29. German Orientalists Day
Panel Cinematic Islam - Muslims in Cinema
Ala Al-Hamarneh and Ruth Roded
From the advent of cinema at the turn of the nineteenth century, Islamic themes were represented in European films (often spuriously) and in indigenous Middle Eastern newsreels, documentaries and dramatic films. Middle Eastern cinematic portrayals of Islam were, however, initially hampered by a tradition in large parts of the region that prohibited visual depiction of the Prophet Muhammad and other major Islamic figures (with the notable exceptions of Turkey, Iran and further eastern areas which had a history of visual presentation of Islamic themes, mainly in the fine arts). After sporadic attempts to depict Islamic religion and history in Middle Eastern cinema during the 1920s through the 1940s, a series of Arab films focusing on classical Islam were produced from the 1950s as religious authorities and political and cultural elites gradually began to recognize the impact of this audio-visual medium. Some of these cinematic presentations are popular to this day, disseminated through the media of television and video. At the same time, Middle Eastern films may have addressed contemporary Islamic practices on the margins of major plot lines.
In the wake of the rise of political Islam in the last decades, Middle Eastern governments as well as intellectual elites have harnessed television and film to offset the popularity of Islamist movements among the broad public. Religious and historical television series and critical movies were produced by Egyptian, Iranian, Lebanese, Tunisian and Algerian filmmakers. At the same time, Muslim filmmakers in the west have carried out a double dialogue with “Islamic” societies and characters, as well as with European and American culture. Their films often stereotype the self and the other in a phenomenon dubbed by Edward Said “Orientalistic Orientalism”.
The film production of Hollywood and various European countries have in general been informed by Western stereotypes and images of “the Orient” and “Islam.” The re-production and the re-presentation of such clichés by a cinematic “Eurocentric Orientalism”, as it is called by Ella Shohat, dominate the cinematic scene, although they may be nuanced by political developments.
In this panel we aim to explore theoretical aspects of cinematic presentations of alterity and of self-presentation in an age of on-going aggressive cultural globalization and in a media that was globalized from its onset. We would like to focus on various aspects of Islam and Muslims projected on the screen, such as religious practices, alternate interpretations, gender, spatial etc. Case studies of films and filmmakers are highly encouraged.
Moderated panel
Claudia Preckel: The portrayal of Kashmir mujahidun in Bollywood cinema
Abstract: The Indian Muslim community watches every film, in which Muslim life in India is portrayed with great suspicion. Several films, e.g. Gadar ("Rebellion", A. Sharma 2001) even caused communal riots. A common reproach of the Muslim community against Bollywood cinema is that it "has gone saffron," which means completely overtaken by the Hindu majority. Muslims claim that they are portrayed as the only minority, which has not become part of the Indian nation. Indeed, the portrayal of Islam in Bollywood seems to be marked my stereotypes and even misconceptions about this religion. This is further underlined the fact that Bollywood discovered its national trauma as a subject of popular films, namely the Kashmir conflict. This paper examines three films, which depict the fight of the Muslim Kashmir mujahidun, namely K. Mohammed`s Fiza (1999), V.V. Chopra`s Mission Kashmir (2000) and M. Rathnam`s Roja (1992, re-released in Hindi 2002). The paper will focus on the question as to how Islam and Islamic justification of jihad is portrayed. Further, it will address the notions of violence and the (over-) emphasis on masculinity and the idealisation of the male hero. This will be contrasted to the depiction of female every-day life in India. Thirdly, a short analysis of icons and symbols used to stress and Islamic identity will be given.
Ruth Roded: Gender and Religious Visual Messages: Disseminating the Life of the Prophet Muhammad on Film and Video
Ala Al-Hamarneh: Stereotyping the Other: Cinematic Migrations to the "West" in Egyptian Film
Ingy Al-Sayed: Portraying Muslim Activists in Egyptian Film
Eldad J. Pardo: Trauma and Gender in the Cinema of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Berlinale 2007 | Dol by Hiner Saleem
DOL Iraqi Kurdistan Region, France, Germany, 2007, 90 min
Written and Directed by: Hiner Saleem film editing: Dora Mantzoros, Bonita Papastathi
art director: Saman Sabunci; costumes designer: Belcim Bilgin; producer: Hiner Saleem, Michel Loro; distributor: Novociné ; Cast: Nazmi Kirik, Belcim Bilgin, Omer Ciaw Sin, Rojin Ulker, Tarik Akreyî See DOL :TRAILER
Section: Forum
The Berlinale's World Cinema Fund will provide funding for the distribution, Kurdish director Hiner Saleem's "Dol". Berlin-based Mitosfilm will release "Dol," which the WCF is supporting with Euros 8,000 ($10,400), in April. The WCF is sponsored by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Berlinale in cooperation with the Goethe Institute. "Dol" is set in a Turkish-Kurdish village under the rigid control of the Turkish military and explores the conflict between the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq and areas in Turkey and Iran.
A political refugee living in exile in Italy, Hiner Saleem returned secretly to Kurdistan to film his people. The result, a medium-length film entitled “Shero,” was selected at the Venice Film Festival in 1992. He continued to film his countrymen by making two documentaries for Italian television in 1991, “Le retour de Huner” and “Les kurdes d’Irak.” His frst feature film, “Vive la mariée... et la libération du Kurdistan,” gives a rare insight into Kurdish society and its contradictions.
Hiner Saleem Filmography
2006 Feature Sous les toits de Paris Director, Scriptwriter Hiner Saleem
2006 Feature Dol ou la valée des tambours Director, Scriptwriter Hiner Saleem
2005 Feature Kilomètre Zéro Director, Scriptwriter Hiner Saleem
2003 Feature Vodka Lemon Director, Scriptwriter Hiner Saleem
Seven dollars per month pension, a wardrobe, an old Soviet television and a military costume are all that Hamo, a handsome man in his sixties, has. He lives alone in a small Kurdish village in Armenia one one of the sons and his granddaughter. One day a letter arrives from his other son, who lives in France. The rumor goes round the village that the envelope is full of dollars. But all Hamo can think of is the beautiful stranger he saw in the cemetery.
2002 Short film 8, cité Richard Lenoir Actor Christine Marrou
2000 Feature Beyond Our Dreams Director, Scriptwriter Hiner Saleem
Dolovan and Zara want nothing more than to escape their native Kurdistan and make a life for themselves in Paris, far from the violence and oppression they have grown up with. But Zara's money, and Dolovan's dreams are not enough. They must wait in the Winter Palace, an urban refuge for those awaiting secure passage to the West. When they finally make it to the train that will get them to the boat for Italy, they are pried apart by circumstances and one of their Winter Palace Acquaintances. Upon reaching Italy, Dolovan must labor for a deceitful Venetian traficker in order to get his loved one to safety. But from empty promises to broken dreams, will he and Zara find the strength to beat life's cruel odds or will their budding love be yet another wasted struggle ?
1998 Feature Vive la mariée… et la libération du Kurdistan/ Kebab Connection Director, Scriptwriter, Music Composer Hiner Saleem
Cheto, a Kurdish political refugee living in Paris, has a French girlfriend called Christine. Cheto wants to get married, but not to Christine. He wants a beautiful Kurdish virgin who is also a patriot. He sends his best friend, Misto Vidéo, with a camcorder to Kurdistan to find his bride. He chooses a beautiful bride and a marriage is arranged. But it’s not the happy bride he has chosen that shows up in Paris.
The script started out from a basic fact of Kurdish life: the first generation of Kurdish refugees, who were not very numerous, could not return to their homeland so their families took charge of finding them a wife. When a girl was agreed upon, she was “dispatched” with a guarantee of her good morals and virginity. These types of marriage were known ironically as “postal marriages”. Nowadays, the camcorder has revolutionized the practice and we talk about “video marriages”. Hiner Saleem
Il commence par réaliser en 1997 Vive la mariée… et la libération du Kurdistan et s’est depuis imposé en s’engageant avec subtilité pour la cause de ce peuple déchiré. Il enchaîne avec Passeurs de rêves, Absolitude, Vodka Lemon, Kilomètre zéro et aujourd’hui avec Dol ou la vallée des tambours, qui sera présenté au Festival de Berlin. Il s’arrête ici, au travers d’un film proche du documentaire, sur la situation sociale du pays, en se focalisant sur le cheminement d’un personnage fuyant l’oppression turque et traversant le Kurdistan irakien puis iranien, espérant juste pouvoir se poser pour exister. Un film grave, âpre, à la mise en scène minimaliste cherchant à se rapprocher avec réalisme d’une vérité politique dramatique. Alors qu’il vient d’achever le tournage de son prochain film, Sous les toits de Paris, avec Michel Piccoli et Mylène Demongeot, Hiner Saleem a accepté de revenir sur cette nouvelle expérience reposant sur son seul espoir d’une nouvelle liberté pour son peuple.
Quelle est aujourd’hui la situation politique du Kurdistan ?
Depuis la première Guerre Mondiale, le Kurdistan est divisé entre la Turquie, l’Iran, l’Irak, et la Syrie. Ces Etats ont pratiqué une politique d’assimilation forcée de déportation, allant jusqu’au génocide. Mais les Kurdes n’ont jamais cessé de lutter pour défendre leur liberté. Aujourd’hui la situation commence à évoluer, il y a un réel espoir, notamment du côté de l’Irak. La plus grande partie du Kurdistan est annexée par la Turquie, qui ne reconnaît pas le peuple Kurde et nous surnomme "les Turcs des montagnes". C’est donc très difficile pour le peuple Kurde, qui vit une situation quelque peu similaire à ce qui s’est passé en Afrique du Sud du temps de l’apartheid. Je reconnais qu’il y a une sorte de démocratie, avec des partis politiques, une certaine forme d’immigration… mais pour les Kurdes, tout est interdit. Aujourd’hui, en 2007, ils sont encore obligés de chanter sur la place publique : "je suis Kurde, je suis pauvre." En Irak, en revanche, après la chute de Saddam Hussein tout a changé. Via la nouvelle constitution l’Irak est devenu un Etat Fédéral où les Kurdes peuvent circuler librement. La partie irakienne du Kurdistan est vraiment à l’opposé de ce qu’on peut entendre sur l’Irak, il n’y a pas de violence, pas de terrorisme, les frontières sont contrôlées, c’est une vraie démocratie.
Pour vous le cinéma s’est immédiatement imposé comme le meilleur moyen d’exprimer ce que vous ressentiez ?
C’est plus le hasard qui m’y a conduit. Quand j’étais gamin, nous avons fui les massacres irakiens et nous nous sommes réfugiés dans les montagnes. Nous n’avions rien, pas d’eau, pas d'électricité, rien ! Mais nous avions des livres et j’adorais lire, cela me permettait d’échapper à la réalité. Un jour, mon père a ramené un livre illustré, je crois que c’était la première fois de ma vie que je voyais un dessin. J’avais l’impression de découvrir quelque chose de mystique. Mon père m’a dit que le peintre s’était inspiré de la poésie, du coup je me suis mis à écouter attentivement les poèmes qu’il nous lisait. Plus tard, je me suis tourné vers la peinture, avant de découvrir les premiers programmes de télévision. J’étais déjà un amoureux de l’image, mais en voyant les premières images à la télévision, je me suis dis que c’était le support idéal, il alliait poésie, image, peinture, musique, j’ai senti que c’était vraiment ainsi, vers l’image que j’avais envie d’aller. Au-delà, il est certain qu’au travers du cinéma, je lutte d’une certaine façon pour la liberté du peuple kurde. On me dit que je suis engagé ou militant, mais tout ce que je veux c’est que tout le monde vive librement.
Vos films sont-ils aujourd’hui diffusés sur les différents territoires abritant les Kurdes ?
Pour certains de ces pays il est bien évidemment hors de question de le sortir. Il y avait une sortie prévue en Turquie, mais elle a été annulée par le ministère de l’intérieur. Sur les territoires kurdes, c’est difficile d’avoir un relais pour le cinéma, la musique est accessible à tout le monde, mais pour les films c’est vraiment plus dur d’accès, cela implique plus de bâtiments, du matériel… je ne peux donc pas compter sur un public auquel je tiens personnellement.
Comment avez-vous réussi du coup à tourner votre premier film ?
Lorsque la guerre a commencé en Irak, j’étais en Italie et j’avais une caméra, j’ai donc décidé de me rendre sur place et de filmer ce qui s’y passait. J’ai eu la chance que les images que j’avais montées puissent être présentées au Festival de Venise, ce qui m’a permis de trouver les fonds pour réaliser mon premier film Vive la mariée… et la libération du Kurdistan, une comédie qui se passe à Paris.
Par rapport à vos précédents films, qu’est ce que Dol apporte de nouveau ?
J’ai essayé de raconter quelque chose de plus actuel, une histoire qui permettrait à ceux qui n’en ont pas encore conscience de comprendre ce qui se passe au Kurdistan. J’avais aussi envie de filmer les montagnes kurdes. Mes films partent néanmoins toujours d’une idée qui me taraude, ici c’est une phrase qui m’a choqué lorsque je me suis rendu en Turquie, "Heureux celui qui se dit Turc". Cette phrase résume pour moi l’idéologie officielle qui règne toujours en Turquie et l’abnégation du peuple kurde. C’est l’idée de départ pour moi de Dol. Le ballon blanc qui s’envole à la fin du film, qui s’envole toujours plus haut pour finir par disparaître est l’image pour moi d’une urgence, celle que cette oppression prenne fin. C’est pour cette raison que j’ai tourné ce film.
Pourquoi avoir choisi de vous centrer sur plusieurs personnages, de vous focaliser sur une trame narrative assez décousue ?
Les films trop linéaires m’ennuient et je voulais vraiment que l’on saisisse différentes destinées qui se rejoignent sans forcément s’arrêter trop longuement sur un personnage. Comme j’étais producteur sur le film j’ai pu faire ce que je voulais.
Que signifie "Dol" ?
Cela signifie "tambour", et aussi "vallée". En français c’est un terme juridique qui signifie s’approprier illégalement le bien d’autrui par le biais d’une manœuvre frauduleuse. C’est donc très symbolique de ce que traverse le peuple kurde.
Vous avez été tourné le film sur place, en Irak ?
En Kurdistan irakien et près de la frontière avec la Turquie. Nous n’avons eu aucun problème du coté irakien, c’est vraiment un pays libre. Ce fut plus compliqué près de la Turquie parce qu’il n’y a pas vraiment de frontière légale et que les autorités sont plutôt hostiles. Certains Kurdes ont été jusqu’à déchirer le drapeau que nous avions gravé avec des pierres pour les besoins du film. Il nous a fallu leur expliquer longuement que c’était pour le besoin d’un film, qu’il était factice, ils avaient du mal à l’accepter. Nous avons perdu une journée de tournage du coup, mais ce sont juste de petits désagréments.
Les comédiens, ce sont des professionnels ou vous avez choisi une optique plus proche du documentaire ?
Ce ne sont pas des acteurs dans la majorité. Certains sont chanteurs, d’autres ont fait un peu de théâtre. Les deux héroïnes sont actrices, l’une d’elle a déjà tourné avec moi, c’était un mélange.
Qu’est-ce qu’il émane pour vous de cette nouvelle expérience ?
