Showing posts with label documentary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label documentary. Show all posts

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Hamburg IFF 2011 | Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits




Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits
Turkey, Germany 2011 | 93 min | OV with german s.t. | Colour |


Istanbul wants to play in the big leagues. Last year it was the European City of Culture. It has its heart set on winning the 2020 Olympic bid. And the government wants it to be the financial centre of the region. At fifteen million, its population is twice the size of London’s, and looks set to double by 2030. But the lack of planning regulations means that expansion has come without adequate environmental or safety precautions. As one interviewee warns, for Istanbul the future means chaos.


Director: İmre Azem


Screenplay: İmre Azem


Producer: Gaye Günay Stephan Anspichler


Orig. Titel: Ekümenopolis: Ucu Olmayan Şehir
Section: Three Colours Green
Original language: English/Turkish
Filmtype: Documentary Feature
Music: Lari Dilmen, Nilüfer Ormanli
DoP: Hakan Yonat, ?enol Altun, İmre Azem
Editor: Eray Ilhan, Arzu Volkan
Format: HDCam


World Sales: Studio Hamburg Distribution & Marketing GmbH | Jenfelder Allee 80 | 22039 Hamburg | Germany | Phone: +49 40 6688-5355 | Email: distribution@studio-hamburg.de
Production Company: York Street Productions International Ltd.


Website: www.ekumenopolis.net


Imre Azem (*1975) studied political sciences and French literature among other things in Moscow, New Orleans and Paris. For his feature debut Ecumenopolis he moved back to his native Istanbul.
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Captain Kemal, a Comrade

Captain Kemal, a Comrade / Fotos Lamprinos

The portrait of Mihri Belli, a Turk born in 1915, who, after the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) was a devout nationalist and fanatic enemy of the Greeks, but decided, in 1947, to travel illegally to the mountains in Thrace to fight in the Greek Civil War on the side of the Greek communist guerrillas. Today, at the age of 92, he makes a journey back to Greece where he fought to visit the battle fields and hopefully meet again with his comrades.

Director: Fotos Lamprinos
Script: Fotos Lamprinos
Photographer: Simos Sakertzis
Montage: Alexis Pezas
Sound: Dimitris Athanassopoulos
Music: Yorgos Papadakis
Producer: Costas Lambropoulos
Production: CL Productions, Greek Film Centre, ERT SA Hellenic Broadcasting Corp., & Asi Film
Narration: Manos Zakharias. Texts: Mihri Belli
Type: BetacamSP Color-B&W
Production Country: Greece, Turkey
Duration: 72
Production Year: 2008
World Sales: CL Productions, Greece Zoe Lisgara T. +30 210 6412700 zoelisgara@clproductions.gr www.clproductions.gr

Fotos Lamprinos Filmography

1963-1964 100 Hours in May (short)
1969 Visit Greece (short)
1975 Ermoupolis – 9th Century
1976-1977 A Musical Travelogue with Domna Samiou (8-doc. series)
1977-1980 45 docs (TV series: Images from Northern Greece,
From the Pindus to Evros, ERT in Northern Greece, Research, Backstage)
1980 Yannis Tsarouchis’ Piraeus (short)
1980 Medieval Villages on Chios
1980 Nea Moni, Chios (TV series: This is Where Europe was Born)
1981 Aris Velouchiotis – The Dilemma
1981-1987 Panorama of the Century (33-doc. TV series)
1984 Panorama of the Century 1st episode (1895-1900) (short)
1987 Doxobus (fiction)
1988 Athens University – 50 Years
1989 Struggle at Sea
1989 Crete’s Unification with Greece (TV)
1989 Ancient Rhodes
1989-1990 A 70-year-old October (5-doc. TV series)
The Greeks of Russia (6-doc. TV series)
Political Refugees (TV)
Sergei Paradjanov (short) (TV)
Georgian Painters (TV)
1991 Emmanouil Roidis - Ermoupolis (TV series “The Words of the City”)
1991 Moscow – November 1990. Return to the Future (5 short doc. TV series)
1991 Beauty Will Save the World (7-doc. TV series)
1995 Birthday Celebration or a Silent Balkan Story
1995-1997 In Search of Berenice (3-doc. TV series)
2005 My Power Lies in the Love of the Lens
2008 Captain Kemal, a Comrade

