Turkish Beat and Bermuda Shorts

In September Istanbul Modern Cinema presents two different programs abroad

In September Istanbul Modern Cinema will be visiting Mannheim and Amsterdam with two different programs. Curated by Müge Turan, head of Istanbul Modern Cinema, the program Turkish Beat includes feature-length films, short films, and video art and will be held in Amsterdam in collaboration with the EYE Film Institute within the scope of the celebrations for the 400th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and Turkey. As for the Bermuda Shorts International Short Film Festival, organized by the Mannheim Metropolitan Municipality with the participation of its sister cities, three short films will represent Turkey under the heading Bermuda Shorts selected by Istanbul Modern in collaboration with the Beyoğlu Municipality.

Nine feature-length films will be screened within the scope of the programTurkish Beat held in Amsterdam between September 20-26; ten short films under the heading Stateless and a video selectionentitled The Headless Women will also be presented.

The opening of Turkish Beat will feature a screening of Our Grand Despair on Thursday evening, September 20 at Pathé Tuchinski in partnership with the Amsterdam Turkish Film Festival. A Panel will also be held within the scope of Turkish Beat in which new tendencies in Turkish cinema will be discussed. The collaboration with the EYE Film Institute, the Netherlands’ most prominent film center, will continue with the screening of films selected by the institution at Istanbul Modern Cinema in October.

Nine feature-length films

Comprising first and second films shot within the last two years by prominent directors of the new Turkish cinema, the program also includes three films directed and produced by Seyfi Teoman, who passed away recently.

Directed by Seyfi Teoman, Our Grand Despairwon the award for Best Film and the Film Critics’ Prize at the 16th Nuremberg Turkish-German Film Festival, and the Special Prize of the Jury at the 30th Istanbul Film Festival. Summer Book won the award for Best Film at the 16th Art Film International Film Festival, the award for Best Film in the 27th Istanbul Film Festival National Competition, the prize for Best Film in the FIPRESCI National Competition awarded in memory of Onat Kutlar, the Special Jury Prize at the 54th Taomina Film Festival, the Gorki List Tolerance Award at the 11th Palic Film Festival, and the Bronze Zenith in the First Feature Films Competition at the Montreal World Film Festival. Beyond the Hill, which was produced by Seyfi Teoman, won the FIPRESCI Prize and the awards for Best Film and Best Screenplay at the 31st Istanbul Film Festival, the Special Jury Prize at the 18th Sarajevo Film Festival, the Special Jury Prize at the Taipei Film Festival, the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, and the Caligari Film Prize and a Best First Feature Special Mention at the 62nd Berlin Film Festival.

Also to be screened in the Turkish Beat program are: Voice of my Father directed by Orhan Eskiköy and Zeynel Doğan which won the Award for Best Screenplay at the 31st Istanbul Film Festival; Can by Raşit Çelikezer which won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and the Behlül Dal Jury’s Special Award at the 48th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival; What Remains directed by Çiğdem Vitrinel which won the awards for Best Director and Best Actress at the 48th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, and the awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actress at the 12th International Izmir Film Festival; Do not Forget Me Istanbul directed by Hany Abu-Assad, Stefan Arsenijević, Aida Begić, Eric Nazarian, Stergios Niziris, Omar Shargawi and Josefina Markarian, selected Best Film at the 18th Rabat Film Festival; The Body directed by Mustafa Nuri which won the awards for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Promising Newcomer (male) at the 18th International Adana Golden Boll Film Festival; and Press by Sedat Yılmaz which won the 2010 Antalya Behlül Dal Jury’s Special Award, the 2011 Ankara Most Promising New Actor, Most Promising New Director, and Onat Kutlar Best Script Awards, and the 44th SIYAD Turkish Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Award.

Stateless- 10 Short Films

Among the ten films to be screened under the heading Stateless are The Last Amazon byElif Demoğlu, The Milky Way by Aslı Toy, Garotte by Deniz Tarsus, The Monster Toros by Fırat Yavuz,I’ve Come and I am Goneby Metin Akdemir, Master Plan by Tolga H. Yücel, The City that Loves Flags by Levent Çetin, Ali Ata Bak (A.B.C.) by Orhan İnce, 1982 by Yıldıray Yıldırım, and Tetrist by Mesrure Melis Bilgin.

