The “Director’s Choice” series, which Istanbul Modern Cinema launched last month, will be continuing in April. Comprising films that a director loves or has been influenced by, the program will have as its second guest the director Emre Erdoğdu. Following his debut feature Snow (Kar, 2017), Erdoğdu won the Golden Tulip award at the 40th Istanbul Film Festival for his second feature film, The List of Those Who Love Me (Beni Sevenler Listesi, 2021). Emre Erdoğdu chose five films that have helped cultivate his filmmaking. Among the films in the selection are Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami, 2017 by Sophie Fiennes which follows Grace Jones as she travels to Jamaica in pursuit of her roots and takes us behind the scenes as Jones performs many of her hits. Also featured in the selection is one of the masterpieces of independent American cinema, Stranger Than Paradise (1984) by Jim Jarmusch, as well as Şerif Gören’s The Other Side of Beyoğlu (Beyoğlu’nun Arka Yakası, 1987) which focuses on one night in the backstreets of Beyoğlu and stars Tarık Akan, Oya Aydoğan, and Erdal Özyağcılar. The program can be watched online and free of charge.
Each film will be available for viewing between the dates and times indicated in the program
THE OTHER SIDE OF BEYOĞLU (BEYOĞLU’NUN ARKA YAKASI), 1986
Turkey | HDD, Color, 90’ | Turkish
Director: Şerif Gören
Cast: Tarık Akan, Oya Aydoğan, Erdal Özyağcılar
STRANGER THAN PARADISE, 1984 |
CARGO 200 (GRUZ 200), 2007
Russia | HDD, Color, 89’ | Russian
Director: Aleksey Balabanov
Cast: Agniya Kuznetsova, Aleksey Poluyan, Leonid Gromov
GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT AND BAMI, 2017 |
THE PIANO TEACHER (LA PIANISTE), 2001
France, Austria, Germany | HDD, Color, 96’ | French, German
Director: Michael Haneke
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Annie Girardot, Benoît Magimel