January 2007 Program January 1–31, 2007

FILM
BECKETT ON FILM 2nd PART
Happy Days
Endgame
Shorts 1
Catastrophe
Rough For Theatre il Breath
That Time
Shorts 2
Act Without Words il Solo / A Piece Of Monologue
Play
Rockaby

FROM ROMANIA
12.08 East Of Bucharest

OBERHAUSEN ON TOUR!
Short Film Days

BECKETT ON FILM 2nd PART

FiLM: BECKETT, 1964
USA | 1965, DVD, Black-White, 21’ | No-Dialogue
Director: Samuel Beckett, Alan Schneider

Samuel Beckett's only venture into the medium of the cinema, Film was written in 1963 and filmed in New York in the summer of 1964 and was directed by Alan Schneider featuring Buster Keaton. For the shooting Beckett made his only trip to America. Film has been awarded many prizes including the Film Critics Prize at the 1965 Venice Film Festival. Beckett on Film 2nd Part, explores the rest of the series created by Michael Colgan, the artistic director of the Gate Theatre, Dublin. AII the films in the series are produced by Michael Colgan and Alan Maloney for RTE. Channel 4 and the lrish Film Board. Beckett on Film throughout January's program will be screening two feature-length films: Happy Days and Endgame. Also the short films that will be shown are Catastrophe, Rough for Theatre II, Breath, That Time, Act Without Words II, A Piece of Monologue, Play and Rockaby.

HAPPY DAYS
United Kingdom, lreland | 2000, DVD, 79', Color | English; Turkish subtitles
Director: Patricia Rozema
Cast: Rosaleen Linehan, Richard Johnson

Written in English and considered Beckett's most cheerful piece, Happy Days features a woman burried up to her waist in a mound of sand. Winnie's husband, Willie, appears only occasionally from his tunnel behind the mound. Winnie's opening words, "Another heavenly day', set the tone for a long monologue which lasts untiI she can no longer busy herself with the contents of her enormous handbag.
'Ah well, what matter, that's what I always say, it will have been a happy day afler all, another happy day.'
- Winnie, Happy Days

ENDGAME
United Kingdom, Ireland | 2000, DVD, Color, 84' | English; Turkish subtitles
Director: Conor McPherson
Cast: Michhael Gambon, David Thewlis, Charles Simon, Jean Anderson

Endgame was written in French in 1957. Hamm, who is blind and unable to walk, and Clov, Hamm's servant, ocupy 'a bare interior'. Nagg and Nell, Hamm's parents, are in dustbins in a corner, and sometimes pop up to talk. Clov looks out of the two small windows with a telescope.
'"Hopefully, the film will demystify Beckett's reputation for being hard going. I just wanted to make sure it was funny, because, if it was funny, it could be understood. lt's a comedy, a bittersweet comedy." - Conor McPherson

BECKETT SHORTS 1

CATASTROPHE
United Kingdom, lreland | 2000, DVD, Color, 7' | English; Turkish subtitles
Director: David Mamet
Cast: Harold Pinter, Rebecca Pidgeon, Sir John Gielgud

Written in French in 1982, Catastrophe features a theatre director and his assistant arranging a protagonist, who stands on a black block submitting to their direction. Directed by David Mamet, this short film's cast involves one of the most prominent actors of British screen the and stage Sir John Gielgud, also one of the leading dramatisls of the 20th century, Harold Pinter and Rebecca Pidgeon who has acted extensively in David Mamet's films.

ROUGH FOR THEATRE II
United Kingdom, lreland | 2000, DVD, Black&White, 30' | English; Turkish subtilles
Director: Katie Mitchell
Cast: Jim Norton, Timothy Spall, Hugh O'Brien

In Rough for Theatre Il, written in French in the 1950s, two men, 'A' and 'B', try to assess the life of 'C', who is standing motionless, with his back to the audience, ready to jump out of the window. A and B review his life with mass documentation as though he were not present Award-winning director Katie Mitchell has worked with many of the UK's most renowned theatre companies. She directed the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Uncle Vanya; Stars in the Morning Sky; Henry IV, and Phoenician Women, which earned her the 1996 Evening Standard Award tor Best Director.

