Films by Antoni Muntadas October 7–8, 2010

İstanbul Modern Cinema hosts Spanish-born artist Antoni Muntadas, one of the prominent names in the field of video art. The premiere of his film On Translation: Açık Radyo, made for the 2010 İstanbul Capital of Culture program, will be held on the evening of October 7. This will be followed, on October 8, by the screening of three additional films from the series On Translation.

Thursday, 7 October: 19:00
On Translation: Açık Radyo

Myths and Clichés
This film is a product of Muntadas’ work on İstanbul, which he has been carrying out since January 2009 within the scope of the project Lives and Works in İstanbul, and will be screened for the first time. Working on a concrete project which explores how İstanbul is represented and constructed by the media and which also scans the myths and clichés produced by insider and outsider points of view, Muntadas places Açık Radyo within the project’s ‘landscape.’ He renders visible, and thus documents, the functioning of the philosophy and ethical and aesthetic values of Açık Radyo as an alternative and independent initiative on the one hand, and on the other, through a series of programs he has carried out, he lays the groundwork for dialogue among ‘İstanbulites’ on how myths and clichés about this city are produced and consumed.

Until now, for the İstanbul film Antoni Munderas has conducted interviews with Atıf Akın, Gülden Kalafat, Ferda Keskin, Feride Çiçekoğlu, Korhan Gümüş, Murat Güvenç, Nezih Erdoğan, Ömer Madra, Şevket Şahinbaş, and Tuna Erdem; he has scanned close to 150 feature films that include İstanbul, and has done shootings in İstanbul and at Açık Radyo. Within the scope of the project, four radio programs entitled On Translation: Myths and Clichés were aired on Açık Radio and moderated by Yahya Madra.

Friday, October 8
A Selection of Films by Antoni Muntadas

On Translation: Miedo/Fear0
2005, 30’
The first screening is of a film dealing with the theme of fear which presents a series of interviews conducted on the border between Mexico and the USA. Including clips from the news and from feature films, the video project is divided into different sections. The project starts with an exploration of the relationship between fear and concepts such as emotion and sensation, and is followed by mutual connotations: Fear of the other, fear of the stranger, fear toward illegal immigrants; as the film progresses, in light of the sociopolitical reality of the people interviewed, it gives way to the fears of those who believe they have the right to lead a better life.

On Translation: Miedo/Jauf
2005-2008, 52’
Actually Antoni Muntadas had conceived the second video for local television. Just like the first video, this one also shows that fear is not a primal emotion for human beings but a concept that has become a cultural and sociological structure reflecting political and economic classes. While the media’s general tendency is to foster either violence or pity, this film differs from this phenomenon taking a different expressive path: Interviews conducted with 30 people who are connected to the Straight of Gibraltar are combined with archive footage.

...and Political Advertisement
2008, 75’
In ...and Political Advertisement Muntadas has created a collage from presidential campaigns from the 1950s to 2004, thus documenting the shifts in political strategy and the development of marketing techniques. With no additional comments the film calls attention, in the midst of complex visual material, to the sameness of political issues while rendering visible how the American presidency has become a marketable commodity.
 

Manga Films

In conjunction with the exhibition Discover Manga! between October 5-17 İstanbul Modern Cinema presents a selection of three major manga heroes’ adventures on screen. Including three episodes of the television serials Naruto, One Piece, and Dragon Ball, the program awaits manga enthusiasts in the cinema hall.