İstanbul Modern@EYE: Turkish Beat September 20–26, 2012

Turkish cinema, enriched with the inclusion of new directors over the last 20 years, has put its unique style on screen. This new era, emerged against the backdrop of immense change and transformation of Turkey since the 1990s, harnesses arich cultural diversity.

The film program Turkish Beat is curated and organized by the film department of Istanbul Museum of Modern Art to celebrate 400 years of diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and Turkey. Nine feature films, a short program with the title Stateless, and The Headless Women, proposed by Çelenk Bafra, which showcases a new panorama of video art in Turkey are the constituting three programs offered through Turkish Beat.

The included feature films are either debuts or second presentations of young Turkish directors. These films not only recall the diversity of voices that abound in the resurgence of Turkish cinema, but also visit the themes of belonging, identity and memory, while highlighting their paradoxical nature. The compilation of 10 shorts also explores the complexity of Turkish identity but this time with more adventurous styles of storytelling. Lastly, homage to the prominent artist Nil Yalter, The Headless Women presents videos by emerging women artists from Turkey.

FEATURE FILMS

Voice of My Father (Babamın Sesi)

2011 / 85'/ DCP

Director: Orhan Eskiköy, Zeynel Dogan

Producer: Özgür Dogan

Co-Producers:Michael Eckelt (Riva Film), Dirk Decker (Riva Film), Guillaume De Seille (Arizona Films)

Screenplay: Orhan Eskikoy

Cast: Zeynel Dogan, Basê Dogan, Gülizar Dogan

Language: Turkish, Kurdish

Awards: 31st İstanbul Film Festival: Best Screenplay

Orhan Eskikoy and Zeynel Dogan return with another inspired-by a real life-story film about Zeynel Dogan’s family. Premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival, the film chronicles the 30 year history of a Kurdish family. Voice of My Father is about a son who searches for his own voice through the cassette tapes his father sent from abroad. Through the audio archives of a family who had to migrate to Elbistan after the Maras pogroms, the film utilising a mix of documentary and fiction,portrays what had happened between 1979 and 2009.

Beyond The Hill (Tepenin Ardı)

2012 / 94 '/ DCP

Director: Emin Alper

Producer: Enis Köstepen, Seyfi Teoman

Screenplay: Emin Alper

Cast: Berk Hakman, Reha Özcan, Banu Fotocan, Tamer Levent

Language: Turkish

Awards: 31st İstanbul Film Festival: Best Film, Best Screenplay, FIPRESCI award; 18thSarajevo Film Festival: Special Jury Prize; Taipei Film Festival: Special Jury Prize; Karlovy Vary Film Festival: Best Asian FilmAward; 62nd Berlin Film Festival: Caligari Award, Best First Film Mention

Known for his short films Rifat and The Letter, Emin Alper’s striking debut Beyond the Hill premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. It is set in an isolated valley in rural Turkey, where a man comes to visit his father, a herdsman, accompanied by his two children. The serene summer’s day, however, is gradually disrupted by the proximity of uninvited guests from beyond the hills, who come to graze their goats on this particular piece of land. The sense of threat slowly builds up with each side’s intent is to defend its territory.

Our Grand Despair (Bizim Büyük Çaresizliğimiz)

2011/ 102'/ DCP

Director: Seyfi Teoman

Producer: Nadir Öperli, Yamac Okur

Screenplay: Seyfi Teoman, Barıs Bıcakcı

Cast: İlker Aksum, Mehmet Ali Nuroglu, Taner Birsel, Baki Davrak, Günes Sayın, Fatih Al, Selim Gürata

Language: Turkish

Awards: 16th Nurnberg Turkey/Germany Film Festival: Best Film, Film Critics award; 30th İstanbul Film Festival: Special Jury Prize

One of the entries in Berlinale competition, this bittersweet comedyportrays a long-time friendship between Ender and his pal, Cetin. Now in their late 30’s, the pair have enjoyed a very close, platonic bond since high school. An adaptation from Ankara-based author Baris Bicakci’s novel, the film is a love-triangle set in a snowy Ankara. They're soon joined by the traumatized Nihal, sister of their friend Fikret, who needs somewhere to stay following the death of her parents in a car crash. They take some time to adapt to a female presence. Before long, the inevitable happens and they are both falling in love with Nihal each unaware of the other’s love.