The Headless Women: A selection of Video Art in Turkey

Also part of the program is a video selection, with Istanbul Modern curator Çelenk Bafra as consultant; the video selection, entitled The Headless Women, consists of works by recent contemporary women artists. The following videos will be screened in the selection:The Petty Travel Show For A Dear Audience by Aslı Çavuşoğlu, In Three by Camila Rocha, Ibretnuma (Exemplary) by Canan, Undressing by Nilbar Güreş, Parrots Can’t Talk by İnci Furni, We Are All In The Same Boat by Bengü Karaduman, Art or Simit by İrem Tok, Granny by Özlem Sulak, and Memory Museum by Işıl Eğrikavuk.

Bermuda Shorts selection of short films in Mannheim

The selection of short films will be screened between September 20-23 at the Bermuda Shorts International Short Film Festival in Mannheim and will feature I’ve Come and I am Gone by Metin Akdemir, Love is Blind by Ertuğ Tüfekçioğlu, and Tetrist by Mesrure Melis Bilgin. All three directors will be guests at the festival.

Turkish Beat

Voice of My Father (Babamın Sesi)

2011 / 85'/ DCP

Director: Orhan Eskiköy, Zeynel Dogan

Producer: Özgür Dogan

Co-Producers: Michael Eckelt (Riva Film), Dirk Decker (Riva Film), Guillaume De Seille (Arizona Films)

Screenplay: Orhan Eskikoy

Cast: Zeynel Dogan, Basê Dogan, Gülizar Dogan

Language: Turkish, Kurdish

Awards: 31st İstanbul Film Festival: Best Screenplay

Orhan Eskikoy and Zeynel Dogan return with another inspired-by a real life-story film about Zeynel Dogan’s family. Premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival, the film chronicles the 30 year history of a Kurdish family. Voice of My Father is about a son who searches for his own voice through the cassette tapes his father sent from abroad. Through the audio archives of a family who had to migrate to Elbistan after the Maras pogroms, the film utilising a mix of documentary and fiction, portrays what had happened between 1979 and 2009.

Beyond The Hill (Tepenin Ardı)

2012 / 94 '/ DCP

Director: Emin Alper

Producer: Enis Köstepen, Seyfi Teoman

Screenplay: Emin Alper

Cast: Berk Hakman, Reha Özcan, Banu Fotocan, Tamer Levent

Language: Turkish

Awards: 31st İstanbul Film Festival: Best Film, Best Screenplay, FIPRESCI award; 18th Sarajevo Film Festival: Special Jury Prize; Taipei Film Festival: Special Jury Prize; Karlovy Vary Film Festival: Best Asian FilmAward; 62nd Berlin Film Festival: Caligari Award, Best First Film Mention

Known for his short films Rifat and The Letter, Emin Alper’s striking debut Beyond the Hill premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. It is set in an isolated valley in rural Turkey, where a man comes to visit his father, a herdsman, accompanied by his two children. The serene summer’s day, however, is gradually disrupted by the proximity of uninvited guests from beyond the hills, who come to graze their goats on this particular piece of land. The sense of threat slowly builds up with each side’s intent is to defend its territory.

Our Grand Despair (Bizim Büyük Caresizligimiz)

2011/ 102'/ DCP

Director: Seyfi Teoman

Producer: Nadir Öperli, Yamac Okur

Screenplay: Seyfi Teoman, Barıs Bıcakcı

Cast: İlker Aksum, Mehmet Ali Nuroglu, Taner Birsel, Baki Davrak, Günes Sayın, Fatih Al, Selim Gürata

Language: Turkish

Awards: 16th Nurnberg Turkey/Germany Film Festival: Best Film, Film Critics award; 30th İstanbul Film Festival: Special Jury Prize

One of the entries in Berlinale competition, this bitter sweet comedy portrays a long-time friendship between Ender and his pal, Cetin. Now in their late 30’s, the pair have enjoyed a very close, platonic bond since high school. An adaptation from Ankara-based author Baris Bicakci’s novel, the film is a love-triangle set in a snowy Ankara. They're soon joined by the traumatized Nihal, sister of their friend Fikret, who needs somewhere to stay following the death of her parents in a car crash. They take some time to adapt to a female presence. Before long, the inevitable happens and they are both falling in love with Nihal each unaware of the other’s love.

Summer Book (Tatil Kitabi)

2008/ 92'/ 35mm

Director: Seyfi Teoman

Producer: Yamac Okur, Nadir Operli

Screenplay: Seyfi Teoman

Cast: Taner Birsel, Tayfun Gunay, Harun Ozuag , Ayten Tokun, Osman Inan

Language: Turkish

Awards: 16th Art Film International Film Festival: Best Film; 27th İstanbul Film Festival National Competition Best Film, FIPRESCI National Competition Onat Kutlar Best Film; 54th Taormina Film Festivali Special Jury Award; 11thPalic International Film Festival Gorki List Tolerance MentionAward; Montreal World Film Festival First Films Competition Bronze Zenith Award

The debut feature of Seyfi Teoman, Summer Book, tells the story of one family in a small Mediterranean town in summer. Told mostly from the perspective of the youngest son Ali, the narrative is structured on the tensions between the father, Mustafa, and other members of the family. Mustafa is an authoritarian lemon merchant but when he experiences a cerebral hemorrhage the whole family is forced to accept new responsibilities.

