Spring Watch May 18–30, 2021

As spring nears its end, Istanbul Modern Cinema presents a selection of films—some of which will be meeting viewers for the first time—that have made their mark and received awards at festivals in 2020. Through different historical contexts, various characters and stories the films in the selection deal with the concept of “past”, sometimes as a longed for, idealized nostalgia, sometimes as a forceful reminder and sometimes as a trace that resists erasure. Included in the selection, there is Mohammad Rasoulof’s latest film There Is No Evil (Sheytan vojud nadarad) that won the Golden Bear in Berlin last year, consisting of four stories about the death penalty that is still in effect in Iran. Two portrait films in the program are Charlatan, by Agnieszka Holland, one of the most skilled directors of European cinema, which focuses on the life of a true healer, and Zappa, which depicts the life of Frank Zappa, one of the most eccentric and rebellious figures in rock music history. The French film, which will be premiering in Turkey, Gagarine, on the other hand, is about a young man named Yuri, who tries to prevent the demolition of his home due to urban transformation while he dreams of going to space.