Actress aims to build a bridge between Turkey and Chile
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Gül Demir and Niki Gamm
OluÅŸturulma Tarihi: Haziran 13, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Chile is a long way from Turkey but exchange programs of various sorts can help bridge some of that geographical gap. One of those programs culminates in two prominent Chilean films, Machuca and B-Happy, which are showing at the Pera Museum. Starting with Pera was very useful and from there it will grow, according to young and attractive Chilean actress Manuela Martelli, who stars in one of the films.
The Chilean film industry has produced few works that are known outside of Latin America. It suffered from the effects of the years when the government was under military authority both in terms of quantity and in quality. About four years ago the now civilian government decided to provide five plus million dollars in support to the industry and an Arts and Audiovisual Industry Council oversees financing, development and production for local film projects. The money in some cases was used to totally support some productions and in others provided partial support. The result was an immediate increase in the number of films being produced and even some were chosen to be screened in the Cannes Film Festival there.Â
Chile is a long way from Turkey but exchange programs of various sorts can help bridge some of that geographical gap. One of those programs culminated in two prominent Chilean films, Machuca and B-Happy, were shown at the Pera Museum. One of the stars of the two films is the young and attractive Chilean actress Manuela Martelli who part of the festival that was put on in cooperation with the Chilean Embassy in Ankara.
In an interview with Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Martelli said that she had come when told about the proposed program the museum was planning to do. "I would never say no to this. Chilean and Turkish cinema don’t communicate very much.
"Chile doesn’t get Turkish films very much and vice versa. This is a kind of bridge that you are able to do well at. I always try to show Chilean cinema in countries where you know there won’t be commercial distribution. I know that Machuca came but that’s a very exceptional case." Since she said that one of the reasons for her coming was to build a bridge, it seemed appropriate to ask whether her coming here had helped.
Her response was, "I think, yes, and I’m very surprised because it is like it is exponential. You bring a movie and then you develop a relationship with people here.
"That is working with ambassadors, cultural relations, another movie, we plan to do other things, so it grows.
"Starting with Pera was very useful. From there it will grow. I didn’t contact any Turkish film actors here so maybe next time. But I did speak with people from the University of Ankara, people who are working on the film festival there. So this is the third step and I’m very glad of it. It doesn’t finish here."
Asked about when she would come a second time, she mentioned the possibility of showing films from Turkey in museums. She has been exploring various possibilities with Fatma Çolakoğlu who is in charge of the film program at Pera Museum. Çolakoğlu said of the actress, "Manuela Martelli is a young and promising actor with great talent.
The idea of screening her films and also welcoming her in Ä°stanbul developed in collaboration with the Embassy of Chile in Ankara with Ambassador Francisco Marambio Vial. Martelli especially with the film Machuca attracted attention with her acting and with the film's political content.
"As Pera Museum's film programing we were most pleased to welcome her and celebrate her short but striking resume of films. Her first film B-Happy is an engaging independent film tracking down a young girl's growing pains in a difficult family. What was also a wonderful coincidence was that Manuela had just arrived from Cannes Film Festival promoting her latest film Navidad directed by Sebastian Lelio. There are plans afoot to show Navidad in Fall 2009 and we hope to see Manuela among us."
"For me it seems like a blur. I’ve only been here a few days. Here is such a big culture where you can get everything. And then there’s the life of this city. Different cultures mix and for me it’s an altogether different world. It opens another world because it’s different. It’s an uncommon culture. I have had the experience of how the two cultures [of east and west] are mixed here. It gives you a sense of how cultures work.
"And everything I told you before about the bridge, about knowing people, The Turkish people communicate and they are so nice, so friendly. Before I came here I thought they were very closed and very macho. I thought relationships with women would be more distant. Especially in this city everybody is do so awake. They are open to everything. I didn’t feel that in Italy for example. Although you may pass through Rome everyday, you feel that here there’s energy to find new things. In Rome I felt it was more about preserving. Here everyone is willing and want to find new culture.
The role finds her
Martelli spent a year off and on before being cast in the role of Silvana in Machuca. The director had wanted an actress who was unknown but eventually came to the conclusion that it was to be Martelli. She herself had not been looking for the role.
Speaking about getting involved in acting, she said, "It is something my mother gave to me. I used to go to her room and watch very old movies like Casablanca or French cinema or old American cinema. Acting became pleasure in some films, not all. You get into a special state because you are working with you and that is very important. You have to go inside yourself and that’s always uncomfortable. You feel naked. So in some scenes I feel pressured."What I love about acting is it very beautiful. It gives you the opportunity to read a character, find something in you, in you yourself, You don’t know where it is but you find it and you grow the person. And you bring them to life but they’re in your head."
Most recently Martelli has had a new film that took part in the Cannes Film Festival. She’s very pleased about it and believes the critics welcomed it. Besides, being in Cannes during the Festival proved to be a quite different experience.