What Remains (Geriye Kalan)

2011 / 103'/ DCP

Director: Cigdem Vitrinel

Producer: Sebnem Vitrinel

Screenplay: Sebnem Vitrinel, Çiğdem Vitrinel

Cast: Devin Ozgur Çınar, Erkan Bektas, Sebnem Hassanisough, Burak Tamdogan

Language: Turkish

Format: Blueray

Awards: 48th Golden Orange Film Festival: Best Actress (Devin Ozgur Cinar), Best Director; 12th International Izmir Film Festival: Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Sebnem Hassanisoughi)

This debut feature follows two women who have had different experiences in life, but essentially struggle to stand up straight in the same brutal and ferocious “universe of fear”. Sevda is ready to take any risks to salvage her marriage, and Zuhal crumbles under the burden of being the other woman. Not even able to consider confronting her husband, let alone confiding in someone else, Sevda takes the wheel to get rid of the other woman.

Do Not Forget Me Istanbul (Unutma Beni İstanbul)

2011/ 118'/ Blueray

Directors: Hany Abu-Assad, Stefan Arsenijević, Aida Begić, Eric Nazarian, Stergios Niziris, Omar Shargawi, Josefina Markarian

Producer: Huseyin Karabey, Sevil Demirci, Emre Yeksan

Co-Producers:Ibrahim Altinsay (Altinsay Filmisleri), Asi Film, YeniSinemacılar

Screenplay: Aida Begić, Stefan Arsenijević, Omar Shargawi, Stergios Niziris, Gül Dirican, Eric Nazarian, Nazlı Elif Durlu, Hany Abu-Assad, Josefina Markarian

Script Supervisor: Petros Markaris
Cast: Alma Terzic, Ayça Damgacı, Mira Furlan, Svetozar Cvetkovic, Ahmet Rıfat Şungar, Ali Suliman, Liraz Charhi, Süreyya Güzel, Yorgos Symeonidis, Hümeyra Akbay, Settar Tanrıöğen,

Jacky Nercessian, Serra Yılmaz, Görkem Yeltan, Esin Harvey, BakiDavrak, Volga Sorgu Tekinoğlu, Salima Hamed, Suheila Abu'Asad, Amer Hlehel, Hiam Abbass

Language: English-Arabic-Serbian-Greek-Turkish- Hebrew- Bosnian

Awards: 18th Rabat Film Festival: Best Film; 7th Southeastern European Films Festival: Special Jury Award, Best Director of Photography

The film consists of six short films by six directors that have been successful in the international arena. They come together to remind viewers that Istanbul's history does not belong only to the people of Turkey. Each of these short films is 15 minutes long, and the stories are from the directors’ own lives or about the lives of others. Bosnian player Alma, middle-aged couple Dragan and Ana, Vangelis, Martha and Armenak... They all have different reasons for being in Istanbul. The city's cosmopolitan history brings these people together.

Body (Vücut)

2012 / 104'/ Blueray

Director: Mustafa Nuri

Producer: Hazer Baycan, Tamer Uner

Screenplay: Mustafa Nuri

Cast: Hatice Aslan, Neslihan Yeldan, Cengiz Bozkurt, Seyla Halis, Sebnem Dilligil, Ilayda Suren

Language: Turkish

Awards: 18th International Golden Boll Film Festival: Best Actress (Hatice Aslan), Best Supporting Actress, Most Promising Young Actor (Hakan Kurtas), Montreal Film Festival: Best First Film

World premiered at Montreal Film Festival, Body is the moving portrayal of a porn actress’ struggle to come to terms with her body. Leyla, a woman in her late 40’s, decides to move to Istanbul after working for several years in the German adult film industry. Her opportunist producer ex-boyfriend Yilmaz takes advantage of her drug addiction to persuade her to take part in one last film. During the production of this movie, she meets a traumatized young man.

