My First Feature April 20–23, 2017

Istanbul Modern Cinema, presents My First Feature, a program focusing on the debut features filmed by current directors at the start of their careers. The selection features four films by the unusual director of French cinema Claire Simon who has been working across different genres ranging from documentary to fiction for twenty years and has always tried to capture the essence of reality. The program includes her first feature-length documentary The Patients (Les Patients, 1990), in which she began to follow her father’s best friend Dr. Bouvier a few months before his retirement and shows the compassion with which this experienced doctor approaches his patients. Also featured in the program are her films God’s Offices (Les Bureaux de Dieu, 2008) and Gare du Nord (2013). Another film to be screened in My First Feature is Private Madness (Folie Privée, 2004) by Belgian director Joachim Lafosse which was nominated for the Golden Leopard at the Locarno film festival in 2004. A conversation with Claire Simon is also included in the program.

On April 20 th, Claire Simon will be present after the screening of God’s Offices for a conversation on her cinema at 17.15.

On April 23rd, the producer of Private Madness, Eric Van Zuylen will be present after the screening of the film for a conversation on Joachim Lafosse’s cinema at 17.45.