Je suis vraiment heureux que le film ait été traduit en plusieurs langues. Toute nouvelle expérience est formatrice, enrichissante ? Cette année j’ai fait deux films, j’en termine un qui sera purement français, Sous les toits de Paris avec Michel Piccoli, Mylène Demongeot et Maurice Bénichou que j’ai commencé juste après Dol. Je reviens sur la canicule de 2003, sur les nombreux morts que cette catastrophe a engendrés en France. Cela ne serait jamais arrivé au Kurdistan même si les conditions de vie sont beaucoup plus précaires, pour la seule raison qu’il y a une réelle solidarité familiale, amicale, les personnes âgées ne sont jamais abandonnées. J’avais très envie d’aborder ce problème.
Propos recueillis par Sophie Wittmer
DOL OU LA VALLEE DES TAMBOURS
Un film de Hiner Saleem
Avec Nazmi Kirik, Belcim Bilgin, Omer Çiaw Sin
Durée : 1h30
Date de sortie : 24 janvier 2007
Berlinale 2007 | My Mother Learns Cinema
Annem sinema ögreniyor |My Mother Learns Cinema |Meine Mama lernt Kino
Turkey, 2006, 4 min| Directed by: Nesimi Yetik; Cast: Dudu Yetik, Nesimi Yetik
Section: Competition Short Film
Turkey, 2006, 4 min| Directed by: Nesimi Yetik; Cast: Dudu Yetik, Nesimi Yetik
Section: Competition Short Film
Berlinale 2007 | Riza
Internationales Forum, Berlin.
Riza |Turkey, 2007, 109 min 35mm, 1:1.85 Color 25fps|Written and Directed by: Tayfun Pirselimoglu; Produced by: Tayfun Pirselimogu, Ilknur Akanlar Cinematography by Colin Mounier, Edited by: Cicek Kahraman Art Direction by: Natali Yeres; Music by Cengiz Onural Sound by:Ismail Karadas Cast: Riza Akin, Nurcan Eren, Hayati Pirselimoglu, Muhammed Cangören, Melissa Ahmedi, Fatih Sevildi, Melih Düzenli, Gürbüz Demir, Emin Bas, Turgay Tanülkü
World Sales: Zuzi Film, Basın Sitesi C/25, 34337 Etiler, Istanbul, Turkei. Tel.: (90-212) 265 8658,
email: tayfun.pirselim@gmail.com; gulay.rosset@gmail.com
Review
Riza is a truck driver. His truck is in the shop. Riza can't work and his existence is threatened. With every possible means, he tries to drum up the money for the repairs and he's even willing to commit a brutal crime to get it.
A feeling of isolation and hopelessness runs through the film. The shabby downtown hotel where Riza lives is populated by figures whose days are marked by an agonizing waiting. Sometimes on television we can see - it's during the World Cup - that there's also a faster, louder life out there. The moment of the act, the crime that solves Riza's problem, is not depicted: the hotel, the people and their longings are exactly as they were before, but every image now speaks, with great precision in the perception of change, of the difficulties of living in sin. With Riza, Istanbul is inscribed on the map of unatoned crimes, closer to Raskolnikov's Petersburg than to Woody Allen's London in "Matchpoint". It is not the living metropolis of bars and tourist attractions, but a city that finds itself, much like the film's protagonists, in a state of uncertain waiting.
Anna Hoffmann
Synopsis
“Rıza” tells the story of a truck driver named Rıza, who works between Adana and Istanbul. Rıza begins a struggle, as he searches for enough money to get his truck fixed after it is broken in Istanbul, as the truck is the most valuable thing in his life. He starts sharing a new life in a hotel with people of different age groups and from different backgrounds. They have one thing in common: All expect life to become better.
Adana-İstanbul arasında kamyon şoförlüğü yapan Rıza’nın hikayesini anlatıyor. Hayattaki en değerli varlığı -ipotekli kamyonu- İstanbul’da bozulan Rıza, tamir için para aramaya başlar. Bu arada da kendisi gibi hayattan beklentileri olan farklı çevre ve yaşlardan insanlarla birlikte bir otelde kalır. Hikayeye giren bu kişiler ve kesişen yaşam öyküleriyle zenginleşen film, Rıza’nın bir suça bulaşmasıyla yön değiştirir. Rıza, işlediği suçtan sonra iç dünyasına dönerek vicdan muhasebesi yapmaya başlar.
Extended Synopsis
Rıza is a truck driver on the Istanbul – Adana route. His truck is all he owns and plays an important role in his life. One day, the truck breaks down with engine trouble shortly after Rıza arrives in Istanbul. Without a source of income, he has no way to pay off the mortgage he has taken on the truck. While desperately trying to find other work in Istanbul, he lives in a miserable hotel. A number of other unemployed people live there, including an old man waiting for his son, who watches TV incessantly; a young Kurdish peddler hoping for a job in a factory; a gay sailor
counting the days before his ship sets sail for America; and an old Afghan and his daughter-in-law, who plan to immigrate illegally to Italy, where the man’s son lives.
Searching for ways to earn money, Rıza turns to Aysel, an ex-girlfriend who works in a laundry. The two had a troubled affair some years ago until Rıza broke it off. Aysel is not pleased to see him again; and when he asks her for money, she is angry and hurt. Desperate now, Rıza commits a terrible crime. Plagued by guilt, he returns to Aysel, the only person he feels close to, despite everything. But she harbors a secret of her own.
Longing for hope | Director’s statement
Dostoyevsky demonstrated how terrible the stories of so- called ordinary people can be. My fi lm follows an ordinary truck driver, one whose fate and suffering mirrors that of many others in his country. His life is monotonous: eating, watching TV, waiting. Each morning brings another
uneventful day without hope.
Unemployment is the biggest problem facing Turkey. Contradicting official figures, this nightmare continues to spread, and people desperately look for a way out. In a way, Rıza’s story refl ects Turkey’s hopes of one day joining the European Union. People long for a glimmer of hope.
The hotel in the film exists in real life. It is one of many dreary temporary accomodations situated in a section of Istanbul’s old town. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people arrive in this city, full of hope, and some of them land directly in these cheap hostels. Life here is cruel, and
nowhere is it so easy to get involved in crime as in this part of town. Rıza, a typical example of life here, is the victim of his fears and is pursued by feelings of guilt. One of my concerns as writer and director was to represent the complexity of his inner life.
RIZA is dedicated to my father, who played the role of the old man waiting at the hotel, and who died shortly after shooting ended.
Tayfun Pirselimoglu |Biofilmography
Tayfun Pirselimoglu was born in 1959 in Trabzon. He graduated from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, after which he went to Vienna where he studied painting and engraving at the Academy of Applied Arts. RIZA is his second full-length feature fi lm. Along with painting and
fi lmmaking, Pirselimoglu is the author of four novels and writes about cinema and literature in various magazines.
Films
1999: Dayım (My Uncle).
2002: Il silenzio e d‘oro (Silence is
Golden). Hicbiryerde (Innowhereland).
2007: RIZA.
Rıza arbeitet als Lastwagenfahrer auf der Strecke Istanbul–Adana. Der Lastwagen ist sein einziger Besitz und nimmt einen besonderen Platz in seinem Leben ein. Eines Tages bleibt der Wagen kurz nach Rızas Ankunft in Istanbul mit einem Motorschaden liegen. Ohne Einkommensquelle kann er nun
die Hypothek nicht abzahlen, die er auf den Wagen aufgenommen hat. Wahrend seiner verzweifelten Versuche, in Istanbul Arbeit zu fi nden, kommt er in einem verwahrlosten Hotel unter. Hier wohnen außer ihm und auf seinen Sohn wartet; ein junger kurdischer Hausierer, der darauf hofft, einen Arbeitsplatz in einer Fabrik zu bekommen; ein schwuler Matrose, der die Tage zahlt, bis sein Schiff nach Amerika auslauft; und ein alter Afghane; der gemeinsam mit seiner Schwiegertochter auf
illegalem Wege nach Italien reisen will, wo sein Sohn lebt. Auf der Suche nach Moglichkeiten, sich Geld zu beschaffen, wendet Rıza sich an seine Ex-Freundin Aysel, die in einer Wascherei arbei-
tet. Die beiden hatten vor Jahren eine ungluckliche Affare, bis Rıza sich von Aysel trennte. Sie ist alles andere als erfreut, ihn plotzlich wiederzusehen; als er sie um Geld bittet, reagiert sie verargert und verletzt.
Rıza weiß keinen anderen Rat mehr und begeht eine schreckliche Straftat. Von Schuldgefuhlen gepeinigt, zieht es ihn danach zu Aysel, dem einzigen Menschen, der ihm trotz allem nahezustehen scheint. Doch auch sie tragt ein Geheimnis mit sich herum.
Sehnsucht nach Hoffnung |Der Regisseur uber den Film
Schon Dostojewski hat gezeigt, wie schrecklich die Geschichten der sogenannten kleinen Leute sein konnen. In meinem Film geht es um einen ganz normalen Lastwagenfahrer, dessen Schicksal und Leid dem vieler Menschen in seinem Land anelt. Sein Leben verlauft eintonig: essen, fernsehen, warten. Jeden Morgen aufs Neue beginnt ein ereignisloser Tag ohne Hoffnung.
Die Arbeitslosigkeit ist das grote Problem in der Turkei. Im Gegensatz zu den offi ziellen Zahlen greift dieser Albtraum immer weiter um sich, und die Menschen suchen verzweifelt nach einem Ausweg.
Riza |Turkey, 2007, 109 min 35mm, 1:1.85 Color 25fps|Written and Directed by: Tayfun Pirselimoglu; Produced by: Tayfun Pirselimogu, Ilknur Akanlar Cinematography by Colin Mounier, Edited by: Cicek Kahraman Art Direction by: Natali Yeres; Music by Cengiz Onural Sound by:Ismail Karadas Cast: Riza Akin, Nurcan Eren, Hayati Pirselimoglu, Muhammed Cangören, Melissa Ahmedi, Fatih Sevildi, Melih Düzenli, Gürbüz Demir, Emin Bas, Turgay Tanülkü
World Sales: Zuzi Film, Basın Sitesi C/25, 34337 Etiler, Istanbul, Turkei. Tel.: (90-212) 265 8658,
email: tayfun.pirselim@gmail.com; gulay.rosset@gmail.com
Review
Riza is a truck driver. His truck is in the shop. Riza can't work and his existence is threatened. With every possible means, he tries to drum up the money for the repairs and he's even willing to commit a brutal crime to get it.
A feeling of isolation and hopelessness runs through the film. The shabby downtown hotel where Riza lives is populated by figures whose days are marked by an agonizing waiting. Sometimes on television we can see - it's during the World Cup - that there's also a faster, louder life out there. The moment of the act, the crime that solves Riza's problem, is not depicted: the hotel, the people and their longings are exactly as they were before, but every image now speaks, with great precision in the perception of change, of the difficulties of living in sin. With Riza, Istanbul is inscribed on the map of unatoned crimes, closer to Raskolnikov's Petersburg than to Woody Allen's London in "Matchpoint". It is not the living metropolis of bars and tourist attractions, but a city that finds itself, much like the film's protagonists, in a state of uncertain waiting.
Anna Hoffmann
Synopsis
“Rıza” tells the story of a truck driver named Rıza, who works between Adana and Istanbul. Rıza begins a struggle, as he searches for enough money to get his truck fixed after it is broken in Istanbul, as the truck is the most valuable thing in his life. He starts sharing a new life in a hotel with people of different age groups and from different backgrounds. They have one thing in common: All expect life to become better.
Adana-İstanbul arasında kamyon şoförlüğü yapan Rıza’nın hikayesini anlatıyor. Hayattaki en değerli varlığı -ipotekli kamyonu- İstanbul’da bozulan Rıza, tamir için para aramaya başlar. Bu arada da kendisi gibi hayattan beklentileri olan farklı çevre ve yaşlardan insanlarla birlikte bir otelde kalır. Hikayeye giren bu kişiler ve kesişen yaşam öyküleriyle zenginleşen film, Rıza’nın bir suça bulaşmasıyla yön değiştirir. Rıza, işlediği suçtan sonra iç dünyasına dönerek vicdan muhasebesi yapmaya başlar.
Extended Synopsis
Rıza is a truck driver on the Istanbul – Adana route. His truck is all he owns and plays an important role in his life. One day, the truck breaks down with engine trouble shortly after Rıza arrives in Istanbul. Without a source of income, he has no way to pay off the mortgage he has taken on the truck. While desperately trying to find other work in Istanbul, he lives in a miserable hotel. A number of other unemployed people live there, including an old man waiting for his son, who watches TV incessantly; a young Kurdish peddler hoping for a job in a factory; a gay sailor
counting the days before his ship sets sail for America; and an old Afghan and his daughter-in-law, who plan to immigrate illegally to Italy, where the man’s son lives.
Searching for ways to earn money, Rıza turns to Aysel, an ex-girlfriend who works in a laundry. The two had a troubled affair some years ago until Rıza broke it off. Aysel is not pleased to see him again; and when he asks her for money, she is angry and hurt. Desperate now, Rıza commits a terrible crime. Plagued by guilt, he returns to Aysel, the only person he feels close to, despite everything. But she harbors a secret of her own.
Longing for hope | Director’s statement
Dostoyevsky demonstrated how terrible the stories of so- called ordinary people can be. My fi lm follows an ordinary truck driver, one whose fate and suffering mirrors that of many others in his country. His life is monotonous: eating, watching TV, waiting. Each morning brings another
uneventful day without hope.
Unemployment is the biggest problem facing Turkey. Contradicting official figures, this nightmare continues to spread, and people desperately look for a way out. In a way, Rıza’s story refl ects Turkey’s hopes of one day joining the European Union. People long for a glimmer of hope.
The hotel in the film exists in real life. It is one of many dreary temporary accomodations situated in a section of Istanbul’s old town. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people arrive in this city, full of hope, and some of them land directly in these cheap hostels. Life here is cruel, and
nowhere is it so easy to get involved in crime as in this part of town. Rıza, a typical example of life here, is the victim of his fears and is pursued by feelings of guilt. One of my concerns as writer and director was to represent the complexity of his inner life.
RIZA is dedicated to my father, who played the role of the old man waiting at the hotel, and who died shortly after shooting ended.
Tayfun Pirselimoglu |Biofilmography
Tayfun Pirselimoglu was born in 1959 in Trabzon. He graduated from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, after which he went to Vienna where he studied painting and engraving at the Academy of Applied Arts. RIZA is his second full-length feature fi lm. Along with painting and
fi lmmaking, Pirselimoglu is the author of four novels and writes about cinema and literature in various magazines.
Films
1999: Dayım (My Uncle).
2002: Il silenzio e d‘oro (Silence is
Golden). Hicbiryerde (Innowhereland).
2007: RIZA.
Rıza arbeitet als Lastwagenfahrer auf der Strecke Istanbul–Adana. Der Lastwagen ist sein einziger Besitz und nimmt einen besonderen Platz in seinem Leben ein. Eines Tages bleibt der Wagen kurz nach Rızas Ankunft in Istanbul mit einem Motorschaden liegen. Ohne Einkommensquelle kann er nun
die Hypothek nicht abzahlen, die er auf den Wagen aufgenommen hat. Wahrend seiner verzweifelten Versuche, in Istanbul Arbeit zu fi nden, kommt er in einem verwahrlosten Hotel unter. Hier wohnen außer ihm und auf seinen Sohn wartet; ein junger kurdischer Hausierer, der darauf hofft, einen Arbeitsplatz in einer Fabrik zu bekommen; ein schwuler Matrose, der die Tage zahlt, bis sein Schiff nach Amerika auslauft; und ein alter Afghane; der gemeinsam mit seiner Schwiegertochter auf
illegalem Wege nach Italien reisen will, wo sein Sohn lebt. Auf der Suche nach Moglichkeiten, sich Geld zu beschaffen, wendet Rıza sich an seine Ex-Freundin Aysel, die in einer Wascherei arbei-
tet. Die beiden hatten vor Jahren eine ungluckliche Affare, bis Rıza sich von Aysel trennte. Sie ist alles andere als erfreut, ihn plotzlich wiederzusehen; als er sie um Geld bittet, reagiert sie verargert und verletzt.