Fotos Lamprinos Biography

He studied Film in Moscow (1965-1970). From 1970 to 1973 he thoroughly researched twenty-two governmental and private film archives in Europe and the United States in search of newsreel material referring to Greece between 1911-1971. In 1973 he collaborated withTheo Angelopoulos on the scenario for Angelopoulos’ film The Traveling Players. From 1975 to 1997 he directed over 50 documentaries for the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), including Panorama of the Century–thirty-three 30-minute episodes narrating the news in Greece and the world from 1895 to 1940, based exclusively on newsreel material; a series of twenty documentaries on the disintegration of the Soviet Union (1989- 1990); and a seven-episode documentary, Beauty Will Save the World (1991), which chronicled the parallel journey of the Russian State and the Russian Orthodox Church from the 10th century to our time. In 1981 Lamprinos filmed a feature-length documentary for the screen entitled Aris Velouchiotis –The Dilemma about the Resistance during the German occupation. His fiction film Doxobus (1987) referred to the 14th-century Byzantine province by the same name and the civil war of that period. In 1995 he produced and directed Birthday Celebration or a Silent Balkan Story, a documentary dedicated to the centenary of cinema and made up of footage from Balkan silent movies (1895-1930). His films have received awards in Greece and abroad. Lamprinos created the first Greek user-friendly archive of old newsreels (1997-2000), which is housed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1993 to 2003 he taught “The Relationship between History and Cinema” at various universities in Greece.

Source:Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
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Tuesday, June 09, 2009

16th Altın Koza International Film Festival goes to School

"ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL" is at 16th Altın Koza International Film Festival in Adana (www.altinkozafestivali.org.tr) on 8-14 June 2009. The film has been selected for National Competition.

Orhan Eskikoy Born in 1980, Istanbul, Turkey. He graduated from the Department of Public Relations, Faculty of Communication, Ankara University in 2004. The films which he produced at the university have been successful in many national and international festivals. At the same time he has worked in different projects as assistant of director and cameraman. He worked at the Centre of Distance Education as a Video Production Expert between 2005-2007.

Ozgur Dogan Born in 1977, Varto, Turkey. He graduated from the Department of Radio-TV and Cinema, Faculty of Communication, Ankara University in 2001. He is working as a Research Assistant at the Middle East Technical University and working on documentary video production independently.

Filmography

Zeynel Dogan Born in 1977, Varto, Turkey. He graduated from the Department of Radio-TV and Cinema, Faculty of Communication, Ankara University in 2001. He is working as a Research Assistant at the Middle East Technical University and working on documentary video production independently.


FESTIVALS


Gn. Zeki Doğan Mah. 12. Sok. No: 26/1
Mamak-ANKARA / TURKEY
Fax: + 90 312 210 35 90
e-mail: perisanfilm@gmail.com
URL: http://www.perisanfilm.com
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'On the Way to School' Where did these boys come from?

İKİ DİL BİR BAVUL| 'On the Way to School'
The young Turkish teacher Emre works at a school in an isolated Kurdish village in the South-East of Turkey. Emre's initial enthusiasm quickly turns into frustration and loneliness. The teacher only speaks Turkish whereas the students only understand Kurdish.
Credits
Director: Orhan Eskikoy, Özgür Dogan Photography: Orhan Eskikoy Screenplay: Orhan EskikoyEditing: Orhan Eskikoy, Thomas BalkenholSound: Özgür Dogan Production: Özgür Dogan for Peri-san FilmCo-production Pieter van Huystee Film World SalesPeri-san FilmSales Contact : Pieter van Huystee for Pieter van Huystee Film, Özgür Dogan for Peri-san Film


You can watch the film’s trailer and get more information at: www.perisanfilm.com/school.

'On the Way to School' Where did these boys come from?

28 November 2008, Friday | EMİNE YILDIRIM AMSTERDAM

Perhaps the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) will not ring a bell for your average film buff, but those in the global film industry know that it is by far the mother of all creative documentary film festivals.

Furthermore, this year’s festival should have a special meaning for Turkey since, for the first time in the event’s history, a Turkish film is competing in the Joris Ivens competition for feature length documentaries.

