not my wedding

Not My Wedding chronicles a twenty-four-hour journey from Istanbul to Sakarya, where Zeynep Dildar set out with a suitcase overflowing with canned tuna and coconut milk to meet the owner of a wedding chaos account she had followed on Instagram for years. Her plan: to enter the summer season in a Romani neighborhood, attending nightly celebrations, each a distinct festivity. Every hour ranges from romantic to terrifying, from erotic to absurd, branching into anecdotes that words alone cannot contain. Through her lens, neighborhood weddings unfold in all their chaotic detail: from being “adopted” by the local gang leader Guldane Anne to cartoon-like breakfast scenes where, despite refusing carbs, she is forced to eat half a loaf of bread.

In the square, neighbors appear in ordinary gestures after dinner, stepping outside as if to watch an open-air movie, while wedding hosts enact an unconscious, exaggerated imitation of high society. Hair, makeup, stacked fake gold, glitter, matching nail polish, slippers, bracelets, and shimmering body oils combine in surreal, overwhelming displays. Music and dance dominate the scene, creating a sense in which one loses oneself entirely. Stones, patterns, colors, crowns, and every object push the limits of aesthetics, forming a new, camp-infused visual language.