Rıza weiß keinen anderen Rat mehr und begeht eine schreckliche Straftat. Von Schuldgefuhlen gepeinigt, zieht es ihn danach zu Aysel, dem einzigen Menschen, der ihm trotz allem nahezustehen scheint. Doch auch sie tragt ein Geheimnis mit sich herum.
Sehnsucht nach Hoffnung |Der Regisseur uber den Film
Schon Dostojewski hat gezeigt, wie schrecklich die Geschichten der sogenannten kleinen Leute sein konnen. In meinem Film geht es um einen ganz normalen Lastwagenfahrer, dessen Schicksal und Leid dem vieler Menschen in seinem Land anelt. Sein Leben verlauft eintonig: essen, fernsehen, warten. Jeden Morgen aufs Neue beginnt ein ereignisloser Tag ohne Hoffnung.
Die Arbeitslosigkeit ist das grote Problem in der Turkei. Im Gegensatz zu den offi ziellen Zahlen greift dieser Albtraum immer weiter um sich, und die Menschen suchen verzweifelt nach einem Ausweg.
Berlinale 2007 | Coffee
Forum expanded Short Film |Coffee |Turkey, 2007, 25 min
Directed by: Ayse Erkmen
Directed by: Ayse Erkmen
Berlinale 2007 | TAKVA – A MAN’S FEAR OF GOD
With the objective of discovering films for the coming European arthouse season and providing the market with inspiration, the Panorama has sought to explore cutting-edge works by contemporary filmmakers and bridge the gap between artistic visions and commercial interests. The Panorama films will screen as either world or European premieres.TAKVA
Berlinale 2007 [1]| Panorama |Special
TAKVA – A MAN’S FEAR OF GOD 96 Min. 35 mm, 1:1.85 |color | Directed by Ozer Kiziltan; Written by Onder Cakar ; Cinematography Soykut Turan; Edited by Andrew Bird ; Musik Gokce Akcelik ; Produced by Sevil Demirci , Onder Cakar ; Co-produced by Fatih Akin, Klaus Maeck, Andreas Thiel ; Executice producer Feridun Koc, Falk H. Nagel | Corazon International, Hamburg co production
Cast: (Muharrem) Erkan Can;(Rauf)Guven Kirac;(Sheikh) Meray Ulgen;(Dream women/Sheikhs Daughter) Oznur ; (Muhittin) Erman Saban, (Mahmut) Murat Cemcir; (Ali) Settar Tanriogen
For over 30 years, Muharrem has led a quiet life as an employee in the same traditional part of Istanbul where he was born. A modest, introverted and lonely man of humble circumstances, he is a strict observer of the Islamic precepts: he prays a great deal and practices sexual abstinence. Muharrem’s religious devotion brings him to the attention of the leaders of a rich and powerful religious group. His reputation for being trustworthy and duteous prompts them to offer him job as a rent collector for their numerous properties.
Muharrem receives a new set of clothes; he is given a mobile phone and computer. All at once he finds himself in a world that he had previously
succeeded in evading. Before long he begins to encounter such things as hypocrisy and alcoholic excess; to his own consternation he discovers his own penchant for tyranny and pride and even becomes an unwitting accom plice in a con trick. His inner peace is over. Day and night he is tor-
tured by the image of a seductive woman who haunts his dreams. Until now, Muharrem was able to differentiate between worldly and spiritual values. But now the balance and order of his devout existence is in ruins and his fear of God’s punishment is tearing him apart.
Production: Yeni Sinemacilar |Sofyali Sok. 26/14, Beyoglu TURKEY-Istanbul
T: 212-245 30 41 |F: 212-245 30 41 |cakaronder@yahoo.com
World Sales:The Match Factory GmbH |Sudermanplatz 2 D-50670 Koln
T: 0221-292 10 20 |F: 0221-292 10 21-0 |festivals@matchfactory.de
Ozer Kiziltan Biography
Born in Istanbul in 1963, he graduated in law from Istanbul University before taking up studies at the Film and Television Academy of Mimar Sinan, where he graduated in 1994. He has made several television series. TAKVA marks his debut as a screen director.
Ozer Kiziltan Filmography
2002 GULBEYAZ TV-Series
2003 KURSUN YARASI TV-Series
2004 MUJGAN BEY TV-Serie s
2005 YAGMUR ZAMANI TV-Series
2006 TAKVA
[1] Screenings at the festival:
Mon Feb 12 19:00 Zoo Palast 1 (E)
Tue Feb 13 11:00 CinemaxX 7 (E)
Sat Feb 17 19:00 Zoo Palast 1 (E)
Berlinale 2007 [1]| Panorama |Special
TAKVA – A MAN’S FEAR OF GOD 96 Min. 35 mm, 1:1.85 |color | Directed by Ozer Kiziltan; Written by Onder Cakar ; Cinematography Soykut Turan; Edited by Andrew Bird ; Musik Gokce Akcelik ; Produced by Sevil Demirci , Onder Cakar ; Co-produced by Fatih Akin, Klaus Maeck, Andreas Thiel ; Executice producer Feridun Koc, Falk H. Nagel | Corazon International, Hamburg co production
Cast: (Muharrem) Erkan Can;(Rauf)Guven Kirac;(Sheikh) Meray Ulgen;(Dream women/Sheikhs Daughter) Oznur ; (Muhittin) Erman Saban, (Mahmut) Murat Cemcir; (Ali) Settar Tanriogen
For over 30 years, Muharrem has led a quiet life as an employee in the same traditional part of Istanbul where he was born. A modest, introverted and lonely man of humble circumstances, he is a strict observer of the Islamic precepts: he prays a great deal and practices sexual abstinence. Muharrem’s religious devotion brings him to the attention of the leaders of a rich and powerful religious group. His reputation for being trustworthy and duteous prompts them to offer him job as a rent collector for their numerous properties.
Muharrem receives a new set of clothes; he is given a mobile phone and computer. All at once he finds himself in a world that he had previously
succeeded in evading. Before long he begins to encounter such things as hypocrisy and alcoholic excess; to his own consternation he discovers his own penchant for tyranny and pride and even becomes an unwitting accom plice in a con trick. His inner peace is over. Day and night he is tor-
tured by the image of a seductive woman who haunts his dreams. Until now, Muharrem was able to differentiate between worldly and spiritual values. But now the balance and order of his devout existence is in ruins and his fear of God’s punishment is tearing him apart.
Production: Yeni Sinemacilar |Sofyali Sok. 26/14, Beyoglu TURKEY-Istanbul
T: 212-245 30 41 |F: 212-245 30 41 |cakaronder@yahoo.com
World Sales:The Match Factory GmbH |Sudermanplatz 2 D-50670 Koln
T: 0221-292 10 20 |F: 0221-292 10 21-0 |festivals@matchfactory.de
Ozer Kiziltan Biography
Born in Istanbul in 1963, he graduated in law from Istanbul University before taking up studies at the Film and Television Academy of Mimar Sinan, where he graduated in 1994. He has made several television series. TAKVA marks his debut as a screen director.
Ozer Kiziltan Filmography
2002 GULBEYAZ TV-Series
2003 KURSUN YARASI TV-Series
2004 MUJGAN BEY TV-Serie s
2005 YAGMUR ZAMANI TV-Series
2006 TAKVA
[1] Screenings at the festival:
Mon Feb 12 19:00 Zoo Palast 1 (E)
Tue Feb 13 11:00 CinemaxX 7 (E)
Sat Feb 17 19:00 Zoo Palast 1 (E)
Rotterdam 2007 | The Flag (Bayrak)
An oppressive video work about the indoctrination of young people in Turkey.
The Flag is part two of a series of video works about Turkish national day ceremonies. This work was shot during Children's Day on 23 April, a festive day celebrating the forming of the Turkish parliament and the official end - in 1920 - of the Ottoman Empire. On this day, children perform pompous patriotic rituals that were conceived by the elders. With the mayor and governor of Istanbul as host, and accompanied by a senior soldier, the schoolchildren recite poems and take an oath in which patriotism turns to ultra-nationalism.
Director Köken Ergun
Sales Köken Ergun
Print source Köken Ergun
Photography Köken Ergun, Hatice Güleryüz
Editor Köken Ergun
Sound Köken Ergun, Thomas Wallmann Length 8'
Rotterdam 2007 | The Earthquake (Zilzal)
Gripping, claustrophobic, loving. A girl is stuck after an earthquake and finds her video camera. The Earthquake pays homage to the 15,000 victims at least killed by a major earthquake that took place in 1999 in north-western Turkey. A girl is trapped in a collapsed house. She finds her video camera.
Director Mehmet Bahadir Er
Sales Protim Video Production
Print source Mehmet Bahadir Er
Scenario Mehmet Bahadir Er
Cast Diba Ener, Gülsen Er
Photography Diba Ener, Mehmet Bahadir Er
Editor Mehmet Bahadir Er
Length 14'
Rotterdam 2007 | Bes Vakit - Times and Winds
Impressionist coming-of-age story about three children in a small Turkish mountain village where life follows the rhythm of the prayers. Physical changes, a crush on a female teacher and apparently loveless parents are just a few of their problems.
Times and Winds is an impressionistic mosaic of life in a Turkish mountain village and the coming of age confusions of two boys and a girl. It follows the rhythm of everyday life in the village, according to the mosque’s calls for prayers and is divided into seven chapters - the days of the week.Ömer, the son of the village imam, is confused by the changes in himself, by his feelings of loneliness and by his parents’ privileged treatment of his younger brother. Because of all of this, he secretly wishes for his father’s death. Ömer’s best friend has his own troubles and confusions, as he is secretly in love with the beautiful schoolteacher. During one of his voyeuristic trips he finds out that he is not the only one. The girl’s confusion lies in her relationship with her mother, who only has eyes for her baby. All in all, it is not easy to be this age and to be brought up by adults who seem not to be very direct towards their children. The film’s landscape and scene shots, accompanied by Arvo Pärt’s music, are breathtakingly wonderful. The film as a whole is an enriching and emotional trip for the senses. (LC)
Director Reha Erdem
Production company Atlantik Film
Sales Atlantik Film
Distributor NL Cinemien
Print source Atlantik Film
Scenario Reha Erdem
Cast Özkan Özen, Ali Bey Kayali, Elit Iscan, Bülent Emin Yarar, Taner Birsel
Photography Florent Herry
Editor Reha Erdem
ArtDesign Ömer Atay
Sound Herve Guyader, Murat Senürkmez
Music Arvo Pärt
Length 111'
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Variety Review | Ice Cream I Scream
Palm Springs |Ice Cream I Scream |Dondurman Gaymak (Turkey)
By ROBERT KOEHLER
A Hermes Film presentation of a Makara Film production. (International sales: Hermes Film, Istanbul.) Produced by Eyup Boz, Tankut Kilinc, Yuksel Aksu. Co-producers, Elif Dagdeviren Guven, Bulent Helvaci.
Directed, written by Yuksel Aksu.
With: Turan Ozdemir, Gulnihal Demir, Ismet Can Suda, Ulas Saribas.
The aim may be Capraesque charm in "Ice Cream I Scream," but the net effect of writer-director Yuksel Aksu's Turkish comedy is the desire that its loud protag -- an insistent and often obnoxious small-town ice cream vendor -- would simply go away. Given Turkey's option of Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Climates" as an Oscar selection, its choice of this minor and poorly shaped bit of whimsy borders on the scandalous. A sure local hit, pic won't sweeten auds anywhere else.
Determined to hold his own against bigger, corporate ice cream outfits peddling artificial bars, Ali (Turan Ozdemir, who does indeed scream most of his lines) is proud of his new TV ad touting his real delicacies in Mediterranean tourist town of Mugla. As he sells his ice cream via bicycle cart in nearby villages, Ali is trailed by Tingoz Kerim (Ismet Can Suda) and his tyke gang of naughty boys. They make off with Ali's cart, leading the nutty vendor to assume that spies from his big competitors are trying to do him in. Much nonsense ensues.
Camera (Safak Film and Video color, DV), Eyup Boz; editor, Sedat Karadeniz; music, BaBaZuLa; production designer, Tan Berk Kurtcebe, Bora Batur, Burcin Batu; sound (Dolby Digital) Suat Alhan; sound designers, Onan Karagozoglu, Jan Peridar. Reviewed at Palm Springs Film Festival (Awards Buzz), Jan. 7, 2007. (Also in Istanbul Film Festival.) Original title: Dondurman gaymak. Running time: 105 MIN.
By ROBERT KOEHLER
A Hermes Film presentation of a Makara Film production. (International sales: Hermes Film, Istanbul.) Produced by Eyup Boz, Tankut Kilinc, Yuksel Aksu. Co-producers, Elif Dagdeviren Guven, Bulent Helvaci.
Directed, written by Yuksel Aksu.
With: Turan Ozdemir, Gulnihal Demir, Ismet Can Suda, Ulas Saribas.
The aim may be Capraesque charm in "Ice Cream I Scream," but the net effect of writer-director Yuksel Aksu's Turkish comedy is the desire that its loud protag -- an insistent and often obnoxious small-town ice cream vendor -- would simply go away. Given Turkey's option of Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Climates" as an Oscar selection, its choice of this minor and poorly shaped bit of whimsy borders on the scandalous. A sure local hit, pic won't sweeten auds anywhere else.
Determined to hold his own against bigger, corporate ice cream outfits peddling artificial bars, Ali (Turan Ozdemir, who does indeed scream most of his lines) is proud of his new TV ad touting his real delicacies in Mediterranean tourist town of Mugla. As he sells his ice cream via bicycle cart in nearby villages, Ali is trailed by Tingoz Kerim (Ismet Can Suda) and his tyke gang of naughty boys. They make off with Ali's cart, leading the nutty vendor to assume that spies from his big competitors are trying to do him in. Much nonsense ensues.
Camera (Safak Film and Video color, DV), Eyup Boz; editor, Sedat Karadeniz; music, BaBaZuLa; production designer, Tan Berk Kurtcebe, Bora Batur, Burcin Batu; sound (Dolby Digital) Suat Alhan; sound designers, Onan Karagozoglu, Jan Peridar. Reviewed at Palm Springs Film Festival (Awards Buzz), Jan. 7, 2007. (Also in Istanbul Film Festival.) Original title: Dondurman gaymak. Running time: 105 MIN.
Variety Review | A Man's Fear of God
Antalya Golden Orange | A Man's Fear of God | Takva (Turkey-Germany)
By JAY WEISSBERG
'A Man's Fear of God'
Ozer Kiziltan's 'A Man's Fear of God' explores the uneasy struggle between spiritual teaching and capitalism.
A Yeni Sinemacilar (Turkey)/Corazon Intl. (Germany) production. (International sales: The Match Factory, Cologne/Munich.) Produced by Sevil Demirci, Onder Cakar, Fatih Akin, Andreas Thiel, Klaus Maeck. Executive producers, Falk H. Nagel, Feridun Koc. Directed by Ozer Kiziltan. Screenplay, Onder Cakar; script supervisor, Fatih Akin.
