

"There was a silence after the jury members watched the film"

Young director Nepal Arslan said, "My film was selected as one of the best thesis films of NYU. After the jury members, consisting of NYU professors, watched the film 'Shell', there was a moment of silence and the film evoked a real emotion in them. NYU Tisch also awarded this film the Thomas William Gidro-Frank Production Award. The film runs 15 minutes and 38 seconds. The film was produced by Ana Juanola and Cami Olses. Jacob Bobblit was the editor, Sean Chow was the cinematographer and Jackie Andresen was the music director."

"No matter how dark the world is, we are not alone"

Emphasising that he touched a magical world in his film with the combination of his upbringing in Turkey and his adult life in the USA, Nepal Arslan said: "No matter how dark the world gets, I created a story that reminds us that we are not alone. Keran, the character of the film, goes to a motel to find the 'Memory Box' where her parents spent the last few months together. She sets off into the forest with her late mother's notebook and a hand-drawn map. Along the way she makes signs and finds important points from her memories. After a series of events, the forest both pushes Keran to unknown paths and takes her back to the motel. A mother's love saves her. Love may not always be where you expect it to be."

"I am taking fast and sure steps towards Hollywood"

Young writer and director Nepal Arslan concluded his words as follows: "My thesis film Shell was recognised as one of the best thesis films of the best film school in the world. I am currently working on my first feature film to be shot in California and Turkey. In the last three years, I have written and directed more than 40 commercials and many award-winning short films for brands and companies. My goal is Hollywood. In line with this goal, I continue to work confidently and uninterruptedly. I continue to write stories that both keep up with the times and are original."