Father's Day: The Father Figure on the Cinema Screen
Fathers... The man we sometimes clash with, whom we sometimes believe doesn't show enough love, but whom we mostly agree makes sacrifices for his family. Especially in older generation fathers, we see more of the stern and rule-oriented parent figure. This rule-oriented and stern approach, which has evolved into more love and understanding in the modern era, used to create the biggest communication problem between child and father. As we said, fathers are now more understanding and more successful in communication.
Father's Day is a special day celebrated on the third Sunday of June each year, aimed at honoring the place of fathers within the family. But how does the cinema world represent this powerful figure? Fathers appear not just as characters representing biological bonds, but also as complex figures who are protective, instructive, and sometimes confronting their own mistakes.
Although we cannot compare it with the warmth that Mother's Day contains with its emotional and deep devotion, Father's Day is actually a day when we appreciate and give meaning to our fathers' reassuring stance. It was also declared as the day with the highest turnover in economic markets in some countries in recent years. While this certainly has many social reasons, mothers also undoubtedly celebrate fathers' day generously.
On the occasion of Father's Day, let's take a look at the evolution and diversity of the father figure that takes place on the cinema screen. Let's see how fathers and the fatherhood figure have undergone transformation over time, both in social life and in cinema. But first, let's take a look at how Father's Day came about.
Father's Day, like Mother's Day, is one of the special days that honor family bonds and parenting roles. However, its history is a bit less known and is based on an emotional story.
Brief History of Father's Day
Father's Day is a special day celebrated on the third Sunday of June each year, aimed at honoring the place of fathers and father figures within the family. The origins of this day trace back to the early 20th century in the United States. In 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd from Washington state, out of gratitude to her father William Jackson Smart who raised her and her siblings alone, proposed a celebration similar to Mother's Day.
As a result of this proposal, the first Father's Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. However, it took years for this special day to be officially recognized. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the third Sunday of June as Father's Day; in 1972, President Richard Nixon accepted this day as an official holiday.
Today, although Father's Day is celebrated on different dates worldwide (for example, on Ascension Day in Germany, on March 19 in Catholic countries), it is celebrated on the third Sunday of June in many countries, including Turkey. Over time, this day has gained a broader and more inclusive meaning to honor not only biological fathers but all male figures who act as fathers, including grandfathers, stepfathers, and even those who behave like fathers.
The Hero Father: Symbol of Strength and Sacrifice
Looking at cinema history, we see that the father figure has long been portrayed as a hero who is strong, determined, and faces all kinds of difficulties for his family. For example, in the film A Better Place, the strong relationship between Henry and his parent can be given as an example. We see a father figure who sacrifices everything he has worked for throughout his life for his son's future. Another beautiful example is the animation called Tend. In our short animation film, we see how a father courageously makes sacrifices from himself when environmental factors are insufficient to protect his little child. Such characters exemplify the classic representations where fatherhood is identified with sacrifice and courage.
The Father Confronting His Mistakes: The Humanized Figure
In recent years, cinema has begun to portray the father figure from a more human and fragile perspective. The father and his expectant children in the film Pine can be given as an example. A father figure is portrayed who tries to offer his son a better future between economic hardships and personal failures and never receives appreciation. Such characters remind us that fathers are also individuals who struggle, fall, and get back up again.
Authoritarian or Neglectful Fathers
Not every father figure needs to be idealized. Authoritarian, distant, or harmful fathers also frequently appear in cinema. The father characters in the films The Offering and Nuisible show how ambition and emotional distance can poison family relationships. These representations offer a critical perspective on the fact that fatherhood is not only a biological but also an emotional responsibility.
Modern Fathers: Redefined Roles
Today, father figures are also transforming in terms of gender roles and social expectations. Films like Leylak, Tend, Huntress, and Skin address the difficulties faced by fathers raising children alone, while productions like Sorry not Sorry handle the fatherhood figure in a different dimension with themes like aging and dementia. These representations show that fatherhood is no longer limited to just being a provider, but that caregiving, emotional, and fragile aspects are also included in this identity.
Great Examples of Father Figures in Short Films Published on Cineshort
A Better Place is a wonderful drama you'll watch only on Cineshort. An oil company has contacted our hero Henry. They are offering a very high price for the house and fruit orchards where his family lives. Henry explains this situation to his family and shows them the agreement text. His family strongly opposes and explains to Henry what their home and the fruit orchards they've worked on mean to them. Henry explains what this agreement means to him. The subsequent developments are in the film. Let's see how the family and Henry will overcome this situation. As people age, instead of the excitement and mobility that youth provides, they tend to protect what they have. The fear of having something you've worked on for years taken away and never being able to reach it again is more prominent. The young person, on the other hand, is worried about the future and wants to make a good start in life. Both sides are so right. The film is one of the best dramas I've watched in a long time and I was really impressed. I definitely recommend the film to all of you.