With: Erkan Can, Meray Ulgen, Guven Kirac, Erman Saban, Settar Tanriogen, Murat Cemcir, Engin Gunaydin, Mufit Aytekin, Oznur Kula, Hakan Gursoytrak.
A richly textured, thoughtful exploration of the hypocrisies inherent when fundamentalists engage in commercial ventures, "A Man's Fear of God" reps a strong new voice in Turkish cinema. Focusing on a simple man whose administrative job within an Islamic sect sets him spinning adrift from his previously unquestioned moral compass, pic benefits from a stand-out central perf and a finely tuned script (supervised by Fatih Akin, whose Corazon Intl. co-produced) that refuses to condescend to anyone. Helmer Ozer Kiziltan's bigscreen debut deservedly bagged the lion's share of prizes at Antalya's national fest; awards are possible off-shore as well.
Muharrem (the superb Erkan Can) is a man of few needs, his life centering on his religion and his job for sack merchant Ali (Settar Tanriogen). His outlook is as limited as his wardrobe, so it comes as a shock when the leader of his religious sect, the Sheik (Meray Ulgen), asks him to become the rent collector for the sect's property-rich seminary.
Muharrem's lack of ambition and worldliness is precisely why he's been chosen. The Sheik and his right-hand man Rauf (Guven Kirac) "suggest" Ali give Muharrem afternoons off so he can collect rents and see to repairs on the many properties the sect owns throughout Istanbul.
It is also "suggested" that Muharrem move into the seminary's building, where he's given suits, a cell phone, and all the accoutrements of a businessman, even a car and driver: "You must reflect the wisdom and the wealth of the Sheik and of the order," Rauf explains. Fish-out-of-water isn't the half of it.
As he adjusts to his new role, Muharrem visibly changes. Whereas before he lived in a timeless world that could equally be 1926 or 2006, now he confidently strides into shopping malls and ultra-modern offices. When his basic goodness tells him to allow a poor family to skip their rent for a month, the Sheik says this might prevent a student from coming to the seminary.
Increasingly confused and plagued by "sinful" recurring wet dreams, Muharrem's previously black-and-white existence becomes filled not just with temptation, but with sophistical debates wrapped in opaque religious finery.
In a world currently extra-sensitive to all treatments of Muslim subjects, it should be added that Kiziltan is clearly criticizing a particular strain of fundamentalism that uses a moral sleight-of-hand to reconcile spiritual teaching with capitalism. His target could just as easily be any religious institution.
What really makes "A Man's Fear of God" stand out is the way Kiziltan enriches his characters through their environment. Muharrem's life was full of familiar, solid traditions linked to office, tea-shop, mosque and home. His plunge into the contempo world reveals the two sides of Istanbul, and the uneasy struggle that exists between them.
As he changes clothes and transforms from near indentured servitude to a position of respect, thesper Can undergoes a visual physical transformation, carrying his body with a new confidence and spontaneously, if uncomfortably, manifesting a forceful confrontational attitude. With heavy-lidded eyes that beautifully register his painful confusion, Can easily won the best actor award in Antalya.
Visuals are rich and multi-dimensional. Akin's regular editor Andrew Bird, along with Niko, do an outstanding job of building tension during a music-filled religious ceremony that hits a fever pitch and then jumps to a most unexpected follow-up.
Camera (color), Soykut Turan; editors, Andrew Bird, Niko ; music, Gokce Akcelik; art director, Erol Tastan; costume designer, Ayten Senyurt; sound (Dolby Digital), Onur Yavuz; associate producers, Alberto Fanni, Flaminio Zadra, Paolo Colombo, Sarmasik Sanatlar, Baran Seyhan; assistant director, Seren Yuce. Reviewed at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (competing), Turkey, Sept. 22, 2006. (Also in Toronto Film Festival --- Visions.) Running time: 100 MIN.
By JAY WEISSBERG
'A Man's Fear of God'
Ozer Kiziltan's 'A Man's Fear of God' explores the uneasy struggle between spiritual teaching and capitalism.
A Yeni Sinemacilar (Turkey)/Corazon Intl. (Germany) production. (International sales: The Match Factory, Cologne/Munich.) Produced by Sevil Demirci, Onder Cakar, Fatih Akin, Andreas Thiel, Klaus Maeck. Executive producers, Falk H. Nagel, Feridun Koc. Directed by Ozer Kiziltan. Screenplay, Onder Cakar; script supervisor, Fatih Akin.
With: Erkan Can, Meray Ulgen, Guven Kirac, Erman Saban, Settar Tanriogen, Murat Cemcir, Engin Gunaydin, Mufit Aytekin, Oznur Kula, Hakan Gursoytrak.
A richly textured, thoughtful exploration of the hypocrisies inherent when fundamentalists engage in commercial ventures, "A Man's Fear of God" reps a strong new voice in Turkish cinema. Focusing on a simple man whose administrative job within an Islamic sect sets him spinning adrift from his previously unquestioned moral compass, pic benefits from a stand-out central perf and a finely tuned script (supervised by Fatih Akin, whose Corazon Intl. co-produced) that refuses to condescend to anyone. Helmer Ozer Kiziltan's bigscreen debut deservedly bagged the lion's share of prizes at Antalya's national fest; awards are possible off-shore as well.
Muharrem (the superb Erkan Can) is a man of few needs, his life centering on his religion and his job for sack merchant Ali (Settar Tanriogen). His outlook is as limited as his wardrobe, so it comes as a shock when the leader of his religious sect, the Sheik (Meray Ulgen), asks him to become the rent collector for the sect's property-rich seminary.
Muharrem's lack of ambition and worldliness is precisely why he's been chosen. The Sheik and his right-hand man Rauf (Guven Kirac) "suggest" Ali give Muharrem afternoons off so he can collect rents and see to repairs on the many properties the sect owns throughout Istanbul.
It is also "suggested" that Muharrem move into the seminary's building, where he's given suits, a cell phone, and all the accoutrements of a businessman, even a car and driver: "You must reflect the wisdom and the wealth of the Sheik and of the order," Rauf explains. Fish-out-of-water isn't the half of it.
As he adjusts to his new role, Muharrem visibly changes. Whereas before he lived in a timeless world that could equally be 1926 or 2006, now he confidently strides into shopping malls and ultra-modern offices. When his basic goodness tells him to allow a poor family to skip their rent for a month, the Sheik says this might prevent a student from coming to the seminary.
Increasingly confused and plagued by "sinful" recurring wet dreams, Muharrem's previously black-and-white existence becomes filled not just with temptation, but with sophistical debates wrapped in opaque religious finery.
In a world currently extra-sensitive to all treatments of Muslim subjects, it should be added that Kiziltan is clearly criticizing a particular strain of fundamentalism that uses a moral sleight-of-hand to reconcile spiritual teaching with capitalism. His target could just as easily be any religious institution.
What really makes "A Man's Fear of God" stand out is the way Kiziltan enriches his characters through their environment. Muharrem's life was full of familiar, solid traditions linked to office, tea-shop, mosque and home. His plunge into the contempo world reveals the two sides of Istanbul, and the uneasy struggle that exists between them.
As he changes clothes and transforms from near indentured servitude to a position of respect, thesper Can undergoes a visual physical transformation, carrying his body with a new confidence and spontaneously, if uncomfortably, manifesting a forceful confrontational attitude. With heavy-lidded eyes that beautifully register his painful confusion, Can easily won the best actor award in Antalya.
Visuals are rich and multi-dimensional. Akin's regular editor Andrew Bird, along with Niko, do an outstanding job of building tension during a music-filled religious ceremony that hits a fever pitch and then jumps to a most unexpected follow-up.
Camera (color), Soykut Turan; editors, Andrew Bird, Niko ; music, Gokce Akcelik; art director, Erol Tastan; costume designer, Ayten Senyurt; sound (Dolby Digital), Onur Yavuz; associate producers, Alberto Fanni, Flaminio Zadra, Paolo Colombo, Sarmasik Sanatlar, Baran Seyhan; assistant director, Seren Yuce. Reviewed at Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (competing), Turkey, Sept. 22, 2006. (Also in Toronto Film Festival --- Visions.) Running time: 100 MIN.
Der Lebensversicherer by Bulent Akinci
Der Lebensversicherer / Running on Empty 2006, 100 mins, in German with English subtitles Director: Bulent Akinci, Cast: Jens Harzer, Marina Galic, Anna Maria Mühe, Tom Jahn, Eva Mannschott, Oliver Marlo, Christian Blümel
Awards: Best Actor (Jens Harzer), Special mention and a diploma of The 28th MIFF Jury of the Russian Guild of Film Critics, Moscow International Film Festival 2006; DIALOGUE en Perspective (Bülent Akinci), Berlin International Film Festival 2006
Book your tickets online now!
Running on Empty
Insurance agent Burkhard Wagner (Jens Harzer) has decided not to return home until he has closed enough deals to dig his family out of misery. He turns into the Flying Dutchman of Germany’s motorways, embarks on a year-long odyssey and contact with the family boils down to leaving odd reports on the answering machine. Behind the routine details of an insurance agent’s life meeting his unfortunate customers - most of them déclassé, thrown out by prosperous society – one sees a metaphor. “Closer and closer is the moment when he’ll be able to regain his family, his home and himself. The question remains – where is his home, where is Burkhard himself? Will the endless tape of a road, this lonely ‘life insurer’ is driving along, ever let him go?” (Larisa Malyukova, FIPRESCI). Only after a miraculous encounter with a woman running a roadside motel, he does find peace. A deeper understanding seems to connect them. The hapless landlady tries to open his eyes to reality, but Burkhard is afraid of waking up and takes severe measures to end his apparently endless journey. Director/Writer Bülent Akinci’s first full-length feature Running on Empty is a sombre, desperate and atmospheric road-movie, in which Jens Harzer (also in Hans-Christian Schmid’s Requiem) has brilliantly rendered the state of mind of a hunted down, lost soul.
Biography
Born in Ankara on 10.3.1967, he moved to Berlin in 1970. He was a musician, security guard and an insurance salesman before taking final school examinations and studying philosophy, art history, drama and film at the FU in Berlin. He took up studies at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin in 1996. "Der Lebensversicherer" is his first feature-length drama.
Source: 56. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (catalogue)
Filmography
2005/2006 Der Lebensversicherer, Screenplay,Director
2000/2001 Eine kleine Geschichte, Producer,Director
1995 Die letzten Bilder, Director
Awards: Best Actor (Jens Harzer), Special mention and a diploma of The 28th MIFF Jury of the Russian Guild of Film Critics, Moscow International Film Festival 2006; DIALOGUE en Perspective (Bülent Akinci), Berlin International Film Festival 2006
Book your tickets online now!
Running on Empty
Insurance agent Burkhard Wagner (Jens Harzer) has decided not to return home until he has closed enough deals to dig his family out of misery. He turns into the Flying Dutchman of Germany’s motorways, embarks on a year-long odyssey and contact with the family boils down to leaving odd reports on the answering machine. Behind the routine details of an insurance agent’s life meeting his unfortunate customers - most of them déclassé, thrown out by prosperous society – one sees a metaphor. “Closer and closer is the moment when he’ll be able to regain his family, his home and himself. The question remains – where is his home, where is Burkhard himself? Will the endless tape of a road, this lonely ‘life insurer’ is driving along, ever let him go?” (Larisa Malyukova, FIPRESCI). Only after a miraculous encounter with a woman running a roadside motel, he does find peace. A deeper understanding seems to connect them. The hapless landlady tries to open his eyes to reality, but Burkhard is afraid of waking up and takes severe measures to end his apparently endless journey. Director/Writer Bülent Akinci’s first full-length feature Running on Empty is a sombre, desperate and atmospheric road-movie, in which Jens Harzer (also in Hans-Christian Schmid’s Requiem) has brilliantly rendered the state of mind of a hunted down, lost soul.
Biography
Born in Ankara on 10.3.1967, he moved to Berlin in 1970. He was a musician, security guard and an insurance salesman before taking final school examinations and studying philosophy, art history, drama and film at the FU in Berlin. He took up studies at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin in 1996. "Der Lebensversicherer" is his first feature-length drama.
Source: 56. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (catalogue)
Filmography
2005/2006 Der Lebensversicherer, Screenplay,Director
2000/2001 Eine kleine Geschichte, Producer,Director
1995 Die letzten Bilder, Director
Aus der Ferne by Thomas Arslan
Aus der Ferne (2006) From Far Away / 89 min. / Color / 35 mm / in German w English sub titles
Written and Directed by: Thomas Arslan ; Director of photography: Thomas Arslan ; Music: Martin Steyer ; Edited by: Bettina Blickwede Production company: Pickpocket Filmproduktion (Berlin) ZDF/3sat; Producer Thomas Arslan, Inge Classen
"Aus der Ferne" is a personal travelogue, a documentary about a trip through Turkey. Thomas Arslan, who filmed the journey himself, undertook the trip in May/June 2005. The route takes him through Istanbul and Ankara to Gaziantep in the southeastern part of the country, from there further eastwards via Diyarbakir and Van to Dogubayazit near the Iranian border.
The film describes moments during the journey that differ from the usual motifs that inform the image of present-day Turkey – from impressions of day-to-day life in such Western cities as Istanbul and Ankara all the way to regions in the country’s easternmost territory that were locked in battle until recently. "Aus der Ferne" is not a journalistic reportage. The film is not trying to prove anything, but rather to observe. It is the personal look of the filmmaker at this country.
Premiere: 56. Int. Filmfestspiele Berlin 2006, Int. Forum des jungen Films
THOMAS ARSLAN TALKS ABOUT HIS FILM (excerpts from an interview with Michael Baute, on January 3, 2006 in Berlin):
At the time I was shooting the film, the public discussion about Turkey had become quite intense. And it still is. It became almost the major task of the film to avoid immediately landing into the trap associated with the current slogans about Turkey and the stereotypical imagery. Occident, Orient, the West, the East: I can’t associate anything real with these terms. The starting point for the film was to be able to get an impression at all, and not to fall in line with some theory or to illustrate something you thought you already knew. I wanted to keep my eyes open for simple, concrete things in everyday life in this country.
… Before starting, I made two research trips to Turkey. I decided on the route of the journey. We followed this route during the shoot, from west to east. In the major cities of the trip we stayed for a week, although we never filmed for the first day or two. I wanted to first settle in and have a look around. Afterwards, we would make a plan for the following days. This is how we moved along, towards the east.
… Besides myself the crew consisted of a soundman, a director’s assistant, and a driver. I am really happy we were able to shoot on film. I was afraid that if we shot video, I would have gotten lost in the pile of material we could have generated. It actually helped to have to deal with a relatively limited amount of material. Since it made every decision very important, whether to turn the camera on or not. … In the scenes I shot, I tried to influence the situation as little as possible.
… Istanbul was the first stop on the journey. It was clear to me that this was a film which would slowly develop itself, but at the same time I realized that with the first shots I would lay down the path. With the Istanbul sequence the film begins to feel its way forwards. I didn’t want to simply deduce something. The point was to arrive, to be open to discovery. Istanbul is an enormous city, we could have shown many things. The images I chose were a reaction to the typical pictures that exist about Istanbul. For example the tired, old metaphor of the city as a bridge. I tried to disregard images, which have been shown a thousand times, but still to make something from the city visible.