BREATH
United Kingdom, lreland | 2000, DVD, Color, 45' | English; Turkish subtitles
Director: Damien Hirst
Cast: Keith Ailen

Breath was written in 1969 in response to Kenneth Tynan's request for a piece for his show Oh, Calcutta, which featured a series of risqué sketches. It lasts less than a minute. On a set full of rubbish, a person cries out, then breathes in again. Breath's director, artist Damien Hirst has had many solo shows in London, New York and Zurich. He exhibiled at the Tate Gallery and recently showed pieces in the Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy. He was short-listed for the Turner Prize in 1992 and won it in 1995.

THAT TIME
United Kingdom, lreland | 2000, DVD, Color, 20' | English; Turkish subtitles
Director: Charles Garrad
Cast: Niall Buggy

Similar to the normal experimentation of Play, That Time, written in English between 1974 and 1975, intercuts three monologues from three separate periods of time in the experience of one character. Only the listener's face, surrounded by a shock of white hair, is visible. Director Charles Garrad's sculptural and environmental work, which has been shown all around the world, is concerned with time, memory, the atmospheric qualities of places and the signifıcance of objects. 'That time you went back that last time to look was the ruin still there where you hid as a child that last time straight off the ferry .. '. -That Time

BECKETT SHORTS 2 / ACT WITH OUTWORDS II
Written in French in 1956, Act Without Words Il is a mime, as the title suggests. A men sits in a desert and struggles to reach a flask of water and other objects, which remain stubbornly out of reach. Yet despite his continual disappointment he does not give up. There is no escape from the playing area - he is 'immediately hung back' when he attempts to enter the wings.

A PIECE OF MONOLOGUE
United Kingdom, lreland | 2000,  DVD, Color, 20' | English; Turkish subtitles
Director: Robin Lefevre
Cast: Stephen Brennan

In A Piece of Monologue, written in English in 1979, a speaker tells a fragment of a story about birth and death, in which the narrative details almost match those visible to us as the theatre set. The play dramatises a successive loss of company: firstly in an account of the destruction of photographs and secondly in the memories of a funeral in the rain.

PLAY
United Kingdom, lreland | 2000, DVD, Color, 16' | English; Turkish subtitles
Director: Anthony Minghella
Cast: Alan Rickman, Kristin-Scott Thomas, Juliet Stephenson

Play was written in December 1963. Three urns stand on the stage. From each, a head protrudes - a man and two women. The play tells the story of a love triangle, and each character narrates a bitter history and their role in it. On the stage, each head is provoked into speech by a spotlight. In the film, the camera takes the role of the spotlight. Director Anthony Minghella is well known for his films such as Cold Mountain, The Talented Mr. Ripley and The English Patient.
'Adulterers, lake warning, never admit.'
- 'M',Play

ROCKABY
United Kingdom, lreland | 2000, DVD, Color, 14' | English; Turkish subtitles
Director: Richard Eyre
Cast: Penelope Wilton

In Rockaby, which was written in 1980, an old woman dressed in a black evening dress rocks herself in a rocking chair while listening to her own recorded voice. The story telis of the character's seeking for another 'a little like' herself, in the outside world.

FROM ROMANIA

12.08 EAST OF BUCHAREST / A FOST SAU N-A FOST?
Romania | 2006, 35mm, Color, 89' | Romanian; Turkish subtitles
Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Cast: Mircea Andreescu, Teo Corban, lon Sapdaru

The whole world watched live on television as Romanian dictator Ceausescu fled Bucharest by helicopter at 12.08 pm on December 22, 1989. lt's been 16 years since the revolution and Piscoci, an old retiree, Manescu, an alcoholic history teacher, and Jderescu, the arrogant owner and presenter of the local TV station, are now seeking an answer to a sixteen-year-old question: Did a revolution really lake place in their small town?
*2006 Cannes Camera d'Or

OBERHAUSEN ON TOUR!
SHORT FILM DAYS
Short Films Days, for over 50 years is being organized in Oberhausen, Germany, Every year short films with e wide range from experimental films to music videos are showcased. Apart from contemporary films that participate in the competition, also retrospectives constitute a rather important aspect of the program. Short Film Days has become a very well known platform for young German filmmakers and those interested in film, Oberhausen’s 2006 festival is on tour with a selection of programs.*Goethe Institute İstanbul ve International Short Film Festival Oberhausen işbirliğiyle.