Istanbul Modern Cinema presents a program which brings together the freshest examples of Balkan cinema and comprises of most-loved, award-winning and hit films in recent years’ festivals with the contributions of Türk Tuborg A.Ş. Reflecting the current socio-political process experienced in the Balkans, these stories also showcase the pursuit of a distinctive cinematic language. Leaving behind a successful year, Romanian cinema is among the most prominent in the selection: This year’s Palme d’Or competitor, Sieranevada is an intense family portrait by Cristi Puiu – an important director of the Romanian New Wave. Athina Rachel Tsangari, a witty representative of the Greek New Wave Cinema which has been on the rise in recent years, is included in the program with her new film, Chevalier which portrays the partly stupid and mostly sarcastic states of six men racing against each other’s manhood on a luxury yacht in the middle of the Aegean Sea. Another prominent film in Balkanmania is Death in Sarajevo, a summary of the history of Bosnia-Herzegovina which has paralyzed the country for a century that starts at Hotel Europe with the 100th anniversary of the assassination that started World War I and continues with the Holocaust and the Bosnian massacre.
FATHER (BABAI), 2015
Kosovo, Macedonia, Germany, France | DCP, Color, 104’ |Albanian, German, Serbian
Director:Visar Morinaæ
Cast:Val Maloku, Astrit Kabashi, Adriana Matoshi
CHILDREN OF PEACE, 2016
Bosnia Herzegovina | DCP, Color, 52’|Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian
Director:Emir Kapetanović
Cast:Ivona Baković, Nataša Jasikovac, Nina Lončar
OUR EVERYDAY LIFE (NAŠA SVAKODNEVNA PRIČA), 2015
Bosnia Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia |DCP, Color, 89’| Bosnian
Director:Ines Tanović
Cast: Jasna Beri, Enis Bešlagić, Goran Bogdan
THE UNSAVED (LA LIMITA DE JOS A CERULUI), 2013
Moldova, Romania |DCP, Color, 80’ | Romanian
Director:Igor Cobileanski
Cast:Igor Babiac, Sergiu Voloc, Ela Ionescu
DOGS (CÂİNİ), 2016
Romania, France, Bulgaria | DCP, Color, 104’ | Romanian
Director:Bogdan Miriča
Cast:Dragoş Bucur, Gheorghe Visu, Vlad Ivanov, Emilian Oprea
GRADUATION (BACALAUREAT), 2016
Romania | DCP, Color, 128’ | Romanian
Director:Christian Mungiu
Cast:Adrien Titieni, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Rares Andrici
PLAYING THE MOLDOVANS AT TENNIS, 2012
Moldova, UK | DCP, Color, 100’ | English, Romanian
Director:Mikołaj Jaroszewicz, Tony Hawks
Cast:Stephen Frost, Tony Hawks, Anatol Durbala
DEATH IN SARAJEVO (SMRT U SARAJEVU), 2016
Bosnia Herzegovina, France | DCP, Color, 85’ | Bosnian, French, English
Director: Danis Tanović
Cast:Snežana Marković, Izudin Bajrović, Vedrana Seksan
SIERANEVADA, 2016
Romania | DCP, Color, 173’ | Romanian
Director:Cristi Puiu
Cast:Branescu Mimi, Dana Dogaru, Marian Ralea, Marin Grigore
CHEVALIER, 2015
Greece | DCP, Color, 105’ |Greek
Director:Athina Rachel Tsangari
Cast: Vangelis Mourikis, Nikos Orphanos, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos
HONEY NIGHT, 2015
Macedonia |DCP, Color, 89’ | Macedonian
Director:Ivo Trajkov
Cast:Nikola Ristanovski, Verica Nedeska, Igor Angelov
THE LOBSTER, 2015
Greece, Ireland, Holland, France | DCP, Color, 120’ | English, French
Director:Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast:Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden
In a dystopian future, singles are arrested and accommodated in a place called, The Hotel. If they fail to commence a romantic relationship within forty-five days they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released at the nearby forest. Abandoned by his wife, David desperately tries to fit in and stay alive. Providing an eccentric outlook on human relationships in modern societies, the film carries the signature of talented Greek director, Yorgos Lanthimos, who previously drew attention with his film Dogtooth.
SWORN VIRGIN (VERGINE GIURATA), 2015
Albania, Italy, Switzerland, Kosovo | DCP, Color, 84’ |Albanian
Director:Laura Bispuri
Cast:Alba Rohrwacher, Emily Ferratello, Lars Eidinger
ZHALEIKA, 2016
Bulgaria, Germany | DCP, Color, 92’ | Bulgarian
Director:Eliza Petkova
Cast:Anna Manolova, Snezhina Petrova, Mihail Stoyanov