Nuran Evren Sit, Turkish writer and screenwriter, author of the Netflix series “Another Self” which  portrays with extraordinary beauty the family constellations for a universe of millions of people, tells us a bit about her story and how transformative it was to live in Brazil when she was 18 years old. A woman who finds courage and inspiration in her ancestors, and who, by honoring them, gives voice to stories that need to be told in a very conscious paradigm-shifting purpose. A human being ahead of her time, equal to many Turkish philosophers, thinkers, and poets. A writer who uses words as a bridge between the profane and the divine. A light in Affectum.

Watching the “Another Self” series, I felt that the main character was you, its creator. In addition to the impact of the story of the transformative journey of the three friends who choose to heal their wounds, I have the look of those who dared to go further and break paradigms. Someone with the courage to tell the world a story that will necessarily disturb and generate a lot of controversy.

Who is Nuran Evren Sit, the woman behind the “Another Self”?

Thank you so much for this incredibly deep yet simple question. Who I am is, all about what I’ve been through in my life and with whom I was interacted with and what I got from this journey so far. So, it changes and evolves every day. My name is Evren, it means “The Universe” in Turkish. I was born and raised in Ankara, the capital of Turkey in a humble family.

I became a kid actress when I was 8 and that’s when I decided that I want to work in Cinema and TV business when I grow up. As a teenager, I’ve dedicated myself to gain “enough” experience in life to become a filmmaker. I didn’t know there is no such thing as “experienced enough” back then.

When I was 18, I went to Brasil to live there for a year as an exchange student. That was a turning point in my life, now that I see, I figured that on the other side of the world in a totally different culture, we all share the same feelings and same stories. My Brazilian

Family – Familia Neves- taught me a lot about how to live this life in a joyful and supportive way. I want to thank them very much for accepting me as their family, and to thank my sister Amanda Neves, who is a mark in my life, and who left 2 years ago because of cancer. I couldn’t do this series if on my way I hadn’t met met with them…).

After I came back to Turkey with a totally different view of life, I studied Cinema and Television in Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul where I had incredible teachers and mentors who were the masters of the Turkish Cinema. I made short films written and directed by myself. Then I worked in Movies as an assistant director and in casting department. But I couldn’t feel satisfied. I needed to tell stories. And that’s how I started to work as a screenwriter. I’ve been writing movies and tv shows for 16 years now. I always had the curiosity for other people’s stories, memories, pains and joys. And I feel so lucky that my profession is all about that.

Couple of years ago, I’ve found a letter from my grandfather that he wrote to me when I was 6 years old, saying that my name Evren – has a a lot to do with my character and my future. He wrote that he could imagine me telling stories to whole world, honoring my name and make people gather around a movie or a book or a play. And that amazing letter, gave me the courage to write Another Self…

“Another Self” makes a extraordinary portrait of the psychic traps of family dynamics that so often condition us and bund us to stories lived by our ancestors. Live to tell, is that what happened here?

Maybe… I’ve been observing the effects of our families’ histories to our lives for many years now. It is so obvious when you really pay attention to it. I think who we are is all about how we utilize our pasts to build our futures.

“Live to tell” is what I do unconsciously, I guess. It feels like when I write, characters, events, dialogues come from somewhere I’ve already been before. When I meditate and focus on the craft with the intention of -let my writing be the way what the collective most needs, with the words need to be said out loud and would inspire people- The words come easily. I feel like I am channeling what is already there for everyone. I try not to be stuck in judgements, taking sides, or trying to lecture the audience when I write.

In the series, Zaman uses a psychotherapy technique called “family on origin expansion”, wich coincides with the “family constelations” created by Bert Hellinger, a german psychotherapist. It´s the same thing?

It’s quite similar and based on his technique, yes. Our consultant Sabri Salis had his education from Hellinger’s students in Germany. He had participated around 1000 sessions of family constellations, including ones with Hellinger himself. And when he gets back to Turkey, he integrates all his experience to this land, to the culture of Anatolia. Turkey’s family dynamics and cultural heritage is very different and unique, so it must be adapted. Therefore, I cannot call it “the same thing”, but overall, whatever name we give to this in different countries, the aim is common. To understand and accept our past…

How did this tool of “expansion of the family of origin” so well portrayed in the series come to your life? What was the click for awakening to the world of ancestry?