… In the end, with a travel film your stay is always too short, even when you try to take your time. In just a few days, you only get close to a limited number of people. Of course you try, but nevertheless only very few situations arise which allow this to happen. The gaze of the film is a gaze from the outside. The gaze of a traveller passing through. Not to lose sight of this point was important to give the film its form.
Written and Directed by: Thomas Arslan ; Director of photography: Thomas Arslan ; Music: Martin Steyer ; Edited by: Bettina Blickwede Production company: Pickpocket Filmproduktion (Berlin) ZDF/3sat; Producer Thomas Arslan, Inge Classen
"Aus der Ferne" is a personal travelogue, a documentary about a trip through Turkey. Thomas Arslan, who filmed the journey himself, undertook the trip in May/June 2005. The route takes him through Istanbul and Ankara to Gaziantep in the southeastern part of the country, from there further eastwards via Diyarbakir and Van to Dogubayazit near the Iranian border.
The film describes moments during the journey that differ from the usual motifs that inform the image of present-day Turkey – from impressions of day-to-day life in such Western cities as Istanbul and Ankara all the way to regions in the country’s easternmost territory that were locked in battle until recently. "Aus der Ferne" is not a journalistic reportage. The film is not trying to prove anything, but rather to observe. It is the personal look of the filmmaker at this country.
Premiere: 56. Int. Filmfestspiele Berlin 2006, Int. Forum des jungen Films
THOMAS ARSLAN TALKS ABOUT HIS FILM (excerpts from an interview with Michael Baute, on January 3, 2006 in Berlin):
At the time I was shooting the film, the public discussion about Turkey had become quite intense. And it still is. It became almost the major task of the film to avoid immediately landing into the trap associated with the current slogans about Turkey and the stereotypical imagery. Occident, Orient, the West, the East: I can’t associate anything real with these terms. The starting point for the film was to be able to get an impression at all, and not to fall in line with some theory or to illustrate something you thought you already knew. I wanted to keep my eyes open for simple, concrete things in everyday life in this country.
… Before starting, I made two research trips to Turkey. I decided on the route of the journey. We followed this route during the shoot, from west to east. In the major cities of the trip we stayed for a week, although we never filmed for the first day or two. I wanted to first settle in and have a look around. Afterwards, we would make a plan for the following days. This is how we moved along, towards the east.
… Besides myself the crew consisted of a soundman, a director’s assistant, and a driver. I am really happy we were able to shoot on film. I was afraid that if we shot video, I would have gotten lost in the pile of material we could have generated. It actually helped to have to deal with a relatively limited amount of material. Since it made every decision very important, whether to turn the camera on or not. … In the scenes I shot, I tried to influence the situation as little as possible.
… Istanbul was the first stop on the journey. It was clear to me that this was a film which would slowly develop itself, but at the same time I realized that with the first shots I would lay down the path. With the Istanbul sequence the film begins to feel its way forwards. I didn’t want to simply deduce something. The point was to arrive, to be open to discovery. Istanbul is an enormous city, we could have shown many things. The images I chose were a reaction to the typical pictures that exist about Istanbul. For example the tired, old metaphor of the city as a bridge. I tried to disregard images, which have been shown a thousand times, but still to make something from the city visible.
… In the end, with a travel film your stay is always too short, even when you try to take your time. In just a few days, you only get close to a limited number of people. Of course you try, but nevertheless only very few situations arise which allow this to happen. The gaze of the film is a gaze from the outside. The gaze of a traveller passing through. Not to lose sight of this point was important to give the film its form.
Ferien by Thomas Arslan
Ferien (Vacation) 91’
Written and Directed by: Thomas Arslan
Cast:Angela Winkler, Karoline Eichhorn, Uwe Bohm, Gudrun Ritter, Anja Schneider,
Leyla Bobaj, Karoline Eichhorn, Amir Hadzic, Aaron Raabe, Babette Semmer
Synopsis: The film describes the threatening decay of a family, which meets in a remote country house.
Biography
""Born on 16.7.1962 in Braunschweig. 1967-71 elementary school in Ankara, Turkey. Returned to Germany In 1971. Studied German Literature and History for a year in Munich. Practical training in film. Studied Film from 1986-92 at the German Film & Television Academy (dffb) in Berlin. He has been working as a writer and filmmaker since 1992.
Filmography
"Ferien/Vacation" 2007, 35mm, 91 min.
“Aus der Ferne/From Far Away” 2005, 35mm (Blow-up Super 16mm), 89 min.
"Der schöne Tag/A Fine Day" 2001, 35mm, 74 min.
"Dealer" 1998, 35mm, 74 min.
"Geschwister/Kardesler" 1996, 35mm, 82 min.
"Mach die Musik leiser" 1994, 35mm, 87 min.(TV)
Short Films
"Im Sommer - Die sichtbare Welt" 1992, 16mm, 41 min.
"Am Rand“ 1991, 16mm, 24 min.
"19 Portraets" (1990)
"Test 2" (1986), Risse (1989)
"Eine Nacht, Ein Morgen" (1984)
Pickpocket Filmproduktion: Muskauerstraße 10 10997 Berlin Deutschland
T +49 30 69 51 86 01 / F +49 30 69 51 86 02 / pickpocket@gmx.de
Written and Directed by: Thomas Arslan
Cast:Angela Winkler, Karoline Eichhorn, Uwe Bohm, Gudrun Ritter, Anja Schneider,
Leyla Bobaj, Karoline Eichhorn, Amir Hadzic, Aaron Raabe, Babette Semmer
Synopsis: The film describes the threatening decay of a family, which meets in a remote country house.
Biography
""Born on 16.7.1962 in Braunschweig. 1967-71 elementary school in Ankara, Turkey. Returned to Germany In 1971. Studied German Literature and History for a year in Munich. Practical training in film. Studied Film from 1986-92 at the German Film & Television Academy (dffb) in Berlin. He has been working as a writer and filmmaker since 1992.
Filmography
"Ferien/Vacation" 2007, 35mm, 91 min.
“Aus der Ferne/From Far Away” 2005, 35mm (Blow-up Super 16mm), 89 min.
"Der schöne Tag/A Fine Day" 2001, 35mm, 74 min.
"Dealer" 1998, 35mm, 74 min.
"Geschwister/Kardesler" 1996, 35mm, 82 min.
"Mach die Musik leiser" 1994, 35mm, 87 min.(TV)
Short Films
"Im Sommer - Die sichtbare Welt" 1992, 16mm, 41 min.
"Am Rand“ 1991, 16mm, 24 min.
"19 Portraets" (1990)
"Test 2" (1986), Risse (1989)
"Eine Nacht, Ein Morgen" (1984)
Pickpocket Filmproduktion: Muskauerstraße 10 10997 Berlin Deutschland
T +49 30 69 51 86 01 / F +49 30 69 51 86 02 / pickpocket@gmx.de
Berlinale World Cinema Fund 2006
Jun 26, 2006:
World Cinema Fund supports films from Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Argentina and Turkey
Five film projects from Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Argentina and Turkey were recommended on June 20 for production funding in the fourth selection round of the World Cinema FundWCF). The jury of the WCF – the independent distributor Isabelle Dubar (France), the curator Keith Shiri (Zimbabwe/England), the programme coordinator of Swiss Television, Alberto Chollet (Switzerland) and Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick - made its selection from 80 submitted projects from 27 countries, awarding a total of 290,000 euros in funding.
Süt (Milk), director: Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey), KAPLAN FILM PRODUCTION, Istanbul / feature, funding: 50,000 euros
Süt is the second episode of a trilogy. The film portrays a mother-son relationship in the Turkish countryside.
The Light, director: Aktan Arym Kubat (aka: Aktan Abdykalykov) (Kyrgyzstan), OY ART PRODUCTION, Bishkek / feature, funding: 70.000 euros
Through the cinematic themes of “electricity” and “light”, there is a confrontation with the history of Kyrgyzstan, in which the generation of electricity played an important role.
World Cinema Fund supports films from Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Argentina and Turkey
Five film projects from Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Argentina and Turkey were recommended on June 20 for production funding in the fourth selection round of the World Cinema FundWCF). The jury of the WCF – the independent distributor Isabelle Dubar (France), the curator Keith Shiri (Zimbabwe/England), the programme coordinator of Swiss Television, Alberto Chollet (Switzerland) and Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick - made its selection from 80 submitted projects from 27 countries, awarding a total of 290,000 euros in funding.
Süt (Milk), director: Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey), KAPLAN FILM PRODUCTION, Istanbul / feature, funding: 50,000 euros
Süt is the second episode of a trilogy. The film portrays a mother-son relationship in the Turkish countryside.
The Light, director: Aktan Arym Kubat (aka: Aktan Abdykalykov) (Kyrgyzstan), OY ART PRODUCTION, Bishkek / feature, funding: 70.000 euros
Through the cinematic themes of “electricity” and “light”, there is a confrontation with the history of Kyrgyzstan, in which the generation of electricity played an important role.
In memoriam | A.I. Bezzerides
A.I. Bezzerides, Turkish born Screenwriter of film noir classics
A.I. Bezzerides, screenwriter of film noir classics "Kiss Me Deadly," "On Dangerous Ground" and "Thieves Highway," died Jan. 1 in Woodland Hills after a brief illness. He was 98.
Bezzerides, known as "Buzz," started as a novelist and short-story writer. He was working for the Los Angeles Dept. of Water & Power when Warner Bros. paid $2,000 to turn his 1938 novel "Long Haul" into the 1940 melodrama "They Drive by Night." George Raft and Humphrey Bogart starred as trucker brothers hauling California produce.
It wasn't until after Warner paid him that Bezzerides found out a script based on his book had already been written. The studio nonetheless offered him a seven-year contract to continue writing screenplays, which he eagerly accepted.
He published his second novel, "There Is a Happy Land," in 1942 and did script polishing for Warners during WWII. After leaving Warners, he wrote or co-wrote films including "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef," "Desert Fury," "Sirocco" and "Track of the Cat." At Warners, he became close friends with William Faulkner, another contract writer at the studio.
Bezzerides was best known for "Thieves' Highway," director Jules Dassin's thriller based on Bezzerides' 1949 novel; "On Dangerous Ground," Nicholas Ray's 1952 crime drama; and "Kiss Me Deadly," Robert Aldrich's 1955 crime thriller loosely based on the Mickey Spillane novel.
"He was a working-class writer from the bare-knuckles school of writing," screenwriter Eric Nazarian told the Fresno Bee. "He thought you needed to write reality. He had a love for the truth. When I visited him (recently), he still had ink spots on his fingers."
Later in the 1950s, Bezzerides began working in TV, writing for "Bonanza," "77 Sunset Strip" and "The Virginian." He was co-creator of 1960s Western series "The Big Valley" starring Barbara Stanwyck.
Albert Isaac Bezzerides was born in Samsun, Turkey, and moved to Fresno with his parents before he was 2. He grew up with young William Saroyan and began writing short stories while at UC Berkeley.
He was the subject of two recent documentaries, "The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides" in 2005 and "Buzz" in 2006.
Bezzerides was married to film and television writer Silvia Richards until her death in 1999. He is survived by two daughters, a son, a granddaughter and four great-grandchildren.
Source: Variety
Posted: Tue., Jan. 9, 2007
A.I. Bezzerides, screenwriter of film noir classics "Kiss Me Deadly," "On Dangerous Ground" and "Thieves Highway," died Jan. 1 in Woodland Hills after a brief illness. He was 98.
Bezzerides, known as "Buzz," started as a novelist and short-story writer. He was working for the Los Angeles Dept. of Water & Power when Warner Bros. paid $2,000 to turn his 1938 novel "Long Haul" into the 1940 melodrama "They Drive by Night." George Raft and Humphrey Bogart starred as trucker brothers hauling California produce.
It wasn't until after Warner paid him that Bezzerides found out a script based on his book had already been written. The studio nonetheless offered him a seven-year contract to continue writing screenplays, which he eagerly accepted.
He published his second novel, "There Is a Happy Land," in 1942 and did script polishing for Warners during WWII. After leaving Warners, he wrote or co-wrote films including "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef," "Desert Fury," "Sirocco" and "Track of the Cat." At Warners, he became close friends with William Faulkner, another contract writer at the studio.
Bezzerides was best known for "Thieves' Highway," director Jules Dassin's thriller based on Bezzerides' 1949 novel; "On Dangerous Ground," Nicholas Ray's 1952 crime drama; and "Kiss Me Deadly," Robert Aldrich's 1955 crime thriller loosely based on the Mickey Spillane novel.
"He was a working-class writer from the bare-knuckles school of writing," screenwriter Eric Nazarian told the Fresno Bee. "He thought you needed to write reality. He had a love for the truth. When I visited him (recently), he still had ink spots on his fingers."
Later in the 1950s, Bezzerides began working in TV, writing for "Bonanza," "77 Sunset Strip" and "The Virginian." He was co-creator of 1960s Western series "The Big Valley" starring Barbara Stanwyck.
Albert Isaac Bezzerides was born in Samsun, Turkey, and moved to Fresno with his parents before he was 2. He grew up with young William Saroyan and began writing short stories while at UC Berkeley.
He was the subject of two recent documentaries, "The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides" in 2005 and "Buzz" in 2006.
Bezzerides was married to film and television writer Silvia Richards until her death in 1999. He is survived by two daughters, a son, a granddaughter and four great-grandchildren.
Source: Variety
Posted: Tue., Jan. 9, 2007
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Ministry Support for 2006
The Culture and Tourism Ministry will provide financial support --nearly 2.2 million USD-- to 14 long-feature film projects in 2006. Some of the films are as follows: ''The Cows, The People, The Fall (İnekler, İnsanlar, Sonbahar)'' by Yavuz Özkan; ''Ballad for the Black Sea (Karadeniz'e Balad)'' by Yusuf Kurcenli; ''Pandora's Box (Pandora'nın Kutusu)'' by Yesim Ustaoğlu; ''the Egg (Yumurta)'' by Semih Kaplanoğlu; ''Sanjan (Sanjan)'' by Aydın Sayman; ''Adam's Trains (Adem'in Trenleri)'' by Barış Pirhasan; ''the Season of Fall Again (Yine Hazan Mevsimi)'' by Mehmet Eryılmaz; ''Istanbul (Istanbul)'' by Emine Seçkin Yaşar; and ''A Film by Tuğra Kaftancıoğlu (Bir Tuğra Kaftancıoğlu Filmi)'' by Hasan Yalaz.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
"Ice Cream I Scream" named as Turkey's Oscar nominee
"Ice Cream I Scream" named as Turkey's Oscar nominee
"Ice Cream I Scream", the debut film of director Yüksel Aksu which has been screened in the Golden Orange Film Festival program, has been chosen to represent Turkey among the Oscar nominee entries in the Academy Awards of 2007. One of the highlighted titles of the Golden Orange festival, "Ice Cream I Scream" has gathered considerable attention and praise in its screenings across Turkey. The film's screening in Golden Orange was enhanced by a performance by Baba Zula, the film's soundtrack composers. "Ice Cream, I Scream" is famous for its cast comprising of, except the head actor Turan Özdemir, amateurs chosen from the Muğla folk.
This year's Academy Awards will be given in February 25, 2007. The nominee films are expected to be announced in January 23.