Summer Book (Tatil Kitabı)

2008/ 92'/ 35mm

Director: Seyfi Teoman

Producer: Yamaç Okur, Nadir Öperli

Screenplay: Seyfi Teoman

Cast: Taner Birsel, Tayfun Gunay, Harun Ozuag , Ayten Tokun, Osman Inan

Language: Turkish

Awards: 16th Art Film International Film Festival: Best Film; 27th İstanbul Film Festival National Competition Best Film, FIPRESCI National Competition Onat Kutlar Best Film; 54th Taormina Film Festivali Special Jury Award; 11thPalic International Film Festival Gorki List Tolerance MentionAward; Montreal World Film Festival First Films Competition Bronze Zenith Award

The debut feature of Seyfi Teoman, Summer Book, tells the story of one family in a small Mediterranean town in summer. Told mostly from the perspective of the youngest son Ali, the narrative is structured on the tensions between the father, Mustafa, and other members of the family. Mustafa is an authoritarian lemon merchant but when he experiences a cerebral hemorrhage the whole family is forced to accept new responsibilities.

What Remains (Geriye Kalan)

2011 / 103'/ DCP

Director: Çiğdem Vitrinel

Producer: Şebnem Vitrinel

Screenplay: Sebnem Vitrinel, Çiğdem Vitrinel

Cast: Devin Özgür Çınar, Erkan Bektaş, Şebnem Hassanisough, Burak Tamdoğan

Language: Turkish

Format: Blueray

Awards: 48th Golden Orange Film Festival: Best Actress (Devin Özgür Çınar), Best Director; 12th International Izmir Film Festival: Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Şebnem Hassanisoughi)

This debut feature follows two women who have had different experiences in life, but essentially struggle to stand up straight in the same brutal and ferocious “universe of fear”. Sevda is ready to take any risks to salvage her marriage, and Zuhal crumbles under the burden of being the other woman. Not even able to consider confronting her husband, let alone confiding in someone else, Sevda takes the wheel to get rid of the other woman.

Do Not Forget Me Istanbul (Unutma Beni İstanbul)

2011/ 118'/ Blueray

Directors: Hany Abu-Assad, Stefan Arsenijević, Aida Begić, Eric Nazarian, Stergios Niziris, Omar Shargawi, Josefina Markarian

Producer: Huseyin Karabey, Sevil Demirci, Emre Yeksan

Co-Producers: İbrahim Altınsay (Altınsay Film işleri), Asi Film, Yeni Sinemacılar

Screenplay: Aida Begić, Stefan Arsenijević, Omar Shargawi, Stergios Niziris, Gül Dirican, Eric Nazarian, Nazlı Elif Durlu, Hany Abu-Assad, Josefina Markarian

Script Supervisor: Petros Markaris
Cast: Alma Terzic, Ayça Damgacı, Mira Furlan, Svetozar Cvetkovic, Ahmet Rıfat Şungar, Ali Suliman, Liraz Charhi, Süreyya Güzel, Yorgos Symeonidis, Hümeyra Akbay, Settar Tanrıöğen,

Jacky Nercessian, Serra Yılmaz, Görkem Yeltan, Esin Harvey, Baki Davrak, Volga Sorgu Tekinoğlu, Salima Hamed, Suheila Abu'Asad, Amer Hlehel, Hiam Abbass

Language: English-Arabic-Serbian-Greek-Turkish- Hebrew- Bosnian

Awards: 18th Rabat Film Festival: Best Film; 7^th Southeastern European Films Festival: Special Jury Award, Best Director of Photography

The film consists of six short films by six directors that have been successful in the international arena. They come together to remind viewers that Istanbul's history does not belong only to the people of Turkey. Each of these short films is 15 minutes long, and the stories are from the directors’ own lives or about the lives of others. Bosnian player Alma, middle-aged couple Dragan and Ana, Vangelis, Martha and Armenak... They all have different reasons for being in Istanbul. The city's cosmopolitan history brings these people together.

Body (Vücut)

2012 / 104'/ Blueray

Director:Mustafa Nuri

Producer: Hazer Baycan, Tamer Uner

Screenplay:Mustafa Nuri

Cast: Hatice Aslan, Neslihan Yeldan, Cengiz Bozkurt, Seyla Halis, Şebnem Dilligil, İlayda Süren

Language: Turkish

Awards: 18th International Golden Boll Film Festival: Best Actress (Hatice Aslan), Best Supporting Actress, Most Promising Young Actor (Hakan Kurtas), Montreal Film Festival: Best First Film

World premiered at Montreal Film Festival, Body is the moving portrayal of a porn actress’ struggle to come to terms with her body. Leyla, a woman in her late 40’s, decides to move to Istanbul after working for several years in the German adult film industry. Her opportunist producer ex-boyfriend Yilmaz takes advantage of her drug addiction to persuade her to take part in one last film. During the production of this movie, she meets a traumatized young man.

