TRT Documentary Days May 3–4, 2012

Within the scope of TRT Documentary Days out-of-competition screenings, İstanbul Modern Cinema presents a program of 10 films selected from the winner documentaries of the previous two years in the international category and awarded TRT documentaries. In this fourth year of the TRT Documentary Days, to which 340 films from 41 countries have applied, the aim is to create a platform where quality, creative examples of documentary cinema can come together. Sevilay Tüccar, director of I Have Words to Say and Zeynel A. Elçioğlu, director of Masters of Local Music will meet with the audience following the screening of their films.

Damascus Roof and Tales of Paradise

Soudade Kaadan, Qatar, 2010, 52´
Arabic/ Turkish–English Subtitles

There’s a rich tradition of storytelling in Syria, fables passed from grandparents to grandchildren, filled with colorful imagery. Associated with 1001 Nights, the storytelling in this film explores aspects of reality and fantasy and mixes them. Within the old city of Damascus, as modernisation changes the familiar landscape of the ancient town, so the danger exists that these stories, cherished and passed down through generations, will vanish amidst the rubble and disruption of the new city taking shape...

Israel vs Israel

Terje Carlsson, Sweden, 2010, 58´
English-Arabic-Hebrew-Swedish/ Turkish–English Subtitles
Israel vs Israel is a documentary about Jewish peace activists who face skepticism and criticism from their fellow Israeli citizens. A Rabbi, a soldier, a grandmother and an anarchist - four very different Israelis whom share a common goal: to achieve peace in the Middle East and end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories.

Lovestories From Moscow 1993-2009

Christopher Boekel, Germany, 2010, 99´

Russian-German/ Turkish–English Subtitles

In 1993 and then in 2008/2009 director Boekel accompanies with his camera his loved ones in Moscow while also witnessing the social and economic changes that the city has undergone during these fifteen years.

Corridor #8

Boris Despodov, Bulgaria, 2008, 74´

Bulgarian-Macedonian-Albanian/ Turkish–English Subtitles
Corridor #8 is a mosaic film combining fragments from the everyday lives of the characters who live along a non-existent Balkan road that links Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania.

I Have Words to Say

Sevilay Tüccar, Turkey, 2011, 52´
Turkish-German/English Subtitles

This documentary is about children of migrant workers in Germany in the mid-1980s, who, in the face of prejudice and exclusion, conveyed their problems through rap music. The film tells the story of how rap with Turkish lyrics was born “underground” in Germany and rose to the surface by moving to Turkey with the group Cartel.

Masters of Local Music

Zeynel A. Elçioğlu, Turkey, 2010, 36´
Turkish/English Subtitles

One of the fundamental elements of Anatolia's cultural richness and diversity is music. The diversity of traditional Anatolian music can be seen in the difference both of instruments played in various regions and of regional dialect and melody. This documentary tells the life stories of local artists who are exponents oftraditional Anatolian music.

Cattle Camp

Alijan Nasirov, Kyrgyzstan, 2009, 34´

Kyrgyz / Turkish–English Subtitles
This film shows the life of one Kyrgyz family living alone in the mountains at 3,500 meters elevation and minus 40 degrees Celsius. Among domestic animals, only yaks which has become an endangered can survive under such harsh conditions. The film demonstrates how difficult it is to raise and to protect these endangered animals, and how precious each yak is for this family.

Weapon of War

Femke & Ilse van Velsen, The Netherlands, 2009, 60´

French/ Turkish–English Subtitles

In the Democratic Republic of Congo possibly hundreds of thousands of women and girls were brutally raped. Weapon of War takes a harrowing journey to the heart of this crisis. The military perpetrators unveil the hidden motives and strategies of rape as a war crime.

Story of a Day

Rosana Matecki, Venezuela, 2009, 89´

Spanish/ Turkish–English Subtitles

Story of a Day begins as an observation of the tranquil existence of farmers living somewhere in rural Latin America.. In this document of a single day, Rosana Matecki tells an abstract story about a random selection of human lives.

The Women of Brukman

Isaac Isitan, Canaa, 2008, 88´

Spanish/ Turkish–English Subtitles

During the 2001 economic collapse in Argentina, the seamstresses at Brukman’s clothing factory took over the operation the owners had abandoned. They reorganized it on a self-management model, without a doubt the most inspiring of the many new economic experiments in that country.