For the Ankara-based, fresh-faced directing duo Özgür Doğan and Orhan Eskiköy, their “İki Dil Bir Bavul” (“On the Way to School”) has been a relentless journey of hard work and patience spanning over three years. Watching their film’s premiere Wednesday at Amsterdam’s historic art-deco Tuchinski theatre, I’m more than happy to say that their efforts have not been in vain. The film is a simple and profound piece of work that depicts the one-year journey of the 20-something primary school teacher Emre Aydın from the western city of Denizli who has been appointed to teach in southeastern Urfa’s remote Kurdish village of Demirci. Here’s the catch: Aydın, who cannot speak Kurdish, will have to teach Turkish to a classroom of kids who do not speak a word of the state’s official language. After all, the language spoken in their homes is Kurdish, although most of the adults can speak Turkish. Aydın, being the well-intentioned epitome of the image the republic has set for teachers since its foundation, patiently struggles to bring “civilization” to the provinces by means of primarily teaching the official Turkish language. God knows Aydın tries, and the kids try (they truly love and respect their teacher) but, much like the country’s current policy in dealing with the Kurdish populace, the school year ends without much success. But how could it not? Beyond the fact that the kids speak Kurdish amongst themselves, their lives are limited in the fields of a desolate village prone to constant power cuts where water is a luxury. Except for the presence of the teacher, the state has forgotten them.

I can already hear those grumbles coming from various factions in Turkey regarding the subject matter. Let it be known from this writer that the film is by all means an observational and astute piece of work that aims to raise the right questions in forming a peaceful human dialogue based on tolerance. Nobody can deny that issues of integration, education and cultural and ethnic identity are a reality in Turkey. What “On the Way to School” does is to bring forth, without any kind of intervention, that which is currently being lived and experienced in the daily life of eastern Turkey. The filmmakers’ camera points in the right direction -- in the classroom, not the trenches.

Doğan and Eskiköy have been working together since 2001 and have a handful of award-winning short documentaries under their belt.

The results of the IDFA’s Joris Ivens competition will be announced this Saturday. In Amsterdam everyone is already buzzing about “On the Way to School,” which has already secured its place in the competition’s top 10 favorites. Still, even if Doğan and Eskiköy don’t come home with a prize from Amsterdam, they’ve already come a very long way by being showcased at the IDFA.

Speaking to Today’s Zaman following the film’s premiere in Amsterdam, there is a noticeable glitter in their eyes as they mention their own production journey and the general state of documentary filmmaking in Turkey. Eskiköy answers most of the questions, but it’s obvious that these boys are a rock solid team of two.

How did you decide to make this film?

We had a close friend who was in a similar situation. He was officially appointed as a teacher to another village in the region where the kids didn’t speak Turkish. We found his story very interesting and wanted to capture it on screen. Unfortunately, our friend preferred not to be filmed, but still the story stuck in our minds. We knew that every year new teachers were appointed to villages in the region. We located the Demirci village and waited. Luckily, Emre Aydın who had been appointed there, let us capture him on film throughout the year.

The camera is noticeably invisible throughout the film. How did you manage to get the trust of all the people on screen -- especially the children, who never seem to notice that you were filming?

Of course, before filming we introduced ourselves to everyone in the community and clearly explained what we wanted to do. After a while they got used to seeing us stick around and forgot our presence. As for the children, all of them were focused on the teacher, not the camera, since Emre, after all, was the highest authority in the classroom.

As the film shows, Emre has a frustrating experience throughout his tenure, not only due to the language problem but also as a result of the region’s destitute situation. What kind of an experience was it for you as filmmakers?

Since Özgür knows the region a lot better than I do, he wasn’t surprised. As for me, it was different and slightly shocking, since the Kurdish life that I had envisaged was not what I later saw.

The production story of the film is very interesting. You have a Dutch production partner and you’ve received funds from abroad. Could you elaborate?

We first looked for financing in Turkey. Unfortunately, we were rejected by the fund of the Culture and Tourism Ministry. But we knew we wanted to do this film and do it right. Later we were accepted to the Greenhouse feature-length documentary workshop, supported by the European Union and specifically designed for filmmakers in the Mediterranean region. This was a great opportunity. Not only did we get the chance to develop the project artistically, but we were introduced to producers, commissioning editors and representatives of documentary institutes. A lot of people started talking about and believing in the project, which was great! During this period, we applied to the IDFA’s own Jan Vrijmun Fund and the Sundance Documentary Fund, both of which we received the support of. Also, our Dutch producer, Pieter Van Huystee, came on board.

Was it easy to bring all these partners together?

Naturally it has been a great experience to work on the international level. However, the more people that are involved, the more voices there are that have a say in your project. You have to make everyone happy without forsaking your own perspective. I really wish that we could have been able to find financing in Turkey. After all, this is a film made in Turkey and we want to continue making films in our country, not somewhere else.

Speaking of Turkey, what do you think of the current state of documentary films in the country?