Can

2011 / 106'/ DCP

Director: Rasit Celikezer

Producer: Defne Film

Co-Producers:Burak Akidil, Umman Kücükyılmaz (Efekt Film)

Screenplay: Racit & Nüans Celikezer

Cast: Selen Ucer, Serdar Orcin, Yusuf Berkan Demirbag, Erkan Avci, Idil Yener

Language: Turkish

Awards: 2012 Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Award Best Drama, 48th International AntalyaGolden Orange Film Festival: Behlul Dal Special Jury Award, Antalya City Council Audience Award

Loving Istanbul couple Ayse and Cemal need only a child to complete their life together, but they cannot conceive. To salvage Cemal’s pride, they resort to illegal means to procure a baby. This wild grab at a more perfect life proves their undoing, leading the couple to spiral toward separate futures. The couple's estrangement is intertwined with the film’s parallel narrative, in which a distant and neglectful single mom is raising her little boy, Can. The film made its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival.

Press
2010 / 100’ / 35 mm
Director: Sedat Yılmaz
Producer: Sedat Yılmaz
Screenplay: Sedat Yılmaz
Cast: Aram Dilbar, Engin Emre Deger, Kadim Yasar
Language: Turkish
Awards: 30th Istanbul Film Festival: Special Jury Prize, FIPRESCI Best Film, Award of the Council of Europe FACE Special Jury Prize: 47th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival: Special Jury Prize, Behlul Dal Special Award: Young Actor: 22nd Ankara International Film Festival: Best Script Award, New Promising Actor: Aram Dildar, New Promising Director: Sedat Yilmaz; 57th Taormina Film Fest: Campus Gioventù Award for Best Film in the Mediterranean Competition

Press tells the story, through 17 year-old Fırat, of the newspaper Ozgur Gundem which tried to expose the human rights violations in Diyarbakır in the early 90s when conflicts were at their peak in Turkey. The journalists are hampered not only by technical difficulties but by “dark forces” as well. Some are abducted and threatened, others killed in the middle of the street; their office is raided by the police. As our journalists continue doing their job pressure keeps mounting.

SHORTS PROGRAM

Stateless

Son Amazon (The Last Amazon)

2011 / 22’38”/ Turkish

Director: Elif Demoglu

Samanyolu
2012 / 3’30” / Turkish

Director: Aslı Toy

Garotte

2011 /7’54”/ Turkish

Director: Deniz Tarsus

Toros Canavarı (Toros Monster)

2011/ 8’45”/ Turkish, Kurdish

Director: Fırat Yavuz

Ben Geldim Gidiyorum (I’ve Come and I am Gone)

2011 /15’01”/ Turkish

Director: Metin Akdemir

Master Plan

2011 /31’52”/ Turkish

Director: Tolga H. Yüceil

Bayrakları Seven Şehir (The City That Loves Flags)

2011/ 00’30”/ No Dialogue

Director: Levent Çetin

Ali Ata Bak (AliAtaBak)

2011 /12’/ Turkish

Director: Orhan İnce

1982

2012 / 7’33”/ Turkish

Director: Yıldıray Yıldırım

Tetrist

2012 / 2’48”/ No Dialogue

Director: Mesrure Melis Bilgin

The Headless Women

“Video Art From Turkey”

The Petty Travel Show For A Dear Audience

2009 / 9'40"

Artist: Aslı Cavusoglu

Curtesy of Galerinon

In Three

2011 / 2'45"

Artist: Camila Rocha

Courtesy of the artist

Ibretnuma (Examplary)

2009 / 27'30"

Artist: Canan

Long term loan from Dr. F. Eczacibasi Foundation

Undressing

2006 / 6'19"

Artist: Nilbar Günes

Long term loan from Dr. F. Eczacibasi Foundation

Parrots Can't Talk

2010 / 1’20”

Artist: Inci Furni

Courtesy of the artist

We Are All In The Same Boat

2012 / 3'22"

Artist: Bengü Karaduman

Courtesy of the artist

Sanat ya da Simit (Art or Simit)

2008 / 8'38"

Artist: Irem Tok

Courtesy of the artist

Granny

2005/ 9'20”

Artist: Ozlem Sulak

Courtesy of the artist

Memory Museum

2011 / 10'

Artist: Isıl Egrikavuk

Courtesy of the artist

BERMUDA SHORTS

I’ve Come and I am Gone, 2011 / 15’01”
Director: Metin Akdemir
A film that reflects in musical harmony the noisy and complex life of the streets of Istanbul.

Love is Blind, 2011 / 11’20”
Director: Ertuğ Tüfekçioğlu
A film featuring İrem Altuğ about an unusual love that blossoms on an Istanbul avenue.

Tetrist, 2012 / 2’48”
Director: Mesrure Melis Bilgin
This animated short playfully combines contemporary Istanbul with 16th century Pera miniatures.