"Ice Cream I Scream", the debut film of director Yüksel Aksu which has been screened in the Golden Orange Film Festival program, has been chosen to represent Turkey among the Oscar nominee entries in the Academy Awards of 2007. One of the highlighted titles of the Golden Orange festival, "Ice Cream I Scream" has gathered considerable attention and praise in its screenings across Turkey. The film's screening in Golden Orange was enhanced by a performance by Baba Zula, the film's soundtrack composers. "Ice Cream, I Scream" is famous for its cast comprising of, except the head actor Turan Özdemir, amateurs chosen from the Muğla folk.
This year's Academy Awards will be given in February 25, 2007. The nominee films are expected to be announced in January 23.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Babam ve Oglum |Sountrack Award to Evanthia Reboutsika
Alberto Iglesias is the big winner of the World Soundtrack Awards 2006. He won both the Award of Soundtrack Composer of the Year and Best Original Soundtrack of the year with the music he wrote for The Constant Gardener. The prestigious film music awards were presented during the 33rd Flanders International Film Festival Ghent on Saturday October 14 for the sixth time running.
The ‘Public Choice Award’ went to Oscar winner Gustavo Santaolalla for the soundtrack of Brokeback Mountain and Evanthia Reboutsika (1) was elected as ‘The Discovery of the Year 2006’ for the music of My Father & My Son. The ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ went to Peer Raben but as he was absent for health’s reasons, the actress and singer Ingrid Caven received it.
(1) 2003 Politiki Kouzina | 2005 Babam Ve Oglum
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Antalya 06 | Awards
Winners of the 43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival and 2nd International Eurasia Film Festival awards are:
43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival Honor Award Norman Jewison
43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival National Feature Film Competition
Best Film "Destiny" Director: Zeki Demirkubuz
Best Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan ("Climates")
Best Actor Erkan Can ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best ActressSibel Kekilli ("Back Home")
Best Supporting Actor Civan Cenova ("Back Home")
Best Supporting Actress Nazan Kesal ("Climates")
Best Script Önder Çakar ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best Cinematography & Kodak Award Soykut Turan ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best EditingAyhan Ergüzel ("Climates")
Best Art Director Erol Taştan ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best Music Gökçe Akçelik ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best Sound Design "Climates"
Best Special Effects "Waiting for Heaven"
Best Costume DesignAyten Şenyurt ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best Make-Up & Hair DesignNimet İnkaya ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best Laboratory Sinefekt ("Climates" & "A Man's Fear of God")
Digiturk Behlül Dal Award for the Best Newcomer Ufuk Bayraktar ("Destiny")
43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival National Short Film Competition
Best Short Film "A Drop of Water" Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Special Award "Boreas" Director: Belma Baş
43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival National Documentary Film Competition
Best Documentary Award"Housekeeper" Director: Emel Çelebi
Special Award "Ömer Come Home!" Sekan Şavk, Barış Şahin, Şevket Onur Cihan
2nd International Eurasia Film Festival
Best Film "The Paper Will Be Blue" Director: Radu Munteanu
Best Director György Palfi ("Taxidermia")
Critics Award "12:08 East of Bucharest"Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival Honor Award Norman Jewison
43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival National Feature Film Competition
Best Film "Destiny" Director: Zeki Demirkubuz
Best Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan ("Climates")
Best Actor Erkan Can ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best ActressSibel Kekilli ("Back Home")
Best Supporting Actor Civan Cenova ("Back Home")
Best Supporting Actress Nazan Kesal ("Climates")
Best Script Önder Çakar ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best Cinematography & Kodak Award Soykut Turan ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best EditingAyhan Ergüzel ("Climates")
Best Art Director Erol Taştan ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best Music Gökçe Akçelik ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best Sound Design "Climates"
Best Special Effects "Waiting for Heaven"
Best Costume DesignAyten Şenyurt ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best Make-Up & Hair DesignNimet İnkaya ("A Man's Fear of God")
Best Laboratory Sinefekt ("Climates" & "A Man's Fear of God")
Digiturk Behlül Dal Award for the Best Newcomer Ufuk Bayraktar ("Destiny")
43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival National Short Film Competition
Best Short Film "A Drop of Water" Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Special Award "Boreas" Director: Belma Baş
43rd Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival National Documentary Film Competition
Best Documentary Award"Housekeeper" Director: Emel Çelebi
Special Award "Ömer Come Home!" Sekan Şavk, Barış Şahin, Şevket Onur Cihan
2nd International Eurasia Film Festival
Best Film "The Paper Will Be Blue" Director: Radu Munteanu
Best Director György Palfi ("Taxidermia")
Critics Award "12:08 East of Bucharest"Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Antalya 06 | Waiting for Heaven by Derviş Zaim
Waiting for Heaven
Derviş Zaim
Film Title: Waiting for Heaven
Orginal Title: Cenneti Beklerken
Turkish Title: Cenneti Beklerken
Director: Derviş Zaim
Screenplay: Derviş Zaim
Cast: Serhat Tutumluer, Melisa Sözen, Mesut Akusta, Nihat İleri, Mehmet Ali Nuroğlu, Rıza Sönmez, Numan Acar, Bülent İnal, Altan Erkekli, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Mustafa Uzunyılmaz
Country: Turkey, Hungary
Year: 2006
Duration: 107'
Production: Hermes Film, Maraton Filmcilik
Productor: Dervis Zaim, Baran Seyhan, Elif Dagdeviren, Bülent Helvaci
Photography: Mustafa Kuşçu
Editing: Ulaş Cihan Şimşek
Music: Rahman Altın
Eflatun is a master miniature artist who's living in 17th century Istanbul. One day, he's taken to the vizier's mansion by force. There he learns that Danyal, one of the Ottoman princes who has ignited an insurrection, is arrested in a far off state and to be executed soon. Eflatun is ordered to make a portrait of the rebel prince who's been condemned to death in a Western manner to help the authorities be certain on the identity of him. Upon the order, Eflatun sets off for an arduous journey to Anatolia. He picks up a girl named Leyla en route. Together, they find themselves in a great venture fraught with sensations.
Derviş Zaim
Film Title: Waiting for Heaven
Orginal Title: Cenneti Beklerken
Turkish Title: Cenneti Beklerken
Director: Derviş Zaim
Screenplay: Derviş Zaim
Cast: Serhat Tutumluer, Melisa Sözen, Mesut Akusta, Nihat İleri, Mehmet Ali Nuroğlu, Rıza Sönmez, Numan Acar, Bülent İnal, Altan Erkekli, Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan, Mustafa Uzunyılmaz
Country: Turkey, Hungary
Year: 2006
Duration: 107'
Production: Hermes Film, Maraton Filmcilik
Productor: Dervis Zaim, Baran Seyhan, Elif Dagdeviren, Bülent Helvaci
Photography: Mustafa Kuşçu
Editing: Ulaş Cihan Şimşek
Music: Rahman Altın
Eflatun is a master miniature artist who's living in 17th century Istanbul. One day, he's taken to the vizier's mansion by force. There he learns that Danyal, one of the Ottoman princes who has ignited an insurrection, is arrested in a far off state and to be executed soon. Eflatun is ordered to make a portrait of the rebel prince who's been condemned to death in a Western manner to help the authorities be certain on the identity of him. Upon the order, Eflatun sets off for an arduous journey to Anatolia. He picks up a girl named Leyla en route. Together, they find themselves in a great venture fraught with sensations.
Antalya 06 | Snowmen by Aytan Gönülşen
Snowmen
Aytan Gönülşen
Film Title: Snowmen
Orginal Title: Kardan Adamlar
Turkish Title: Kardan Adamlar
Director: Aytan Gönülşen
Screenplay: Osman Dikiciler, Aytan Gönülşen, Onur Güven
Cast: Hazım Körmükçü, Ogün Kaptanoğlu
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Duration: 88'
Photography: Levent Vural
Editing: Aytan Gönülşen
Music: Onur Güven, Sinan Zarakolu
Web: www.birfilm.com/films/film_id82.asp
Levent (Hazım Körmükçü) and Can (Ogün Kaptanoğlu), who’re partners in business, hit the interurban road on a cold winter day to find one of their customers they’re about to lose and persuade him to do business with them again. Desiring to make the journey a petty weekend escapade, Can takes the opportunity of Levent’s sleeping, strays from the highway and takes the mountain road. The jeep, after traveling along uneven mountain roads surrounded by a fascinating landscape of snow for a while, sinks deep into snow because of Can’s craving for fun. Levent, blaming his partner with flightiness, gets angry at him and moves away. The couple lose one another. When they’re reunited, they find themselves in a strange world hosted by snowy mountains adorned with verdant trees. Levent and Can, while trying to withstand the gradually hardening fury of nature, start questioning each other and their relationships with life. This struggle will open the doors of the couple’s facing their own selves in a world where time does not reign over.
Aytan Gönülşen
Film Title: Snowmen
Orginal Title: Kardan Adamlar
Turkish Title: Kardan Adamlar
Director: Aytan Gönülşen
Screenplay: Osman Dikiciler, Aytan Gönülşen, Onur Güven
Cast: Hazım Körmükçü, Ogün Kaptanoğlu
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Duration: 88'
Photography: Levent Vural
Editing: Aytan Gönülşen
Music: Onur Güven, Sinan Zarakolu
Web: www.birfilm.com/films/film_id82.asp
Levent (Hazım Körmükçü) and Can (Ogün Kaptanoğlu), who’re partners in business, hit the interurban road on a cold winter day to find one of their customers they’re about to lose and persuade him to do business with them again. Desiring to make the journey a petty weekend escapade, Can takes the opportunity of Levent’s sleeping, strays from the highway and takes the mountain road. The jeep, after traveling along uneven mountain roads surrounded by a fascinating landscape of snow for a while, sinks deep into snow because of Can’s craving for fun. Levent, blaming his partner with flightiness, gets angry at him and moves away. The couple lose one another. When they’re reunited, they find themselves in a strange world hosted by snowy mountains adorned with verdant trees. Levent and Can, while trying to withstand the gradually hardening fury of nature, start questioning each other and their relationships with life. This struggle will open the doors of the couple’s facing their own selves in a world where time does not reign over.
Antalya 06 | Purgatory Zero by Biray Dalkıran
Purgatory
Biray Dalkıran
Film Title: Purgatory
Orginal Title: Araf
Turkish Title: Araf
Director: Biray Dalkıran
Screenplay: Hakan Bilir
Cast: Akasya Asıltürkmen, Murat Yıldırım, Kubilay Tunçer, Yasin Şerif Tulun, Mehmet Birkiye
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Duration: 96'
Production: DFGS Yapim
Productor: Biray Dalkıran
Photography: Askin Sagiroglu
Editing: Biray Dalkıran
Music: Hayko Cepkin
Web: http://www.ar-af.com
Eda is a student of dance enrolled in the academy of arts. She is in a relationship with Cihan, who’s married and has a kid. When she awakens to the fact that she’s been pregnant for 16 weeks, she asks her fellow Oya to replace her on the night she was supposed to stage a solo performance. Same night, Eda has an illegal abortion which will darken her remaining life under unsanitary conditions. 3 years later, she is now married to Cenk, a photography student, and pregnant for two months. But her pregnancy, along with the problem of a 3 year old girlchild entering her life wreck her psychology and Eda starts to comport self-destructively, scaring all who’s around her.
Antalya 06 | Gravity Zero by Murat Şeker
Gravity Zero
Murat Şeker
Film Title: Gravity Zero
Orginal Title: İki Süper Film Birden
Turkish Title: İki Süper Film Birden
Director: Murat Şeker
Screenplay: Erol Adilçe, Murat Şeker, Selami Genli
Cast: Tim Seyfi , Murat Akkoyunlu, Ugur Polat, Beste Bereket, Cahit Berkay, Yasemin Öztürk, Nejat Isler, Atilla Saral, Suzan Aksoy, Orhan Kocatas, Feridun Düzagaç
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Duration: 95'
Production: Sugarworkz
Productor: Erol Adilçe, Murat Seker
Photography: Emre Erkmen
Editing: Erol Adilçe
Music: Serhat Ersöz
Web: http://www.2superfilmbirden.com
Necati is a 33 year old man who’s passionate for cinema. He has lost his mother just after he was born and his father is an odd fisherman nicknamed “Newton”. Necati’s biggest dream is to complete his film “Gravity Zero” which he endeavors to shoot by using a home camera and show it to an audience on a cinema screen. He earns his life by shooting videos for the wannabe famous local singers, slushy TV advertisements for the tradesmen of the neighborhood whom he had hard times to convince and by recording wedding ceremonies whenever he falls stranded. A Don Quixote when it comes to cinema, Necati could not manage to derive support from anyone except his wife Arzu and his assistant Selami, for the film he presented as “an experimental picture that will rock Europe” runs on no proper script neither it incorporates any professional actors. Unexpected circumstances that come to life when Necati is on the verge of realizing his dream will leave him alone in the midst of a Mafia pay-off and give birth to results that will affect the lives of the people around him.
Antalya 06 | Destiny by Zeki Demirkubuz
Destiny
Zeki Demirkubuz
Film Title: Destiny
Orginal Title: Kader
Turkish Title: Kader
Director: Zeki Demirkubuz
Screenplay: Zeki Demirkubuz
Cast: Ufuk Bayraktar, Vildan Atasever, Müge Ulusoy
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Duration: 103'
Production: Mavi Film- Inkas Film
Productor: Zeki Demirkubuz
Photography: Zeki Demirkubuz
Editing: Zeki Demirkubuz
Music: Edward Artemiyev
Web: www.demirkubuz.com
Bekir is mad for Uğur. Uğur is enamored with Zagor and Zagor's passionate for committing crimes.
Zagor is released from jail. A sultry summer night, one mishap followed another and a murder is committed in the neighborhood. Same night, Uğur vanishes.
The homicidal crime, though being the forerunner of the dark and cruel days waiting for Uğur's young and pretty mother, his paralyzed father and his little brother who have lived under the wings of an affluent young man named Cevat until now, becomes a hope of deliverance from his mad love for Bekir. He marries the girl picked by his family and initiates himself into a new life.
Some months later, Zagor's killing of two policemen and being put back into jail and Uğur's return to Istanbul breed a new hope for Bekir. On the trail of a pitiless love, there began a deadly chase which will go on for years. Bekir follows the traces of his beloved down in nightspots across the province, in cheap hotel rooms, in dope bashes.
He's been shot but did not turn back. He's been shooed, he did not retreat. He's been abased, his pride wounded, he did not mind. Town after town, jail after jail Uğur trails behind Zagor and Bekir chases after him like a faithful, obstinate dog.
While everything's been wasted away for the sake of a couple of eyes and a charming visage, love has just grown stronger with the light of cigarettes put out in palms, with sufferings, with tears and wickedness.
Hearths and homes are destroyed, children were orphaned but innocence is never to be lost.
Zeki Demirkubuz
Film Title: Destiny
Orginal Title: Kader
Turkish Title: Kader
Director: Zeki Demirkubuz
Screenplay: Zeki Demirkubuz
Cast: Ufuk Bayraktar, Vildan Atasever, Müge Ulusoy
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Duration: 103'
Production: Mavi Film- Inkas Film
Productor: Zeki Demirkubuz
Photography: Zeki Demirkubuz
Editing: Zeki Demirkubuz
Music: Edward Artemiyev
Web: www.demirkubuz.com
Bekir is mad for Uğur. Uğur is enamored with Zagor and Zagor's passionate for committing crimes.
Zagor is released from jail. A sultry summer night, one mishap followed another and a murder is committed in the neighborhood. Same night, Uğur vanishes.
