BERGEN

Synopsis

Belgin Sarılmışer, born in 1959 in Mersin in southern Turkey, is the youngest of a family of seven children. She had a happy childhood. Her parents’ divorce shakes her life to the core. After moving to Ankara, she lives a solitary life with her mother and develops a deep longing for her father. Her entry into the conservatory rendered imminent her dreams of singing. She took a blow when her first love Abdullah left her.

Her greatest power was her talent. She started singing at the prestigious Club Feyman and was an instant hit. At this time Belgin takes the stage name Bergen and starts to get famous. Due to some details in her contract, she ends up going to Adana with her mother to work. In Adana’s music scene she has to change her style and the genre of music. She meets Halis Serbes, her future husband and murderer, during this period following an antagonistic encounter. She finds herself in a web of manipulation, and after her marriage to Halis Serbes, she falls in a well of violence, in which she is alone and detached from life. She manages to leave him and return to her singing; however this move exacerbates the threats and violence Halis Serbes unleashes on her. In the peak of her career, she is attacked by acid while on stage.

Despite the tragedy of the acid attack, she returns to the stage. Her outstanding singing brings her nation-wide fame. Meanwhile, Halis continues his threats and vicious attacks. Bergen lives in constant fear. On tour for her new album, just when she thinks she is rid of him for good, Halis captures her and shoots her along with her mother. She dies on the spot and her mother is taken to hospital, where she dies the following day. Bergen was only 30 when she died. Turkey remembers her as the sorry victim of patriarchal violence, as well as the queen of arabesque.

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