Bringing documentaries into culture of mainstream
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Emrah Güler
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 29, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Turkish film enthusiasts often have a hard time finding the latest documentaries, but the active Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Turkey is trying hard to change that, working for over a decade to make nonfiction films part of mainstream culture.
Documentary films have always been the underdogs of the big screen, but thanks to the dedicated efforts of a group of filmmakers, these true-life tales are finding their way into Turkey’s mainstream. For more than a decade, the International 1001 Documentary Film Festival has been bringing filmmakers and film enthusiasts together in Istanbul. This year’s 12th edition of the event, scheduled for December, will be the first to feature a film competition. The submission deadline is just over a month away, so filmmakers who would like submit their documentaries to the competition should check 1001belgesel.net for details on how to apply to the festival.
120 films screened last year
Last year’s festival screened more than 120 films and hosted 42 filmmakers from various countries, including Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Norway and the Palestinian Territories. Opening with the groundbreaking "Pyhän Kirjan Varjo" (Shadow of the Holy Book) by Finnish director Arto Halonen, the festival featured 14 sections.
Guest filmmakers from around the world included Mitzi Goldman from Australia; Fredrik Depickere, Johan Eriksson and Arto Halonen from Finland; Serge Avedikian from France; Ayfer Ergün from Holland; Rachel Leah Jones from Israel; Melanie Brugger, Isabel Grünwald and Julia Wiegand from Italy; Nefise Özkal Lorentzen from Norway; and Nizar Hassan from the Palestinian territories.
The quiet but hard-working organization behind the event, the Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Turkey, or BSB, has been quite active since hosting its first festival in 1997, doing an impressive amount of work to promote nonfiction films in Turkey. The nearly 100 association members include freelance filmmakers, employees of private production companies, documentary makers working at TV channels, academics and film students throughout Turkey, but concentrated in the cities of Istanbul, Ankara, Eskişehir and İzmir.
With its various activities and projects, the association aims to give filmgoers more access to documentaries. In addition to the international festival, the BSB regularly hosts film screenings and conferences, and carries out inventory and archiving work, amassing a rich archive of 1,200 documentaries, a number that is increasing every day. The annual International 1001 Documentary Conference is an ideal forum for professionals and academics alike to debate specific topics set each year. Past themes have included "Orientalism, Occidentalism and Documentary Film," "Globalization and the Identity of the Documentary Filmmaker," "The Future of Documentary Cinema" and "Oral History and Documentary Cinema." An Academic Forum meets regularly with university professors to develop the theory of documentary cinema and provide new resources for future generations. Practical workshops on documentary production, as well as programs for continuous learning, are organized for students and recent graduates. The association also publishes a quarterly magazine, "Documentary Agenda," which includes theoretical articles, news, research reports, translated articles, film analyses and debates. For those who want to be able to watch recent documentaries, movie theaters and TV channels do not always have a lot to offer. The BSB offers film-lovers a chance to catch the latest docs every Saturday, generally bringing in directors or producers to meet with the audience. Although the Saturday screenings are on a summer hiatus at the moment, go to http://www.bsb.org.tr for the program resuming in September.
The ultimate goal of the association is to make documentaries a part of mainstream cinema and provide the movie-going audience easy and regular access. Other aspirations include establishing a TV channel dedicated exclusively to broadcasting documentaries and opening theaters in Turkey for screening such films.
120 films screened last year
Last year’s festival screened more than 120 films and hosted 42 filmmakers from various countries, including Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Norway and the Palestinian Territories. Opening with the groundbreaking "Pyhän Kirjan Varjo" (Shadow of the Holy Book) by Finnish director Arto Halonen, the festival featured 14 sections.
Guest filmmakers from around the world included Mitzi Goldman from Australia; Fredrik Depickere, Johan Eriksson and Arto Halonen from Finland; Serge Avedikian from France; Ayfer Ergün from Holland; Rachel Leah Jones from Israel; Melanie Brugger, Isabel Grünwald and Julia Wiegand from Italy; Nefise Özkal Lorentzen from Norway; and Nizar Hassan from the Palestinian territories.
The quiet but hard-working organization behind the event, the Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Turkey, or BSB, has been quite active since hosting its first festival in 1997, doing an impressive amount of work to promote nonfiction films in Turkey. The nearly 100 association members include freelance filmmakers, employees of private production companies, documentary makers working at TV channels, academics and film students throughout Turkey, but concentrated in the cities of Istanbul, Ankara, Eskişehir and İzmir.
With its various activities and projects, the association aims to give filmgoers more access to documentaries. In addition to the international festival, the BSB regularly hosts film screenings and conferences, and carries out inventory and archiving work, amassing a rich archive of 1,200 documentaries, a number that is increasing every day. The annual International 1001 Documentary Conference is an ideal forum for professionals and academics alike to debate specific topics set each year. Past themes have included "Orientalism, Occidentalism and Documentary Film," "Globalization and the Identity of the Documentary Filmmaker," "The Future of Documentary Cinema" and "Oral History and Documentary Cinema." An Academic Forum meets regularly with university professors to develop the theory of documentary cinema and provide new resources for future generations. Practical workshops on documentary production, as well as programs for continuous learning, are organized for students and recent graduates. The association also publishes a quarterly magazine, "Documentary Agenda," which includes theoretical articles, news, research reports, translated articles, film analyses and debates. For those who want to be able to watch recent documentaries, movie theaters and TV channels do not always have a lot to offer. The BSB offers film-lovers a chance to catch the latest docs every Saturday, generally bringing in directors or producers to meet with the audience. Although the Saturday screenings are on a summer hiatus at the moment, go to http://www.bsb.org.tr for the program resuming in September.
The ultimate goal of the association is to make documentaries a part of mainstream cinema and provide the movie-going audience easy and regular access. Other aspirations include establishing a TV channel dedicated exclusively to broadcasting documentaries and opening theaters in Turkey for screening such films.