Nuisible is an interesting and equally beautiful action-drama film you'll watch on Cineshort. Our heroes are a father and son, and the child's first hunting attempt. They follow their prey with great excitement. The conditions are tough but they are struggling. The child's biggest wish is to prove to his father that he is now an adult man and make him proud. The prey they finally encounter is extraordinary. Nuisible confronts us with the problem of racism in such a way that you better understand in which situations humans lose their humanity. By the way, I should also mention that if we contribute to people living peacefully in their own countries, I think we will largely solve the immigration problem. It's a film I will definitely recommend you to watch, enjoy watching.
Sorry Not Sorry is an entertaining film with comedy elements that you'll watch with curiosity. Our hero is tired of his old and cranky father. One day he eats the plums his wife had set aside and events develop this way. The result is exactly as he wanted and planned. The film beautifully tells the story of elderly care, the psychological difficulties experienced during care, and the process of an elderly person's insistence on their wishes wearing people down, with entertaining elements. Modern lifestyle, unlike traditional lifestyle, puts elderly family members' living together and their care on a different ground, and sometimes this ground can become difficult to implement in practice. Therefore, young family members may need more support. I strongly recommend you to watch it.
Pine is a beautiful drama you'll watch with interest. Our hero is a father who works as a taxi driver and suffers from financial difficulties. What happens when one of your close relatives gets rich through illegitimate means and your family, seeing this and not having the same values as you, becomes fed up with poverty and demands the same prosperity from you? The answer to the question is in the film. We experience various difficulties in our lives. When overcoming these difficulties, if we are not on the same level as the people closest to us, the people we share our lives with, if we don't carry the same values, we have to bear the burden of this too, and this is more hurtful. A father's sacrifice but the family members' high expectations that this sacrifice cannot meet is beautifully handled. I definitely recommend you to watch the film.
The Offering is a beautiful horror film you'll watch with excitement. Our heroes, a father and son, are on a late-night journey together. They go to an altar together. But there's a serious problem. The most important part of their offering has been forgotten. They make an offer to solve this problem. But was the offer accepted? Or did they have to compromise on something? The answer is in the film. It's quite a good film, I definitely recommend it to those who love the horror genre.
Brotherhood is one of the most effective drama films you'll watch with great interest. It's a film about our hero and his son who joined a radical group, then regretted it and returned. The importance of family and being the most important place to take refuge in difficult times is beautifully handled. In the midst of all the events, we can actually see the reasons that pushed that young man there, the political process. Another aspect of the film is the issue of women and security, who are the biggest victims of every difficult environment. Very impressive, well worth thinking about and watching, a good film. In fact, you don't know what to say after watching it. I definitely and strongly recommend you to watch it.
Nobu is one of the most sympathetic films you can watch with curiosity. Actually, the film is a migration story. Cultural differences and the adaptation process are beautifully handled. The need to find people like yourself, from your own culture, in a different society and spend time with them is handled in a delicate way. Also, this film shows how a behavior belonging to your culture can have a completely different meaning in a different culture. Our main character seems to give tips on overcoming both the difficulties of leaving and adapting to where you go. The support he gives to his daughter's professional production and development is very special. There's always a smile on his face, but his answer to his daughter's final question "are you happy?" seems like a mirror of his inner world. I strongly recommend it to those who haven't watched it, and I wish enjoyable viewing to those who will watch it.
Skin is a beautiful film containing themes of difference and change that you'll watch with interest. It's an impressive and beautiful film about a young person's effort to find himself and the environments he enters and exits in that adventure, his search for a warm family, actually a solidarity environment, and then the change and firsts in his life when he becomes an adult. Like in all our lives, our hero also experiences a breaking point in his life. With this break, he experiences admirable experiences and becomes hope for the viewers. It's a beautiful film that I will definitely recommend you to watch. I wish you enjoyable viewing.
Tend is a wonderful animation drama you'll watch with impact. Our heroes are a father and son. In the film, we see their struggle against life. Taking on the burden of life in single-parent families is quite difficult. Because it's not just your individual life, but the existence of a child who needs to be protected and raised, and their life. This is a subject that is quite difficult to overcome without solidarity. Another aspect of the film is that while matters seem easier and solvable in the ordinariness of routine times, what great sacrifices are needed in extraordinary situations. Whether it's our own children or all children in society, with the wish to approach them with parental compassion and live a peaceful and happy life together. I recommend you to watch the film.