I participated to an expansion of the family origin session 5 years ago with Sabri Salıs.

That was a very strong and deep experience. Since then, I kept experiencing and

researching the concept. As I figured how my life changes since then -not only mine but my friends’ and people who participate to those studies had remarkable changes in their lives; – it became inevitable to write about it. Sabri Salıs and Gulcin Onel offered me full support if I write a series on the subject. And 4 years later from that conversation, I felt ready to write about it. They were the consultants of the script, and we had a very detailed work on the concept together. The total writing process was like a therapy to me. I’ve attended many sessions and read almost everything that I could find about the subject. Before I convince the producers, actors and the network, I had to be really sure about what I was telling. And I did so. I am not an expert on the subject but I am an attendant, an observer and a story teller so Anotherself is my way of storytelling, not a documentary about the expansion of the family of origin. Also when you realize that writing tv dramas is a huge way of communicating with people all around the world, you really must be careful about what you are saying in your story telling. If you had a chance to tell the world a story, what would it be? What would it mean? What would it inspire in audience? I think my grandfather’s letter, had to do a lot with my concept of writing.

I honor my ancestors for giving me this courage and inspiration. I’d respectfully honor all of them, for my existence and for what I do…

What does writing mean to you? From the series you created (Another Self and The Gift), It seems that writing is a way of giving voice to something very strong inside you, as if you were a kind of messenger of the new era. What do you feel about this?

I come from a land where great poets, philosophers, writers, and revolutionary people come from. Such as Rumi, Şems, Hacı Bektaş… lately Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. They all were beyond their ages; they all brought new ways of thinking and living to the people.

They had the courage to struggle, to break the tabus, to enlighten people. They had changed lives of generations and they are still changing. This land Turkey, Anatolia has a lot to offer to the world in sense of wisdom, perception of unity. This land is a bridge that connects, the east and the west, the modern and the traditional, the science and the spirituality. This land had experienced so many wars, tragedies, so many changes over the centuries. It has thousands of years of experience in an inch of its soil. So, I wish I’d be carrying a bit of this land’s magical heritage in my veins. What is my message to the world as Evren… Not a copy of what was already said before. This is a question I carry with myself since I was a little kid. I don’t think that I’ve found it yet but I try to tell what I truly believe in, I can only write about what feels honest to me. As a writer I like to ask questions rather than making statements. I try to have empathy instead of having

judgements. We all are a drop in a sea, but the drop itself contains the eternity. As refered to Rumi…

Bell Hooks in his book “All about Love” says that the future is ancestral. What do you say?

The future is now. What we do now makes the future. I believe that we are connected to our past, but we are not stuck in it. We are fed from our roots as much as we are feeding our future selves. We are the past of our children. That consciousness is all we need to build our futures. Destiny is a concept that we can interact with.

What is the greatest human challenge today?

Taking responsibility. I think this is a common challenge that all nations feel all around the world. We need to take the responsibility of our actions and reactions. Complaining from everything but not taking a step, getting rid of the responsibilities by blaming other people, our ancestors, our families, the politicians, the COVİD, the pollution, whatever you name it- does not take us anywhere… What we do in our everyday life as a person to decrease the facts that we complain about? What is our contribution to this world?

How do we treat people around us? It’s so easy to complain or criticize, but what is our best response to what we find injustice?

“We were born to fall in love”. Is these words written on the bride and groom´s car in the last episode of the series a message from you to the world?

This sentence is lost in translation, I guess. It should be, “Which one of us, had not fall in love like crazy.” It is the lyrics from a turkish song written by Ali Tekintüre.

But if this series has a message, I guess the lyrics of the Theme Song of Anotherself, could be the best to summarize it.

“What if the past is not yet history,

It’s why my future gets away from me,

The bliss, the joy and the victory,

Are hidden in anotherself deep inside of me.

You came to smile, you came to cry,

You came to fail, then grow up high.

You came to fall, you came to love,

You came to remember we’re born to fly.”

Muito obrigada por esta entrevista…

Um abraço para Portugal, que desejo visitar um dia! (Here Nuran answers in Portuguese)

Thank you very much for this interview…

A hug to Portugal, which I wish to visit one day!