Can

2011 / 106'/ DCP

Director: Raşit Çelikezer

Producer: Defne Film

Co-Producers: Burak Akidil, Umman Küçükyılmaz (Efekt Film)

Screenplay: Racit & Nüans Çelikezer

Cast: Selen Ucer, Serdar Orcin, Yusuf Berkan Demirbağ, Erkan Avcı, İdil Yener

Language: Turkish

Awards: 2012 Sundance Film Festival: Special Jury Award Best Drama, 48^th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival: Behlul Dal Special Jury Award, Antalya City Council Audience Award

Loving Istanbul couple Ayse and Cemal need only a child to complete their life together, but they cannot conceive. To salvage Cemal’s pride, they resort to illegal means to procure a baby. This wild grab at a more perfect life proves their undoing, leading the couple to spiral toward separate futures. The couple's estrangement is intertwined with the film’s parallel narrative, in which a distant and neglectful single mom is raising her little boy, Can. The film made its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival.

Press
2010 / 100’ / 35 mm
Director: Sedat Yılmaz
Producer: Sedat Yılmaz
Screenplay: Sedat Yılmaz
Cast: Aram Dilbar, Engin Emre Deger, Kadim Yasar
Language: Turkish
Awards: 30th Istanbul Film Festival: Special Jury Prize, FIPRESCI Best Film, Award of the Council of Europe FACE Special Jury Prize: 47th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival: Special Jury Prize, Behlul Dal Special Award: Young Actor: 22nd Ankara International Film Festival: Best Script Award, New Promising Actor: Aram Dildar, New Promising Director: Sedat Yilmaz; 57th Taormina Film Fest: Campus Gioventù Award for Best Film in the Mediterranean Competition

Press tells the story, through 17 year-old Fırat, of the newspaper Ozgur Gundem which tried to expose the human rights violations in Diyarbakır in the early 90s when conflicts were at their peak in Turkey. The journalists are hampered not only by technical difficulties but by “dark forces” as well. Some are abducted and threatened, others killed in the middle of the street; their office is raided by the police. As our journalists continue doing their job pressure keeps mounting.

SHORTS PROGRAM

Stateless

Son Amazon (The Last Amazon)

2011 / 22’38”/ Turkish

Director: Elif Demoglu

Samanyolu
2012 / 3’30” / Turkish

Director:Aslı Toy

Garotte

2011 /7’54”/ Turkish

Director:Deniz Tarsus

Toros Canavarı (Toros Monster)

2011/ 8’45”/ Turkish, Kurdish

Director: Fırat Yavuz

Ben Geldim Gidiyorum (I’ve Come and I am Gone)

2011 /15’01”/ Turkish

Director:Metin Akdemir

Master Plan

2011 /31’52”/ Turkish

Director:Tolga H. Yüceil

Bayrakları Seven Şehir (The City That Loves Flags)

2011/ 00’30”/ No Dialogue

Director:Levent Çetin

Ali Ata Bak (AliAtaBak)

2011 /12’/ Turkish

Director:Orhan İnce

1982

2012 / 7’33”/ Turkish

Director: Yıldıray Yıldırım

Tetrist

2012 / 2’48”/ No Dialogue

Director: Mesrure Melis Bilgin

22 September 2012

at 17:15

The Headless Women: A selection of Video Art in Turkey

78 min

Presented as a screening programme, the selection made for the Turkish Beat offers a new panorama of video art in Turkey. The programme borrows its title from the first video work in Turkey, entitled The Headless Woman or the Belly Dance by Nil Yalter in 1974. The Headless Women focuses on the current artistic discourses and new tendencies in video art in Turkey in the new millennium. Homage to the prominent artist Nil Yalter, the programme is composed of videos by emerging women artists for whom Nil Yalter and her video works played a pioneering role and offered an invaluable source of inspiration.

Artists: Aslı Cavuşoğlu, Camila Rocha, CANAN, Nilbar Güreş, İnci Furni, Bengü Karaduman, İrem Tok, Özlem Sulak, Işıl Eğrikavuk

Proposed by Çelenk Bafra, the curator, and Senem Sekban, the assistant curator of İstanbul Modern.

LIST OF VIDEOS

The Petty Travel Show For A Dear Audience

2009 / 9'40"

Artist: Aslı Cavuşoğlu

Courtesy of GaleriNON

In Three

2011 / 2'45"

Artist: Camila Rocha

Courtesy of the artist

İbretnuma (Examplary)

2009 / 27'30"

Artist: CANAN

Long term loan from Dr. F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation

Undressing

2006 / 6'19"

Artist: Nilbar Güreş

Long term loan from Dr. F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation

Parrots Can't Talk

2010 / 1’20”

Artist: İnci Furni

Courtesy of the artist

We Are All In The Same Boat

2012 / 3'22"

Artist: Bengü Karaduman

Courtesy of the artist

Art or Simit

2008 / 8'38"

Artist: İrem Tok

Courtesy of the artist

Granny

2005/ 9'20”

Artist: Özlem Sulak

Courtesy of the artist

Memory Museum

2011 / 10'

Artist: Işıl Eğrikavuk

Courtesy of the artist