Cradle is a wonderful drama you'll watch with sadness. Our hero is a disabled soldier who lost his arms in war. He has a newborn baby and is experiencing both the physical and psychological distress of this. His wife is his biggest supporter, but will he be able to overcome this? The film beautifully conveys the cold and ugly face of war to us. Winning and losing are not just words. Real people's real lives are at stake, and these lives sometimes fade away for nothing or for preventable problems. The pain left behind is also terrible. No matter how sacred we consider this duty, I think human life is the most sacred thing that should be protected. Another aspect of the subject handled in the film is the fact that people who will live the rest of their lives as disabled, whether acquired later or from birth, cannot get better with medical rehabilitation alone. The situation of needing psychological, vocational, and social rehabilitation alongside medical rehabilitation is beautifully handled. In this way, preventing exclusion and discrimination, enabling the person to integrate themselves better is in question. I can say that I was quite affected by the film and I definitely recommend you to watch the film.
Huntress is a beautiful drama you'll watch with curiosity. Our hero is a father who lost his wife and is trying to raise his daughter alone. His daughter loses her beloved mother and both of them have to adapt to this new situation. A loss and the time period afterwards is a big wound especially for a child, and we closely follow this psychological process in the film. The father's coping method for adapting to this new process doesn't seem to suit his daughter very well. It's quite a good film, I definitely recommend it.
Leylak is a wonderful drama with many awards that you'll watch with curiosity. Nadir Sarıbacak amazes with his acting. Our hero's profession is a bit different from the usual professions. He's a gravedigger. His wife in the hospital died due to Covid-19, but he can't tell his daughter this. His daughter wants to go to her mother and has even bought her a bouquet of lilacs, her favorite flower. But they can't go to her mother, that is, the father finds a way not to take her. The next day, they set out to go to the mother's funeral. The ups and downs, the struggles in the film are quite impressive. You should definitely watch the film. It has become a very important production especially in terms of reminding us of the intense tragedy of the pandemic period.
It's not always parents who guide a person. Sometimes grandfathers can do this job wonderfully too. A Concerto is A Conversation is a wonderful documentary you'll watch with interest. The life of successful composer Kris Bowers and his grandfather is conveyed to us in a very beautiful and emotional way. The grandfather is sick and Kris, his grandson, is with him to spend a little more time with his grandfather and listen to his memories. The grandfather faced racism and discrimination at a very young age. When he got a little older, he immediately migrated to another region and built a life there. He overcame difficulties with his children and grandchildren and was a close follower of their successes. In fact, somewhere in the documentary, the grandfather says, "Witnessing the successes of my children and grandchildren is glory itself for my life." This statement really affected me, frankly. Another part that caught my attention was that even though his grandson is a very successful and award-winning composer, the effect of racism is still seen in him. His questioning "Am I worthy of this place?" The grandfather's answer is very beautiful: "If you weren't worthy, you couldn't have reached that place." I think every minute is worth watching and giving the film a high score. I definitely recommend the film to everyone.
Chez Moi is a wonderful animation you'll watch with sadness. Our hero's mother has brought home a stepfather who doesn't resemble them at all. Meeting him is both frightening and annoying. There's no dialogue in the film anyway, but we hear little Hugo's quite distressed sighs. The way a child experiencing such a situation perceives the event in their inner world is beautifully conveyed to us. We also clearly see the mother's and new father's struggle in this situation. In fact, while watching little Hugo, you want to hug and comfort him. I definitely recommend you to watch the film.
A Girl Called Zhen Zhen is a wonderful drama you'll watch only on Cineshort. Our hero Zhen Zhen is a sick little girl who loves little fish very much. She's in the treatment process but the means are not sufficient. Her mother is also struggling for this, but the actions of the man who entered their lives are quite dangerous and traumatic for Zhen Zhen. In the film, poverty, lack of support, helplessness, but alongside this, the hope that little fish gives is wonderfully told. One of the most important issues for a child is a safe living space. Unfortunately, a considerable number of children are exposed to sexual abuse within the family. Mothers and fathers should definitely be very alert about this issue and follow the behavioral changes in the child. Because children who experience this situation develop different reactions outside their normal behaviors. The child is the person who should be most protected in society. Returning to the film, the closed narrative, colors, and atmosphere in the film are beautifully handled and the situation is made felt to the viewer. You want to say from your heart: "Zhen Zhen, may all the little beautiful fish in the world be yours and may you always be well." I congratulate Liangxue Duan and we definitely want to see many more of his films on Cineshort. I definitely recommend you to watch the film.
In Conclusion, Fathers Are Diverse in Films as They Are in Real Life
Father's Day not only gives us the opportunity to thank our fathers but also allows us to rethink what fatherhood means. Cinema offers us a very rich and multi-dimensional narrative on this subject. From idealized heroes to ordinary men confronting their mistakes, from dark figures to emotionally open and compassionate fathers, across a wide spectrum...
Also, Father's Day has gained a broader and more inclusive meaning over time to honor not only biological fathers but all male figures who take on the role of father, including stepfathers, grandfathers, and all male figures who act like fathers.
Perhaps on this Father's Day, by giving him a Cineshort subscription as a gift, we should thank not only our fathers but also the films that help us understand them better. Thank goodness we have short films in our lives!
