Six films in fresh styles by innovative Turkish directors
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Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 08, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - With its 'New Turkish Cinema' division, the 28th edition of the Istanbul International Film Festival that continues through April 19 will bring subtitled versions of a rich selection of movies by newcomers and some of Turkey's most innovative directors to English-speaking audiences.
Non-Turkish speakers who want to experience Turkish cinema will get their chance at the Istanbul International Film Festival, which is offering a rich selection of Turkish movies with English subtitles.
The festival’s "New Turkish Cinema" division will screen six movies from both newcomers and veteran directors with a fresh style. Here’s a brief look at the films that will be featured:
Merdiven Altı (Under the StaIrs)
Female director Nur Akalın returns with her second feature after an absence of more than a decade. Dedicated to the late composer and bağlama (a stringed folk instrument) virtuoso Özer Şenay, the movie follows young Sinan as he wanders in the dark reaches of Istanbul among boxers, bookmakers and underground bars, trying to find his brother and sister.
Beyoğlu Cinema, Beyoğlu, April 16, 1:30 p.m.
Kako Si? (How are You?)
Another female director, Özlem Akovalıgil, plunges deep into Europe’s ethnic conflicts over the past decades in this bizarre road movie. The film follows two groups of travelers from Istanbul; Semahat is going to Sarajevo with two young filmmakers to see her homeland before she dies, while another group of young people set off to Germany, their trip cut short by a string of unfortunate events.
Beyoğlu Cinema, Beyoğlu, April 14, 7:00 p.m.
İki Dil Bir Bavul (On the Way to School)
Short-listed for the Joris Ivens award at the Amsterdam International Documentary Festival in 2007, this film by experienced documentary directors Orhan Eskiköy and Özgür Doğan chronicles one school year in the life of a primary-school teacher sent to a remote village in Southeast Turkey. As the only state authority and Turkish speaker, the teacher bonds with his Kurdish students.
Beyoğlu Cinema, Beyoğlu, April 17, 4:00 p.m.
Bekçi (The Watcher)
The director of numerous short films and music videos, Özcan Tekdemir returns to feature films with this low-budget movie. Its protagonist is a security guard in a housing complex, alienated and isolated in a big city. Hoping for an early death, he sleeps with an HIV-positive prostitute. But things don’t turn out as planned as the watcher switches roles, from victim to killer.
Pera Museum, Beyoğlu,April 18, 11:00 a.m.
L.I.F.E.G.U.A.R.D. I.S.T.A.N.B.U.L. (REDUX)
Young director Bozkurt Palanduz mixes genres, styles and timelines in this original feature. Its four separate stories start at different stages in their dramatic development Ğ one at its climax, one at the start of the action, one as the action ebbs and the last at its final suspenseful moment. Each story moves toward a single common conclusion in this unique film.
Beyoğlu Cinema, Beyoğlu, April 14, 4:00 p.m.
Düğüm (The Knot)
Known to movie buffs in Turkey for his debut feature, "Kış Bahçesi" (The Winter Garden), the first Turkish feature shot and screened digitally, director Uygar Asan uses the knot as a metaphor for the stalemates of the modern urban world.
Beyoğlu Cinema, Beyoğlu, April 13, 9:30 p.m.
The festival’s "New Turkish Cinema" division will screen six movies from both newcomers and veteran directors with a fresh style. Here’s a brief look at the films that will be featured:
Merdiven Altı (Under the StaIrs)
Female director Nur Akalın returns with her second feature after an absence of more than a decade. Dedicated to the late composer and bağlama (a stringed folk instrument) virtuoso Özer Şenay, the movie follows young Sinan as he wanders in the dark reaches of Istanbul among boxers, bookmakers and underground bars, trying to find his brother and sister.
Beyoğlu Cinema, Beyoğlu, April 16, 1:30 p.m.
Kako Si? (How are You?)
Another female director, Özlem Akovalıgil, plunges deep into Europe’s ethnic conflicts over the past decades in this bizarre road movie. The film follows two groups of travelers from Istanbul; Semahat is going to Sarajevo with two young filmmakers to see her homeland before she dies, while another group of young people set off to Germany, their trip cut short by a string of unfortunate events.
Beyoğlu Cinema, Beyoğlu, April 14, 7:00 p.m.
İki Dil Bir Bavul (On the Way to School)
Short-listed for the Joris Ivens award at the Amsterdam International Documentary Festival in 2007, this film by experienced documentary directors Orhan Eskiköy and Özgür Doğan chronicles one school year in the life of a primary-school teacher sent to a remote village in Southeast Turkey. As the only state authority and Turkish speaker, the teacher bonds with his Kurdish students.
Beyoğlu Cinema, Beyoğlu, April 17, 4:00 p.m.
Bekçi (The Watcher)
The director of numerous short films and music videos, Özcan Tekdemir returns to feature films with this low-budget movie. Its protagonist is a security guard in a housing complex, alienated and isolated in a big city. Hoping for an early death, he sleeps with an HIV-positive prostitute. But things don’t turn out as planned as the watcher switches roles, from victim to killer.
Pera Museum, Beyoğlu,April 18, 11:00 a.m.
L.I.F.E.G.U.A.R.D. I.S.T.A.N.B.U.L. (REDUX)
Young director Bozkurt Palanduz mixes genres, styles and timelines in this original feature. Its four separate stories start at different stages in their dramatic development Ğ one at its climax, one at the start of the action, one as the action ebbs and the last at its final suspenseful moment. Each story moves toward a single common conclusion in this unique film.
Beyoğlu Cinema, Beyoğlu, April 14, 4:00 p.m.
Düğüm (The Knot)
Known to movie buffs in Turkey for his debut feature, "Kış Bahçesi" (The Winter Garden), the first Turkish feature shot and screened digitally, director Uygar Asan uses the knot as a metaphor for the stalemates of the modern urban world.
Beyoğlu Cinema, Beyoğlu, April 13, 9:30 p.m.