Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Communication's 2025–2026 Academic Year opening lecture was given by Dr. Derviş Zaim, the successful director of Turkish cinema history. Zaim offered advice to students on the importance of storytelling, the writing process, and personal style. Emphasizing that filmmaking requires patience, experience, and originality, Zaim said, “First, write it rough, then filter what you've learned. It is necessary to combine both the flavor of the street and the knowledge of the library.” Additionally, a handover ceremony was held at the opening, where Prof. Dr. Güngör transferred the deanship to Prof. Dr. Atalay.
The event held at the South Campus Fuat Sezgin Conference Hall was attended by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör, Faculty of Communication Dean Prof. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay, Head of Journalism Department Prof. Dr. Süleyman İrvan, and Film Director Dr. Derviş Zaim, along with faculty academics and students.
Deanship handover ceremony took place
A handover ceremony also took place at the opening of the new term.
Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör transferred the deanship of the Faculty of Communication to Prof. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay.
Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör: “I handed over this duty with great pride”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör, who made a speech as part of the handover ceremony, said; “I have been at Üsküdar Üniversitesi since 2013. I came during the establishment of the Faculty of Communication. When I started, we had 20 students. Today, we continue our journey with over 2,000 students. We have brought it from infancy to the present day. We are currently one of Turkey's leading and best communication faculties. It is wonderful for a faculty to cultivate its own administrators, academics, and deans from within. I handed over this duty with great pride.”
Prof. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay: “I promise to carry out this duty entrusted to me in the best possible way”
Faculty of Communication Dean Prof. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay, who took over the flag from Rector Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör, said; “Our professors have established such a system that every detail is planned well in advance, and everything runs smoothly. On the one hand, becoming a dean after two such important professors does indeed place an extra responsibility on a person. I promise to carry out this duty entrusted to me in the best possible way. Thank you very much for your support.”
Derviş Zaim addressed communication students
Following the handover ceremony, Dr. Derviş Zaim, the successful director of Turkish cinema history, gave an opening lecture to students on the nature of storytelling.
Derviş Zaim: “You need to accept living with that film for several years”
Film Director Derviş Zaim, touching upon filmmaking processes and philosophy, said; “When there is an issue that bothers me or something I want to say something about, I want to make a film on that subject. Because making a film is not a short-term job; it takes several years. For those several years, you need to accept living with that film, and even dare to do so. This is not easy. It requires experience, sometimes even getting 'tricked'. The process we call writing actually means that it requires you to feel pain. If you don't truly love that film, if you don't think it's a film worth striving for, you won't put effort into it. In the end, a bad film will emerge. That's why, at the very beginning, you should start writing about things that speak to you.”
“If you enter a war with other people's weapons, you are condemned to other people's war”
Zaim, emphasizing the art of writing, said: “What we call writing is creating obstacles for the protagonist and making them convincing. Increasing or sometimes decreasing the intensity of these obstacles, taking breaks in between... Then creating much larger obstacles, complications, and crises. This is actually an art. If you enter a war with other people's weapons, you are condemned to other people's war. You need to think and write with your own words.”
“It is necessary to combine both the flavor of the street and the knowledge of the library”
Explaining the stages of the writing process, Zaim drew attention to the importance of personal style. Zaim said; “First, write it rough. Write freely, as it comes from within you. In the second stage, review what you have written by filtering what you have learned. It doesn't end here; there is a third stage. You will forget again. There is no universal, single method of writing that works well for everyone. The method that works for you, that is special to you, that integrates with you, is the best method. It is necessary to combine both the flavor of the street and the knowledge of the library. This is the ideal.”
Then, he answered students' questions about screenwriting and the industry with a Q&A session.
The opening lecture concluded with a group photo session after the presentation of gifts.