SüpüRRR! curling movie

Move over, Men With Brooms. There’s a new curling movie in town.

That town is Istanbul, by the way. In Turkey.

SüpüRRR! (which is Swappp in Turkish, or SweePPP in English) is a new film boasting the tagline Hedef Vancouver, bir zahmet süpürüver, or Destination Vancouver, be a great sweeper!

The film offers a classic boy-meets-girl plotline, in which the hero falls for the heroine, whose father is an obsessed nationalist who requires that any future husband must represent Turkey on a national team. Any team, in any sport.

Screenwriter Selim Çiprut took up the story, in an interview with The Curling News.

“Our boy tries a lot of sports: boxing, sprinting, but he can’t become a national sportsman,” said the 37-year-old Çiprut. “And one day, he sees curling on Eurosport and he says... yes, that’s it! No one knows curling here, so we will become the Turkish National Curling Team!”

Cue Turkey’s leap into the world of curling. There is, naturally, a devilish rival to our hero, and on-ice mayhem must ensue, but you get the idea.

When Paul Gross first mentioned his curling movie to people in Los Angeles, he famously described their reaction: “It was as though I had farted. They really didn’t know where to look.”

Çiprut, who has a previous film writing credit under his belt plus two Turkish TV shows, was greeted with laughter. Good laughter.

“I talked with one of the best Turkish producers, he made my two movies,” said Çiprut. “I told him I have a great idea, and he laughed and said: ‘Who knows curling in Turkey?’

“I told him: everybody knows, but no one has played.”

Turkey’s real-life curling leap was made this past April, when the country became a provisional member of the World Curling Federation. The impetus for all this is the 2011 World University Games, or Universiade, which Turkey will be hosting.

Çiprut reports that the town of Izmit, located in Kocaeli province just outside of Istanbul, has built a dedicated curling facility to host the Universiade discipline. And his actors have become the first curlers in the country.

“The hall was built for curling, and it opened in May,” said Çiprut. “I never knew, I was shocked, surprised and glad to hear that.

“All the actors were taught for one week by a Turkish national coach, and they are the first licensed curling players in Turkey!”

Çiprut has created a SüpüRRR! Facebook group which boasts guerilla-marketing treatments of the film poster (above) appearing in various locations, including a magazine held by Hollywood starlet Scarlett Johanson.

“I am very excited, and waiting for this movie,” said Çiprut. “This film has had a lot of news in the press, and everybody is shocked about curling. Everybody is waiting for December 18. It will be awesome!”

Read more about the film in the upcoming issue of The Curling News, available in late October. Subscribe today!