"Just being in Cannes, just being selected is a great thing. Cannes is so big that sometimes you feel disorientated. I think the film did very well. I heard various critics.
Very happy with how it was received. It was such a good opportunity to go even though it wasn’t the official selection. It is another world.
And you know what people in different parts of the world are looking for. What I like about it is that most of them are searching for something. I’m talking about cinema and that’s very good feedback." Martelli is going to study in New York where she feels there is life such as she has found in Istanbul. She has a Fulbright Scholarship to do so. Until we see Martelli again.
Chile is a long way from Turkey but exchange programs of various sorts can help bridge some of that geographical gap. One of those programs culminated in two prominent Chilean films, Machuca and B-Happy, were shown at the Pera Museum. One of the stars of the two films is the young and attractive Chilean actress Manuela Martelli who part of the festival that was put on in cooperation with the Chilean Embassy in Ankara.
In an interview with Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Martelli said that she had come when told about the proposed program the museum was planning to do. "I would never say no to this. Chilean and Turkish cinema don’t communicate very much.
"Chile doesn’t get Turkish films very much and vice versa. This is a kind of bridge that you are able to do well at. I always try to show Chilean cinema in countries where you know there won’t be commercial distribution. I know that Machuca came but that’s a very exceptional case." Since she said that one of the reasons for her coming was to build a bridge, it seemed appropriate to ask whether her coming here had helped.
Her response was, "I think, yes, and I’m very surprised because it is like it is exponential. You bring a movie and then you develop a relationship with people here.
"That is working with ambassadors, cultural relations, another movie, we plan to do other things, so it grows.
"Starting with Pera was very useful. From there it will grow. I didn’t contact any Turkish film actors here so maybe next time. But I did speak with people from the University of Ankara, people who are working on the film festival there. So this is the third step and I’m very glad of it. It doesn’t finish here."
Asked about when she would come a second time, she mentioned the possibility of showing films from Turkey in museums. She has been exploring various possibilities with Fatma Çolakoğlu who is in charge of the film program at Pera Museum. Çolakoğlu said of the actress, "Manuela Martelli is a young and promising actor with great talent.
The idea of screening her films and also welcoming her in Ä°stanbul developed in collaboration with the Embassy of Chile in Ankara with Ambassador Francisco Marambio Vial. Martelli especially with the film Machuca attracted attention with her acting and with the film's political content.
"As Pera Museum's film programing we were most pleased to welcome her and celebrate her short but striking resume of films. Her first film B-Happy is an engaging independent film tracking down a young girl's growing pains in a difficult family. What was also a wonderful coincidence was that Manuela had just arrived from Cannes Film Festival promoting her latest film Navidad directed by Sebastian Lelio. There are plans afoot to show Navidad in Fall 2009 and we hope to see Manuela among us."
"For me it seems like a blur. I’ve only been here a few days. Here is such a big culture where you can get everything. And then there’s the life of this city. Different cultures mix and for me it’s an altogether different world. It opens another world because it’s different. It’s an uncommon culture. I have had the experience of how the two cultures [of east and west] are mixed here. It gives you a sense of how cultures work.
"And everything I told you before about the bridge, about knowing people, The Turkish people communicate and they are so nice, so friendly. Before I came here I thought they were very closed and very macho. I thought relationships with women would be more distant. Especially in this city everybody is do so awake. They are open to everything. I didn’t feel that in Italy for example. Although you may pass through Rome everyday, you feel that here there’s energy to find new things. In Rome I felt it was more about preserving. Here everyone is willing and want to find new culture.
The role finds her
Martelli spent a year off and on before being cast in the role of Silvana in Machuca. The director had wanted an actress who was unknown but eventually came to the conclusion that it was to be Martelli. She herself had not been looking for the role.
Speaking about getting involved in acting, she said, "It is something my mother gave to me. I used to go to her room and watch very old movies like Casablanca or French cinema or old American cinema. Acting became pleasure in some films, not all. You get into a special state because you are working with you and that is very important. You have to go inside yourself and that’s always uncomfortable. You feel naked. So in some scenes I feel pressured."What I love about acting is it very beautiful. It gives you the opportunity to read a character, find something in you, in you yourself, You don’t know where it is but you find it and you grow the person. And you bring them to life but they’re in your head."
Most recently Martelli has had a new film that took part in the Cannes Film Festival. She’s very pleased about it and believes the critics welcomed it. Besides, being in Cannes during the Festival proved to be a quite different experience.
"Just being in Cannes, just being selected is a great thing. Cannes is so big that sometimes you feel disorientated. I think the film did very well. I heard various critics.
Very happy with how it was received. It was such a good opportunity to go even though it wasn’t the official selection. It is another world.
And you know what people in different parts of the world are looking for. What I like about it is that most of them are searching for something. I’m talking about cinema and that’s very good feedback." Martelli is going to study in New York where she feels there is life such as she has found in Istanbul. She has a Fulbright Scholarship to do so. Until we see Martelli again.