Tuesday, December 13, 2005

FATE (Yazgi) to open in UK

30 September 2005 05/86

bfi Distribution presents

FATE (Yazgi)
(Turkey 2001)
Written, directed and edited by Zeki Demirkubuz118 mins / colour / English subtitles / cert 15

Starring: Serdar Orcin, Zeynep Tokus, Engen Gunaydin, Demir Karahan
Release date: 3 February 2006
Opening venue: ICA, London

Fate, the brilliantly accomplished fourth feature of Turkish writer-director Zeki Demirkubuz, is an adaptation of Albert Camus' L’Etranger (The Outsider), transposed to present-day Istanbul.

Musa (based on Meursault, the anti-hero of Camus' novel) is a blank but wryly amused customs clerk who lives quietly with his elderly mother. He seeks no control over his own destiny but simply allows life to take its course. When, one day, he finds his mother dead at home, he shows no sign of emotion and maybe even experiences a sense of relief. But life, driven by fate, has some unexpected twists in store.

Born in Isparta in 1964, Demirkubuz was jailed for three years at the age of 17 for alleged communist ties. On release from prison he became a film-maker - more, he claims, by accident than by design. After working as an assistant director, he set up his own production company, Mavi Film, deliberately situating himself outside of Istanbul's mainstream Yesilcam Studios (Turkey's answer to Hollywood). Independent and uncompromising, Demirkubuz controls almost every aspect of his films, making few concessions to prevailing trends.

Written, directed and edited by Demirkubuz, Fate is austere cinema with a blackly comic edge. Beautifully controlled, with its restrained performances, long takes and sparing use of music (apart from two brief bursts of Mahler), it is a daring and deeply compelling enquiry into the nature of personal responsibility.

Together with the films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan (whose Uzak [Distant] was released last year to great acclaim), the work of Demirkubuz has sparked an international revival of interest in Turkish arthouse cinema. With two of his feature films, Fate and Confession, selected for the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes in 2002, Demirkubuz established himself as a talent to watch and was hailed as an important new auteur. His films were subsequently spotlighted at the Edinburgh, Vienna and Toronto Film Festivals, also receiving a complete retrospective at New York's Anthology Film Archives. With the release of Fate, bfi Distribution is proud to introduce a major new talent to UK audiences.


For further information please contact: Sarah Harvey on 020 7703 2253
or email
press@sarahharvey.info or Elizabeth Benjamin at the bfi on 020 7849 4465 or email Elizabeth.Benjamin@bfi.org.uk

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

FILMOGRAPHY - ZEKI DEMIRKUBUZ

1994 Block C (C Blok)
1997 Innocence (Masumiyet)
1999 The Third Page (Ucuncu Sayfa)
2001 Fate (Yazgi)
2001 Confession (Itiraf)
2003 The Waiting Room (Bekleme Odasi)

The British Film Institute’s purpose is to champion moving image culture in all its richness and diversity across the UK, for the benefit of as wide an audience as possible, and to create and encourage debate. It does this by developing opportunities for all UK citizens to engage with film, TV and media heritage and culture. The bfi also works closely with national and regional partners to provide a focus for the diversity of UK moving image culture, while playing a key role in influencing the national and international agenda.

Established in 1933, the bfi provides a wide range of services, including: bfi National Film Theatre (NFT), bfi London IMAX Cinema (Britain’s largest screen), bfi National Library (the world’s leading specialist film & television library), bfi National Film & Television Archive (NFTVA, one of the world’s oldest and largest culturally significant film & TV archives), bfi London Film Festival, bfi London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, bfi Distribution (making a wealth of world cinema available for theatrical screening across the UK), the renowned bfi DVD & Video catalogue of world and historic cinema, a wide range of award-winning bfi publications and bfi education materials, film footage, film stills, and research services for the commercial media industry, and the highly-respected Sight & Sound film magazine.

Friday, December 09, 2005

Eurimages Support for Turkey

Eurimages supports 13 European co-productions
STRASBOURG, 12.10.2005

At its 97th meeting held on 9.10.2005 - 11.10.2005 in Paris, the Council of Europe Eurimages Fund Board of Management agreed to support 13 feature films for a total amount of 3.89 Million Euros.


There is one Turkish co-production among the films that received support

Kader- Zeki Demirkubuz (Turkey, Greece)

Support was awarded to the following distributors:

SANARTFILM (Germany) for the distribution of the film
Yazi Tura (Heads or Tails)- Ugur Yucel (Turkish / turc)

BIR FILM ITHALAT (Turkey) for the distribution of the films
Manderlay- Lars Von Trier (Danish / danois)
Va, vis et deviens- Radu Mihaileanu (France)
CHANTIER FILMS (Turkey) for the distribution of the film
La Femme de Gilles- Frédéric Fonteyne (BE)
ERMAN FILM VE SINEMACILIK A.S. (Turkey) for the distribution of the film
L' Annulaire- Diane Bertrand (France)
SIR FILM ITHALAT VE PAZARLAMA (Turkey) for the distribution of the film
Dear Wendy- Thomas Vinterberg (Danish / danois)

Moreover, it has been decided to integrate retroactively from 1st January 2005 the six Turkish cinemas which applied for membership :

Atamerkez Safranbolu Sinemalari, Safranbolu
Cinebonus Konak, Izmir
Kadiköy Sinemalari, Kadiköy/Istanbul
Burc Altiparmak Bursa, Bursa
Diyarbakir Avrupa Sinemasi, Diyarbakir
Büyülüfener Kultur Merkezi, Ankara