The homicidal crime, though being the forerunner of the dark and cruel days waiting for Uğur's young and pretty mother, his paralyzed father and his little brother who have lived under the wings of an affluent young man named Cevat until now, becomes a hope of deliverance from his mad love for Bekir. He marries the girl picked by his family and initiates himself into a new life.
Some months later, Zagor's killing of two policemen and being put back into jail and Uğur's return to Istanbul breed a new hope for Bekir. On the trail of a pitiless love, there began a deadly chase which will go on for years. Bekir follows the traces of his beloved down in nightspots across the province, in cheap hotel rooms, in dope bashes.
He's been shot but did not turn back. He's been shooed, he did not retreat. He's been abased, his pride wounded, he did not mind. Town after town, jail after jail Uğur trails behind Zagor and Bekir chases after him like a faithful, obstinate dog.
While everything's been wasted away for the sake of a couple of eyes and a charming visage, love has just grown stronger with the light of cigarettes put out in palms, with sufferings, with tears and wickedness.
Hearths and homes are destroyed, children were orphaned but innocence is never to be lost.
Antalya 06 | Climates by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Climates
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Film Title: Climates
Orginal Title: İklimler
Turkish Title: İklimler
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Screenplay: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cast: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan,Nazan Kesal,Mehmet Eryılmaz,Arif Aşçı,Can Özbatur
Country: Turkey, France
Year: 2006
Duration: 101'
Production: Co Production Ltd.
Productor: Zeynep Özbatur
Photography: Gökhan Tiryaki
Editing: Ayhan Ergürsel, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Web: http://www.iklimler.com/
Man was made to be happy for simple reasons and unhappy for even simpler ones. Isa and Bahar are two lonely figures dragged through the ever-changing climate of their inner selves in pursuit of a happiness that no longer belongs to them.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Film Title: Climates
Orginal Title: İklimler
Turkish Title: İklimler
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Screenplay: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Cast: Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan,Nazan Kesal,Mehmet Eryılmaz,Arif Aşçı,Can Özbatur
Country: Turkey, France
Year: 2006
Duration: 101'
Production: Co Production Ltd.
Productor: Zeynep Özbatur
Photography: Gökhan Tiryaki
Editing: Ayhan Ergürsel, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Web: http://www.iklimler.com/
Man was made to be happy for simple reasons and unhappy for even simpler ones. Isa and Bahar are two lonely figures dragged through the ever-changing climate of their inner selves in pursuit of a happiness that no longer belongs to them.
Antalya 06 | Back Home by Ömer Uğur
Back Home
Ömer Uğur
Film Title: Back Home
Orginal Title: Eve Dönüş
Turkish Title: Eve Dönüş
Director: Ömer Uğur
Screenplay: Ömer Uğur
Cast: M.Ali Alabora, Sibel Kekilli, Altan Erkekli, Savaş Dinçel, Perihan Savaş, Cihan Canova, Erdal Tosun, Necmettin Çobanoğlu, Cengiz Küçükayvaz
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Duration: 101'
Production: Limon Yapım
Productor: Hayri Aslan
Photography: Mustafa Kuşçu
Editing: Ulaş Cihan Şimşek
Music: Tamer Çıray
Web: http://www.evedonusfilm.com
September 1980. Mustafa and his wife, who're both laborers are married for 5 years. The couple has nothing to do with politics and spend their days happily with their 3 year old daughter and their TV, despite the clamour of guns clashing outside every night. One Friday morning, they wake up and hear the voice of Hasan Mutlucan on radio and observe soldiers marching through the streets, the very confirmation of the military coup that has taken place. Arrests begin instantly in workplace and neighborhood. Yet Mustafa, far from being disturbed, assumes that all apprehensions must have rightful reasons…until the night he's taken into custody, charged with the crimes of a militant code named "Şehmuz".
Antalya 06 | Aura by Orhan Oğuz
Aura
Orhan Oğuz
Film Title: Aura
Orginal Title: Aura
Turkish Title: Aura
Director: Orhan Oğuz
Screenplay: Orhan Oğuz
Cast: Gani Rüzgar Şavafa, Töre Anadolu, Ahmet Satılmış
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Duration: 90'
Production: 7. Sanat Sinema
Productor: Tunç Oğuz, Arafat Şavafa
Photography: Umut Ardabak
Editing: Mevlüt Koçak
Music: Murat Engin
Haydar, member of a religious cult is condemned to punishment by the community of his cult. Whereas the guilt actually belongs to Şahin, his elder brother. Şahin, expelled from his cult, acquaints with the beautiful Yezidi girl Yezide. The story of orphaned Yezide's remaining life transforms into an "aura". And the adventure of two robbers incorporate into this aura as well.
Orhan Oğuz
Film Title: Aura
Orginal Title: Aura
Turkish Title: Aura
Director: Orhan Oğuz
Screenplay: Orhan Oğuz
Cast: Gani Rüzgar Şavafa, Töre Anadolu, Ahmet Satılmış
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Duration: 90'
Production: 7. Sanat Sinema
Productor: Tunç Oğuz, Arafat Şavafa
Photography: Umut Ardabak
Editing: Mevlüt Koçak
Music: Murat Engin
Haydar, member of a religious cult is condemned to punishment by the community of his cult. Whereas the guilt actually belongs to Şahin, his elder brother. Şahin, expelled from his cult, acquaints with the beautiful Yezidi girl Yezide. The story of orphaned Yezide's remaining life transforms into an "aura". And the adventure of two robbers incorporate into this aura as well.
Antalya 06 | A Man's Fear of God by Özer Kızıltan
A Man's Fear of God
Özer Kızıltan
Film Title: A Man's Fear of God
Orginal Title: Takva
Turkish Title: Takva
Director: Özer Kızıltan
Screenplay: Önder Çakar
Cast: Müfit Aytekin, Erkan Can, Murat Cemcir, Güven Kırac, Feridun Koc, Öznur Kula, Erdal Parmaksizoglu, Erman Saban, Duygu Sen, Settar Tanriogen, Meray Ülgen, Selahattin Bilal
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Production: Yeni Sinemacılar- Corazon Internatıonal
Productor: Fatih Akin, Onder Cakar, Sevil Demirci, Klaus Maeck, Andreas Thiel
Photography: Soykut Turan
Editing: Andrew Bird, Niko
Music: Gökçe Akçelik
Web: http//:www.takva.com.tr
Humble introvert Muharrem lives in a solitary and meager existence of a prayer and sexual abstinence adhering strictly to the most severe Islamic doctrines.His exstraordinary devotion attracts the attention of the leaders of a rich and powerful İstanbul religious group.His acclaimed trustworthiness and contiousness inspire them to offer him an administrative post as rent collector for their numerous properties.Muharrem’s new job throws him into the modern outside world he has successfully avoided for so long.He soon withnesses conflict attitude toward alcohol consumption and goodwill.He notices that he himself has become proud,domineering and even dishonest.To make matters worse ,Muharrem’s inner peace is unnerved by the tormenting image of seductive woman who tempts him in his dreams,both night and day.With the balance of his devotion now upset,his fear of God begins to eat away at his senses.
Özer Kızıltan
Film Title: A Man's Fear of God
Orginal Title: Takva
Turkish Title: Takva
Director: Özer Kızıltan
Screenplay: Önder Çakar
Cast: Müfit Aytekin, Erkan Can, Murat Cemcir, Güven Kırac, Feridun Koc, Öznur Kula, Erdal Parmaksizoglu, Erman Saban, Duygu Sen, Settar Tanriogen, Meray Ülgen, Selahattin Bilal
Country: Turkey
Year: 2006
Production: Yeni Sinemacılar- Corazon Internatıonal
Productor: Fatih Akin, Onder Cakar, Sevil Demirci, Klaus Maeck, Andreas Thiel
Photography: Soykut Turan
Editing: Andrew Bird, Niko
Music: Gökçe Akçelik
Web: http//:www.takva.com.tr
Humble introvert Muharrem lives in a solitary and meager existence of a prayer and sexual abstinence adhering strictly to the most severe Islamic doctrines.His exstraordinary devotion attracts the attention of the leaders of a rich and powerful İstanbul religious group.His acclaimed trustworthiness and contiousness inspire them to offer him an administrative post as rent collector for their numerous properties.Muharrem’s new job throws him into the modern outside world he has successfully avoided for so long.He soon withnesses conflict attitude toward alcohol consumption and goodwill.He notices that he himself has become proud,domineering and even dishonest.To make matters worse ,Muharrem’s inner peace is unnerved by the tormenting image of seductive woman who tempts him in his dreams,both night and day.With the balance of his devotion now upset,his fear of God begins to eat away at his senses.
WWII life-saving ship star of documentary:
WWII life-saving ship star of documentary:
ANK - Turkish Daily News
Filmmaker and author Erhan Cerrahoğlu has been working on a documentary about a ship that carried humanitarian supplies from Turkey to Greece during World War II.
The ship, Kurtuluş, sunk on its fifth trip to Greece, on Feb. 20, 1942, due to a storm.
The documentary notes that Turkey was the only country that helped Greece during the period known as the “Great Hunger,” when estimates say 70,000 people died, and iincludes interviews with Greek academics and citizens who lived through the period.
Cerrahoğlu said he was impressed about what they told him about the ship: “They were talking about a Turkish ship that sunk while taking much-needed supplies to Greece. As I was preparing it, I was shocked. Why didn't anyone know about this?”
He said as he investigated the story, he realized most of the relevant archives were destroyed and that not a single record of what happened existed even in the records of the Turkish Red Crescent, which supplied the aid.
During his trip to Athens, Cerrahoğlu realized that all those who lived through World War II remembered the Kurtuluş. “Everyone I talked to ended their interview by saying how nonsensical the tension between Turkey and Greece is. Unfortunately, not a single Turkish witness survives.”
Speaking for the documentary, Greek historian Georgeos Margaritis said: “Kurtuluş, until February 1942, was the symbol of hope for Greeks. After it sank, more ships came, but all of them were known as Kurtuluş to us. People used to say, ‘We are hungry, but Kurtuluş will come tomorrow'.”
The documentary is sponsored by Greece's Olympic Airways.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
TORONTO '06 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Ozer Kiziltan
A scene from Ozer Kiziltan' s "Takva - A Man's Fear of God." Photo courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO '06 DISCOVERY INTERVIEW: Ozer Kiziltan: "Unfortunately, war and violence affected me more than other filmmakers or films."
by indieWIRE (September 13, 2006)
Every day through the end of the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, indieWIRE will be publishing interviews with filmmakers in the Discovery section of the festival, which TIFF describes as "provocative feature films by new and emerging directors."
Nineteen filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions. Director Ozer Kiziltan is at Toronto with his feature film, "Takva - A Man's Fear of God" is about a single middle-aged Turkish man who has a crisis of faith.
How old are you? Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
I was born in Istanbul in 1963 and I am still living in this beautiful city.
What were the circumstances that lead you to become a filmmaker?
While I was in my last semester studying Law at Istanbul University, suddenly I thought that I would be a great film director and I left the Law Department and I began studying Cinema & TV. My degree ended up coming from that department. I live in a part of the world where lot of stories are waiting to be heard and communicated to others. I thought the best way to tell these beautiful stories was through movies and I still think so. "Takva" is my first feature film, but I directed several TV series for Turkish television and I still do. I associated in 1997 with a few filmmaker friends in a production company, Yeni Sinemacular (New Filmmakers). So far, I have worked in different positions in four feature films made by Yeni Sinemacular. "Takva" is our fifth film together. All the films we've made together have had acclaim in Turkey and also been shown in many international festivals and even won some awards. "Takva" is my turn as a director, and I am waiting impatiently for the reactions.
How/where did the initial idea for your film come from?
"Takva" is the most recent project of production company Yeni Sinemacular. While Onder Cakar wrote the script and the project was in development, everything was designed in accordance with my cinema language. I had been waiting for a long time to make a film as a director. "Takva"seemed to be the right project for me.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in either developing the project or making and securing distribution for the movie?
The main problem - not for myself, but for all the crew - was that our knowledge of Islamic culture and its actuality in Istanbul today was very weak. We had to do a lot of research work for a long time during the preparation.
How did you finance the film?
Yeni Sinemacular, together with Turkish-German director Fatih Akin's production company Corazon applied to many institutions, such as the Turkish Minister of Culture, Eurimages, Goethe Institute, etc. for financing and the film has been made with a very limited budget.
What are your biggest creative influences?
Unfortunately, war and violence -- Kosovo, Chechen wars, September 11 and the Philistine massacres - affected me more than other filmmakers or films. They still keep affecting me after finishing "Takva".
What is your definition of independent film?
I think what makes a film independent is hidden in its power to stay free from both the film's own budget issues and also from the cliches of the movie industry's financial interests. As long as filmmakers don't lose their freedom, the spirit of independent cinema will survive.
What are some of your favorite films?
"Potemkin," "Amadeus," "Mephisto," "Natural Born Killers".
How do you define success as a filmmaker? What are your personal goals as a filmmaker?
To continue making films, again and again.
Can you tell us a bit about your next projects?
Together with Yeni Sinemacular, we are trying to develop several projects - a project comparing love and war written by a Macedonian woman screenwriter, one on Armenian issues and racial problems. I don't know of any other projects about the issue of women and Islam in the "Takva" style. Who knows, maybe we will do that too. I guess "Takva" will determine our way.
Takva - A Man's Fear of God
Takva - A Man's Fear of God
(Takva)
Programme: VISIONS
Director: Özer Kiziltan
Country: Turkey/Germany
Year: 2006 | 97 minutes | Colour/35mm
Production Company : Yeni Sinemacilik
Foreign Sales Agent : The Match Factory
Executive Producer: Feridun Koc, Falk H. Nagel
Producer: Sevil Demirci Çakar, Önder Çakar, Fatih Akin, Klaus Maeck, Andreas Thiel
Screenplay: Önder Çakar
Cinematographer: Soykut Turan
Editor: Andrew Bird
Production Designer: Erol Tastan
Sound: Onur Yavuz
Music: Gökçe Akçelik
Principal Cast: Erkan Can, Güven Kiraç, Meray Ülgen, Duygu Sen, Salaettin Bilal
In Takva – A Man’s Fear of God, director Özer Kiziltan has tackled one of life’s most difficult questions and, in so doing, has created an extraordinary piece of cinema: if we base our lives on a belief in God, and then experience a crisis of faith, are we losing God or is God abandoning us because of our questioning?
Muharrem (Erkan Can) is a forty-five-year-old single man, living in one of the oldest residential districts in Istanbul, in the very house in which he was born. He works every day as the assistant to a sack trader, the same job he has held since he was eleven years old. The conservative and traditional behaviour of his late parents and of his community have led Muharrem to be an introvert, so his exceptionally simple life centres on his total devotion to the services and exercises of a religious sect. The core of Muharrem’s life is his bedrock belief in – and fear of – God.
It is this conscientiousness, honesty and discipline that leads the Sheikh of his convent (in the context of Islam, a religious complex for men) to appoint Muharrem as administrator of its holdings. As Muharrem has shown no interest in material things, surely he is the best one to collect the rents from their forty-three flats, thirty-five shops and seven pieces of land. Muharrem accepts the task with great humility and even some awe, especially when he is provided with a new suit, a beautiful pen, a car with a driver and a cell phone.
Inevitably, Muharrem begins to face ethical situations in the secular world for which his dedication to his religion has not prepared him. Soon, this man of faith loses his spiritual innocence by an act of his own, and his despair sends him spiralling into madness, perhaps never to return.
