Ceyda Torun’s 2016 documentary Kedi is a tender, visually captivating exploration of Istanbul told through an unconventional lens: the lives of the city’s free-roaming street cats. Rather than offering a typical wildlife or urban exposé, Kedi becomes something deeper—a soulful meditation on coexistence, humanity, and the quiet wisdom of animals. With its unique subject and intimate storytelling, the film won critical acclaim and charmed audiences around the world.
Below, we explore the key themes and filmmaking techniques that make Kedi a quietly powerful and memorable documentary.
The Soul of a City Through Its Cats
Istanbul, a bustling metropolis with deep historical roots, is home to hundreds of thousands of stray cats. Unlike in many cities, these felines are not treated as pests but are woven into the cultural and social fabric of daily life. Kedi doesn’t merely document their existence—it uses the cats as vessels through which the spirit of Istanbul is expressed.
Each cat featured in the film is distinct, both in personality and in the part of the city it inhabits. For example, Sari, a cunning and resourceful mother cat, navigates the neighborhood with a mix of charm and strategic skill. Then there’s Psikopat, an aggressive female cat who fiercely protects her territory. Through these characters, the city itself is anthropomorphized—its complexities, contradictions, and beauty reflected in feline form.
Torun avoids narration or heavy-handed explanations. Instead, she lets the people who care for these cats speak. Their stories about the cats often turn into reflections on love, loss, spirituality, and survival. In doing so, the film gives voice not only to the animals but to a population that finds meaning and companionship in the most unexpected places.
A Cinematic Feat in Cat’s-Eye View
One of the most striking aspects of Kedi is its cinematography. Filming street cats is no small task—they’re notoriously elusive and unpredictable. Torun and her team developed custom camera rigs to follow the animals at ground level, immersing the viewer in their point of view. The result is a dynamic, almost surreal experience where alleyways, markets, and rooftops become vast landscapes from a cat’s perspective.
The camerawork is intimate but never intrusive. We see cats slinking through tight alleys, scaling walls, and lounging in cafés. These sequences are paired with a gentle, often whimsical soundtrack that perfectly matches the pacing and mood of the film. The cinematography isn’t just a technical achievement—it’s a narrative device that places the viewer directly into the quiet rhythm of Istanbul’s streets.
A Subtle Critique of Urbanization
Beneath the surface charm of cat antics lies a more serious undertone. Kedi subtly critiques the ongoing urban transformation of Istanbul. Several interviewees express concern that gentrification, high-rise developments, and economic change are threatening both the cats’ habitats and the traditional ways of life that accommodate them.
The cats, in this sense, serve as a metaphor for what stands to be lost. Their presence represents a more human-scaled, empathetic, and community-oriented vision of urban living. As new buildings rise and old neighborhoods are reshaped, the question arises: Will there still be room for creatures like these? And by extension, for the kind of city that embraces them?
Torun doesn’t push this message aggressively; rather, it emerges naturally through the stories and settings. It’s a quiet reminder that modernization often comes at the cost of relationships—between people, animals, and place.
Empathy, Connection, and Healing
More than a film about cats, Kedi is about the emotional and spiritual connections between people and animals. Many of the individuals interviewed speak about how caring for the cats helped them cope with personal hardships, from depression to grief. For some, feeding a cat became a daily ritual that gave them a sense of purpose. For others, a cat’s unexpected affection reminded them of their own capacity for love and kindness.
This emotional resonance is part of what made Kedi so universally appealing. It taps into a fundamental human experience: the desire to connect, to care, and to be seen. By focusing on ordinary people—shopkeepers, fishermen, housewives—the film democratizes empathy, showing that even the simplest relationships can be transformative.
In conclusion, Kedi is far more than a quirky cat documentary. It is a heartfelt, visually poetic portrait of a city and its inhabitants—both human and feline. Through quiet observation and respectful storytelling, Ceyda Toruns crafts a film that is meditative, humane, and deeply moving. It’s a love letter not just to Istanbul’s cats, but to the city’s soul, and to the quiet beauty that exists in the everyday lives we often overlook.
