Upload Cinema Marathon and Sinepark Short Genre Film Festival

Two programs consisting of internet videos and short films at Istanbul Modern Cinema

Istanbul Modern Cinema hosts two different events: Upload Cinema Marathon, which brings the Internet to the big screen, and Sinepark Short Genre Film Festival consisting of shorts. Bringing intriguing and surprising videos from the Internet to the big screen for the third time on December 13 with Upload Cinema Marathon, Istanbul Modern Cinema also hosts the sixth Sinepark Short Genre Film Festival organized by Galatasaray University MEDIAR (Center for Research and Applications on Media Studies) between December 20-21.

Carried out in collaboration with Dutch film club Upload Cinema and held on December 13, Upload Cinema Marathon presents over 100 videos in four separate selections including the 40 most watched videos. Among these unusual, creative, and fun amateur videos are surprises for the audience treating of current events and scenes from diverse feature films ranging from Inception to Gone with the Wind. Upload Cinema Marathon brings out the creativity in the audience and offers a new interactive sphere expanding the definition of cinema.

After the Internet and social media changed the view on and perception of cinema and films and the form of consumption of this genre, the Upload Cinema team started screening the videos they gathered in film halls through a curatorial approach. Among screened videos are amateur and professional footage, found film, archive footage, and security camera shots. According to Upload Cinema founders, their aim is to “take this exciting new way of making and sharing film out of the domestic realm, away from the internet and the tiny computer screen and into a space that's designed for a collective experience: the cinema.” Followers of Upload Cinema can participate in auditions with their videos as well as have a say in selections. The event thus acquires an interactive structure.

Also screened in other European countries besides the Netherlands, Upload Cinema will be held at Istanbul Modern Cinema on Thursday, December 13 in four separate screenings scheduled as follows: at 13:00 No Time for Losers, which consists of 39 videos that witness unusual events and achievements in sports; at 15:00 Bad Endings consisting of 34 fun videos brought together by Upload Cinema in collaboration with the International Film Festival Rotterdam;at 17:00 Remixing the City, which includes 33 videos around the theme of the city selected by Upload Cinema in collaboration with the Netherlands Architecture Institute; and at 19:00 Top 40: 2011 which consists of last year’s top 40 films.

Between December 20-21 Istanbul Modern Cinema hosts the Short Genre Film Festival organized by Galatasaray University MEDIAR (Center for Research and Applications on Media Studies) with the aim of encouraging short film directors to take up “genre” film which has experienced a revival in recent years in Turkey. 62 finalists will be competing in this year’s festival, selected from among 162 films which have applied to a total of six different categories. The 6th Sinepark festival is carried out with support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The finalists will meet short film aficionados at Istanbul Modern on December 21, the shortest day. Among this year’s guests for the 6th Sinepark festival is director Ümit Ünal who will be at Istanbul Modern on December 20 at 17:00 with his first film “9” and a talk on “Suspense Cinema in Turkey”.

This year’s tagline for the Sinepark Short Genre Film Festival is “The festival that doesn’t confuse apples and oranges” and the finalists will be assessed by a jury consisting of director Seren Yüce, actor Serdar Orçin, producer Tolga Esmer, film critic Ceyda Aşar, documentary filmmaker and festival director Melek Özman, cinematographer Eyüp Boz, and producer Fuat Erman. As for the section “Atkıkarınca” (Merry-Go-Round) in which short films by high school students will be competing, the winner will be selected by senior students majoring in Radio, Television, and Film at the Galatasaray University, Faculty of Communication. The award ceremony, during which one film will receive the “Hürrem Erman Special Award,” will be held, again on December 21, at 18:30 in the Galatasaray University Aydın Doğan Auditorium.

Upload Cinema Marathon

Thursday, 13 December

13:00

No Time For Losers

A selection full of surprises consisting of 39 videos that witness unusual events and achievements especially in sports.

15:00

Bad Endings

34 fun videos brought together by Upload Cinema in collaboration with the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Beginning with a dramatic scene from Gone with the Wind, this selection consists of news clips with elements of black humor and accidentally captured amateur videos.

17:00

Remixing the City

33 videos around the theme of the city selected by Upload Cinema in collaboration with the Netherlands Architecture Institute. An interesting selection of videos about the city including a scene from Inception.

19:00

Top 40: 2011

This program, which consists of last year’s top 40 films, presents viral hits ranging from the highlights of the year, such as the capture of Gaddafi, to sidesplitting clips and from creative experimental videos about everyday life to surprising mise-en-scenes.