G.O.R.A. is a Turkish comedy film written by Cem Yılmaz and directed by Ömer Faruk Sorak. It stars Cem Yılmaz, Özkan Uğur,Ozan Güven, İdil Fırat, Özge Özberk and Erdal Tosun. The soundtrack was produced by Sagopa Kajmer and the film score was composed by Ozan Çolakoğlu.
G.O.R.A. is second the most watched movie in Turkey in 2005. It grossed $ 23.9 million in Turkey and $ 2.3 million in Germany.
The writer Cem Yilmaz performs as four different characters in the movie.
In order to create the set, an imaginary planet was built inside Antalya Film Studios, Turkey.
24 different locations were created on a total of 8000 m2 area.
When the shootings were over, scenes enough to make almost three films were shot.
When Arif phones his friend through his cellular after being abducted, his friend's children are playing the vidio game "Space Invaders".
In the interview on the double-DVD special edition of the film, Cem Yilmaz explains that the title of the film is not an abbreviation but that he was inspired from the name of a kind of popular Turkish sandwich made with meatballs (and hence the reference to the "gorali" (with gora) sandwich ordered by the unbelieving UFO magazine editor at the end of the film).
The movie is the first to accomplish (for Turkish filming industry): - Biggest movie set ever built. - Highest budget amongst Turkish movies up to date. (5 million dollars) - Longest awaited movie (three years, due to problems with the production company)
The name of the spaceship that Garavel presents Arif with is "KA-FA 1500". "Kafa 1500", meaning "Head 1500" is a Turkish slang term for "high" as in "high on drugs."
Arif is Cem Yilmaz's father's name. Ceku is his grandmother's nickname. Mulu is his mother's aunt's nickname. Garavel is what his grandfather used to call him.
When Arif is playing chess in the prison the chess pieces are Star Trek The Next Generation characters. Pieces representing Picard, Riker, Data, Worf and Dr. Crusher can be seen clearly.
The idea of "a Turk in Space" (which became a setup for Arif) is based on a segment in Cem Yilmaz's Bir Tat Bir Doku stand-up show.
The character Ersan Kuneri was inspired by Sean Connery.