It’s definitely going in a positive direction. There are a lot of great projects being made, especially by the Filmist collective, which includes Berke Baş, Haşmet Topaloğlu, Somnur Vardar and Belmin Söylemez and also the Docist organization, by Necati Sönmez and Emel Çelebi, is admirable. But the real issue is that non-fiction films are still always pushed aside when fiction is mentioned. Documentary directors should be willing to stand up for their rights and not undervalue themselves; they should push for distribution and ask for copyright compensation.

Will you exhibit and maybe distribute the film in Turkey?

Hopefully, it will be shown in the İstanbul International Film Festival in 2009. But, other than that, I highly doubt that any TV channel in Turkey would show it. Our real hope is to distribute the film in cinemas abroad and locally, but transferring from digital to 35 mm prints is not a small task.

Will you be working together again? What’s your next project?

Yes we will. Right now we’re focusing on the exhibition aspect of “On the Way to School,” but we are hoping to make a feature-length fiction film in the near future.
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Edinburgh Film Festival 2009 | Milk and Doc

Milk (Sut)
DIRECTORS’ SHOWCASE
UK PREMIERE
Semih Kaplanoglu | Turkey, France, Germany
2008 | 102 min
Cast: Melih Selçuk, Basak Köklükaya, Riza Akin, Saadet Isil
Aksoy, Tülin Özen, Alev Uçarer

An aspiring writer balances the demands of family, art and
growing up.
Turkey continues to produce some of the most elegant and
profound cinema on the international scene. This supremely
delicate and engaging coming of age drama follows sensitive
country boy Yusuf as he struggles to scrape a living in a
changing rural economy, whilst also managing the turbulent
emotions of adolescence and seeking recognition for his
poetry. When his single mother finds a romantic interest of her
own, the future looks even more uncertain...

On the Way to School
DOCUMENT
UK PREMIERE
Orhan Eskiköy, Özgür Dogan | Turkey | 2009 | 81 min

All the charm of Être et Avoir: school life seen through the eyes
of a young Turkish teacher just finding his feet.
Recently graduated primary teacher Emre has been sent to run
a remote school in Turkish Kurdistan. He arrives to discover a
village with no running water, a somewhat relaxed approach
to school attendance, and pupils who only speak Kurdish,
a language fervently prohibited by the Turkish government.
Filmed over one year, this is a beautiful, affectionate and gently
humorous observation of Emre (never far from a phone call
home to his mum) and his class as they struggle to come to
terms with one another’s customs.
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Saturday, April 11, 2009

IIFF 2009 |RED BRIDGE



RED BRIDGE | PIRDESUR (KIRMIZIKÖPRÜ)
Director: Caner Canerik
Cast: Ali Şanlı, Cevahir Şanlı, Metin Güler
Turkey, 2008 | miniDV / Colour / 90' | Turkish-Kurkish; English s.t.

The latest film from director Caner Canerik, who has switched to documentaries after a career in news reporting chronicles his observations from the Kırmızıköprü Village (Pırdesur in Kurdish) in Pülümür town in the east of Turkey where he was born, and his return years after he has left for college. Especially after 1990, internal migration caused big tragedies in the east and south east regions of Turkey. Three million people, according to unofficial statistics, left their homes and savings and migrated to cities they hardly knew. Kırmızıköprü now only has a population of 30 following emigration from the village, and the stories of these people who did not migrate, who continued to live there reflect the cultural and social transformation, life and struggle in the village.
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IIFF 2009 | THE VOYAGE OF NÂZIM HİKMET TO CUBA



THE VOYAGE OF NÂZIM HİKMET TO CUBA
NÂZIM'IN KÜBA SEYAHATİ
Directors: Çağrı Kınıkoğlu & Gloria Rolando
Turkey-Cuba, 2008 | HD / Colour / 68' | Turkish-Spanish; English s.t.

The great poet of equality, freedom, and the Turkish language, Nâzım Hikmet had visited Cuba in 1961, on the invitation of his friend, the Cuban poet Nicolas Guillen. A member of the World Peace Council then, Nâzım went to Cuba in May 1961 for solidarity and also to observe the enthusiasm and the progress of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. Through the testimonies of Cuban intellectuals whom Nâzım had met in this joyous voyage, and through other documents and archive materials, such as the recording of Nâzım's poem the "Havana Interview", the film discovers how the Cuban Revolution influenced Nâzım and how Nâzım influenced the Cuban intellectuals. This is a story of compatriot brotherhood and hope.
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