Rendezvous with Directors 6: Yeşim Ustaoğlu February 14–28, 2019

Rendezvous with Directors, Istanbul Modern Cinema’s series of meetings featuring directors who stand out for their artistic identity and original approach in Turkey’s contemporary film culture, is hosting Yeşim Ustaoğlu this year.

Rendezvous with Directors selection presents six feature-length films and four shorts by Ustaoğlu in addition to the behind the scenes documentary for Araf – Somewhere in Between and the unreleased extended version of the director’s documentary Life on Their Shoulders (Sırtlarındaki Hayat, 2004). As part of the program, where cast members will be in attendance at screenings, an extensive conversation with Yeşim Ustaoğlu will be held on February 28 in addition to presentations by film critics.

DOCUMENTARIES
MISTY CHILDREN OF THE SMOKY CITY (DUMANLI KENTİN PUSLU ÇOCUKLARI), 2012
Turkey | DVD, Color, 78’ | Turkish
Director: Murat Evrim
The behind the scenes documentary for Yeşim Ustaoğlu’s film Araf – Somewhere in Between, portrays the director’s location choices, visual style, communication of emotions as well as other details such her choice of cast and crew members.

LIFE ON THEIR SHOULDERS (SIRTLARINDAKİ HAYAT), 2004
Turkey | HDD, Color, 60’ | Turkish
Filmed in the village of Topluca in Çamlıhemşin, Rize, Life on Their Shoulders depicts the lives of local women. The documentary focuses on how these women cope with the physical as well as the emotional weights they carry, how they maintain the bright smiles on their faces and how they keep on singing despite the hardships they face as they deal with the responsibility of taking care of their families. Ustaoğlu provides an insider’s view onto the area surrounded by boundless forests and where rivers run wild, echoing along with the rains that keep on raining.

SHORTS
HOTEL (OTEL), 1992
Turkey | DVD, Color, 16’ | Turkish
Cast: Ralf Hall, Neşe Şen, Şeref Türkmenoğlu
The film is an investigation of a hotel that no one can leave. Architecturally fascinating and mysterious, the hotel is inhabited by bizarre characters. There has been a homicide, and a man who has not shown the bravery to witness it, is being held as a suspect. Reminiscent of Kafka’s stories with elements of film noir and metaphors of society and insanity, the film was very well received and won the Grand Prize at the 14^th International Mediterranean Film Festival Montpellier (Cinémed).

DUET, 1990
Turkey | DVD, Color, 15’ | Turkish
Cast: Müge Akyamaç, Ahmet Erintan, Alican Gebeç
Taking place at a reclusive musician’s house and portraying a single night, the film follows a young man, who has “escaped” from Germany to Istanbul. As the two men get to know each other through music, the dichotomy of a home and homelessness, and the real and the imaginary, the shadow of Istanbul is in the background. Duet won the first prize at the Yunus Nadi Short Film Competition in 1991.

MAGNAFANTAGNA, 1987
Turkey | DVD, Color, 15’ | Turkish
Cast: Eser Arsan, Rana Özbal
Inspired by Wendy Lichtman’s story, Ustaoğlu’s second short film portrays a little girl’s discovery of death. Blurring the boundary between what is real and what is not, the film is both a visually poetic depiction of how humans mature with the realization of the certainty of death, and the bearer of traces from the director’s search of cinema.

TO CATCH A MOMENT (BİR ANI YAKALAMAK), 1984
Turkey | DVD, Color, 15’ | Turkish
The first film directed by Yeşim Ustaoğlu, To Catch a Moment received the IFSAK Short Film Award. The film portrays the bus journey of a young woman played by the director herself. Throughout the journey, the woman’s mind goes off to a few imaginary time zones and she starts dreaming about what could happen. Throughout this spiritual journey, she reflects on her relationship with her mother and her father portrayed by Ara Güler, their family dynamics and her home.