Takva – A Man’s Fear of God provides extraordinary riches to the viewer. Initially it offers a rarely-seen glimpse into the world of conservative Turkish Muslims, which has a beauty and hypnotic power entirely its own. Then we are drawn into Muharrem’s small universe with its very large questions. Cinematically stunning and skilfully made, the film tackles those important struggles that all too often go unexplored in a complex modern world.
- Jane Schoettle
Özer Kiziltan was born in Istanbul and studied law at the University of Istanbul. Before completing his degree, he left law school in order to study cinema and television at the Mimar Sinan University. He has written and directed several TV shows and award-winning short films, including Distress (90), Caution, Mice (90), Your Eyes Are the Last Passion Fire of Yesilçam (93) and The Last Birds Too Are Gone (94). Takva – A Man’s Fear of God (06) is his debut feature film.
Associated with European Film Promotion,
an initiative supported by the
European Union’s MEDIA Programme.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
2 GENC KIZ by Kutlug Ataman
2 GENC KIZ Turkey
Focus on World Cinema
2005 / 35 mm / Colour / 107 min
Director : Kutlug Ataman
Script : Kutlug Ataman
Photography : Emre Erkmen
Editor : Zeynep Zilelioglu, Aziz Imamoglu, Lew Q
Cast : Hulya Avsar, Feride Cetin, Vildan Atasever
2006 WORLD FILM FESTIVAL MONTREAL
2 GIRLS
Two teenage girls hook up in contemporary Istanbul. Bubbly blonde Handan loves patrolling the shopping malls and has a love-hate relationship with her mom, Leman, who also likes expensive clothes. Although Leman is willing to turn tricks to raise Handan's college fees, she's otherwise hopeless with both men and money. Behiye, meanwhile, is an angry and defiant university student with little interest in education. She despises her conservative parents and her abusive older brother. When a mutual friend introduces Behiye to Handan they immediately hit it off, and despite the differences in their backgrounds they embark on an intense relationship and, with it, a secret plan to escape their dysfunctional families.
Kutlug Ataman
Born in Istanbul in 1961, Kutlug Ataman graduated in drama and film from the University of California in Los Angeles, in 1988. He worked for several years in Turkey and in Germany, then moved to London in 1999. His video installations have been displayed at museums in New York and across Europe. Selected filmography: Hansel and Gretel (1984), La Fuga (1988), THE SERPENT'S TALE (1993), LOLA AND BILIDIKID (1998), Women With Pigs (1999), Never My Soul (2000), and The 4 Seasons of Veronica Read (2002).
Focus on World Cinema
2005 / 35 mm / Colour / 107 min
Director : Kutlug Ataman
Script : Kutlug Ataman
Photography : Emre Erkmen
Editor : Zeynep Zilelioglu, Aziz Imamoglu, Lew Q
Cast : Hulya Avsar, Feride Cetin, Vildan Atasever
2006 WORLD FILM FESTIVAL MONTREAL
2 GIRLS
Two teenage girls hook up in contemporary Istanbul. Bubbly blonde Handan loves patrolling the shopping malls and has a love-hate relationship with her mom, Leman, who also likes expensive clothes. Although Leman is willing to turn tricks to raise Handan's college fees, she's otherwise hopeless with both men and money. Behiye, meanwhile, is an angry and defiant university student with little interest in education. She despises her conservative parents and her abusive older brother. When a mutual friend introduces Behiye to Handan they immediately hit it off, and despite the differences in their backgrounds they embark on an intense relationship and, with it, a secret plan to escape their dysfunctional families.
Kutlug Ataman
Born in Istanbul in 1961, Kutlug Ataman graduated in drama and film from the University of California in Los Angeles, in 1988. He worked for several years in Turkey and in Germany, then moved to London in 1999. His video installations have been displayed at museums in New York and across Europe. Selected filmography: Hansel and Gretel (1984), La Fuga (1988), THE SERPENT'S TALE (1993), LOLA AND BILIDIKID (1998), Women With Pigs (1999), Never My Soul (2000), and The 4 Seasons of Veronica Read (2002).
WITHIN REACH BY Phyllis Katrapani
WITHIN REACH Canada
Documentaries of the World
2006 / Video / Colour / 51 min
Director : Phyllis Katrapani
Script : Phyllis Katrapani
Photography : Phyllis Katrapani
Editor : Kara Blake, Louise Dugal
2006 WORLD FILM FESTIVAL, MONTREAL
What do we bring from our homeland that remains with us in the country where we are now citizens? What do we discard? What do we pass on? Language, memories, objects that bear witness to past lives and, often, to other cultures. What are the links between here and there, then and now, distance and proximity? An intimate journey in seven chapters, Within Reach explores, through recollections, conversations and experiences, the questions of intimacy in art and the documentary filmmaker's point of view.
Phyllis Katrapani
Born in Montreal in 1967, Phyllis Katrapani graduated in communication from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She studied as well at the FAMU film school in Prague and the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University in Montreal. Her first film, Still Life (1992), was made at FAMU as a graduation film. Among her subsequent works, Ithaka (1997) and HOME (2002) were shown at the Montreal World Film Festival as well as events worldwide.
Documentaries of the World
2006 / Video / Colour / 51 min
Director : Phyllis Katrapani
Script : Phyllis Katrapani
Photography : Phyllis Katrapani
Editor : Kara Blake, Louise Dugal
2006 WORLD FILM FESTIVAL, MONTREAL
What do we bring from our homeland that remains with us in the country where we are now citizens? What do we discard? What do we pass on? Language, memories, objects that bear witness to past lives and, often, to other cultures. What are the links between here and there, then and now, distance and proximity? An intimate journey in seven chapters, Within Reach explores, through recollections, conversations and experiences, the questions of intimacy in art and the documentary filmmaker's point of view.
Phyllis Katrapani
Born in Montreal in 1967, Phyllis Katrapani graduated in communication from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She studied as well at the FAMU film school in Prague and the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University in Montreal. Her first film, Still Life (1992), was made at FAMU as a graduation film. Among her subsequent works, Ithaka (1997) and HOME (2002) were shown at the Montreal World Film Festival as well as events worldwide.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Erju Ackman / Film Related Biography (2002)
Erju Ackman / Film Related Biography
Born 1950, Istanbul, Turkey
1967
Film Critic for Kadikoy'un Sesi,Istanbul, Turkey (local weekly)
1968-69
Film Critic for Yeni Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (National Daily)
1969-71
Editor for Movie Pages for HEY (national youth and music weekly )
1971-73
Short Films
1969-1974
Publications and research at ( Devlet Film Arsivi) National Film Archive, State Academy of Fine Arts, Istanbul
1972-74
Film Programming at National Film Archive, State Academy of Fine Arts, Istanbul
Golden Age of Danish Silent Cinema
German Silent Films
Fantastic Cinema
1987-1999
Director at Toronto Film Society
membership / publicity / programming
1988
May 21 1988 at University of Toronto, Innis College Town Hall
Programme Organized by E. Ackman
during CFFS / Canadian Federation of Film Societies AGM Film Preview Weekend
Ahh Belinda / Atif Yilmaz 1987
Forbidden Love / Aski Memnu / Halit Refig 1975
1988
The Best of Turkish Cinema / Toronto
Nov 19- 30, 1988
A Desperate Road / Umutsuz Yol /Omer Kavur 1985
White Bicyle /Beyaz Bisiklet / Nisan Akman 1987
Ahh Belinda / Atif Yilmaz 1987
Ipekce / Bilge Olgac 1986
Forbidden Love / Aski Memnu / Halit Refig 1975
Wrestler / Pehlivan / Zeki Okten 1985
Sultanahmed Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Meydani/(documentary short) / Nesli Colgecen
When Fogs Disappear / Sisler Kovulunca / (documentary short) / Suha Arin 1986
1989
New Turkish Cinema
January 11- March 9, 1989
Pasific Cinematheque, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Cinematheque Quebecoise, Montreal PQ
Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Ontario, Canada
Waterloo University, Waterloo Ontario, Canada
A Desperate Road / Umutsuz Yol /Omer Kavur 1985
White Bicyle /Beyaz Bisiklet / Nisan Akman 1987
Ahh Belinda / Atif Yilmaz 1987
Ipekce / Bilge Olgac 1986
Forbidden Love / Aski Memnu / Halit Refig 1975
Wrestler / Pehlivan / Zeki Okten 1985
Sultanahmed Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Meydani/(documentary short) / Nesli Colgecen
When Fogs Disappear / Sisler Kovulunca / (documentary short) / Suha Arin 1986
1990-1997
Presented Turkish directors during Toronto International Film Festival
1990 Furuzan, Gulsun Karamustafa
1991 Omer kavur
1992 Nizamettin Aric
1997 Dervis Zaim
1999 Yesim Ustaoglu
1990
Programme Organized by E. Akman on behalf of Turkish Culture and Folklore Society
Turkish Film Festival, North York, Ontario, Canada
October 10-13, 1990 at Fairview Library Theatre, North York, Ontario, Canada
My Aunt / Teyzem/ Halit Refig
After Yesterday, Before Tomorrow/ Dunden Once Yarindan Sonra/ Nisan Akman
Summer is Over/ Yaz Bitti /Zeki Alasya
Any Woman/ Herhangi Bir Kadin / Serif Goren
1993
Animation Programme / Toronto Animated Image Society
1993 Japaneese Animation Programme/ Art Gallery of Ontario
1996
Czech Cinema and Literature/
Cinematheque Ontario
Pasific Cinematheque, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Ontario, Canada
Waterloo University, Waterloo Ontario, Canada
1996
Jan 10- Feb 11, 1996 / New Turkish Cinema
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Ontario, Canada
Waterloo University, Waterloo Ontario, Canada
Motherland Hotel/ Anayurt Oteli / Omer Kavur 1987
Daydreams of Miss Cazibe / Cazibe Hanimin Gunduz Dusleri /Irfan Tozum 1993
Walking on Fire / Ates Ustunde Yurumek/ Yavuz Ozkan 1991
Berlin in Berlin/ Sinan Cetin 1993
Two Women /Iki Kadin / Yavuz Ozkan 1992
Dream Travellers/ Dus Gezginleri / Atif Yilmaz 1992
Initiated a campaign for the installation of a Toronto Historical Board plaque
at the site of the first moving picture show on the occasion of the Centennial of Cinema
1995-1999
Interviews about Turkish Cinema / CIUT Toronto,
Interview about Turkish Cinema / CHIN Radio,November 1, 1997
Interviews about Turkish Cinema / Voice of America, Washington DC
Voice of America interview (in Turkish)
1999
May 1 -June 27, 1999 / New Turkish Cinema
Freer and Sackler Galeries, Washington DC
The Bandit / Eskiya / Yavuz Turgul 1966
Somersault in a Coffin / Tabutta Rovesata / Dervis Zaim 1966
Lobster Pot / Yengec Sepeti / Yavuz Ozkan 1994
Innocence / Masumiyet / Zeki Demirkubuz 1998
Journey on the Clock Hand / Akrebin Yolculugu / Omer Kavur 1997
Traces / Iz / Yesim Ustaoglu
A Boat Anchored in the Desert / Colde Yanliz bir Gemi / Basar Sabuncu 1993
The Town / Kasaba / Nuri Bilge Ceylan 1997
Cholera Street / Agir Roman / Mustafa Altioklar 1998
1999-2002
New Turkish Cinema Fall-Spring
6 Feature Films / University of Boston
A Boat Anchored in the Desert / Colde Yanliz bir Gemi / Basar Sabuncu 1993
Everything's Gonna be Great / Hersey Cok Guzel Olacak / Omer Vargi 1998
Mr. Muhsin / Muhsin Bey / Yavuz Turgul 1986
Somersault in a Coffin / Tabutta Rovasata / Dervis Zaim 1996
Cholera Street / Agir Roman / Mustafa Altioklar 1998
The Wound / Yara /
Presented Turkish films during Filmfest DC International Film Festival 2000
Harem Suare / Propaganda / Journey to Sun
Presented Turkish film during Filmfest DC International Film Festival 2001
Run For Money / Kac Para Kac / Reha Erdem 1999
Presented Turkish film during Filmfest DC International Film Festival 2002
Vizontele / Yilmaz Erdogan, Omer Faruk Sorak 2001
Latest Voice of America interview after FilmfestDC 2002 (in Turkish)
Organized TURKISH FILM FORUM
Friday June 8, 2001 at the Turkish Embassy for DC film community to seek advice on how to make Turkish Films available for public and discuss Turkish Film Programs in USA
Guest Curator NEW TURKISH CINEMA AT THE FREER AND SACKLER GALLERIES, September-October 2001
Run for Money / Kac Para Kac / Reha Erdem 1999
Third Page / Ucuncu Sayfa / Zeki Demirkubuz 1999
House of Angels / Melekler Evi/ Omer Kavur 2000
Double feature:
A Madonna in Laleli/ Laleli'de Bir Madonna / Kudret Sabanci 1998
On Board / Gemide/ Serdar Akar 1998
Balalayka / Ali Ozgenturk 2000
Clouds of May / Nuri Bilge Ceylan 2000
Copyright ©2001 Turkish Cinema Newsletter, Washington D.C.
Born 1950, Istanbul, Turkey
1967
Film Critic for Kadikoy'un Sesi,Istanbul, Turkey (local weekly)
1968-69
Film Critic for Yeni Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (National Daily)
1969-71
Editor for Movie Pages for HEY (national youth and music weekly )
1971-73
Short Films
1969-1974
Publications and research at ( Devlet Film Arsivi) National Film Archive, State Academy of Fine Arts, Istanbul
1972-74
Film Programming at National Film Archive, State Academy of Fine Arts, Istanbul
Golden Age of Danish Silent Cinema
German Silent Films
Fantastic Cinema
1987-1999
Director at Toronto Film Society
membership / publicity / programming
1988
May 21 1988 at University of Toronto, Innis College Town Hall
Programme Organized by E. Ackman
during CFFS / Canadian Federation of Film Societies AGM Film Preview Weekend
Ahh Belinda / Atif Yilmaz 1987
Forbidden Love / Aski Memnu / Halit Refig 1975
1988
The Best of Turkish Cinema / Toronto
Nov 19- 30, 1988
A Desperate Road / Umutsuz Yol /Omer Kavur 1985
White Bicyle /Beyaz Bisiklet / Nisan Akman 1987
Ahh Belinda / Atif Yilmaz 1987
Ipekce / Bilge Olgac 1986
Forbidden Love / Aski Memnu / Halit Refig 1975
Wrestler / Pehlivan / Zeki Okten 1985
Sultanahmed Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Meydani/(documentary short) / Nesli Colgecen
When Fogs Disappear / Sisler Kovulunca / (documentary short) / Suha Arin 1986
1989
New Turkish Cinema
January 11- March 9, 1989
Pasific Cinematheque, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Cinematheque Quebecoise, Montreal PQ
Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Ontario, Canada
Waterloo University, Waterloo Ontario, Canada
A Desperate Road / Umutsuz Yol /Omer Kavur 1985
White Bicyle /Beyaz Bisiklet / Nisan Akman 1987
Ahh Belinda / Atif Yilmaz 1987
Ipekce / Bilge Olgac 1986
Forbidden Love / Aski Memnu / Halit Refig 1975
Wrestler / Pehlivan / Zeki Okten 1985
Sultanahmed Hippodrome / Sultanahmet Meydani/(documentary short) / Nesli Colgecen
When Fogs Disappear / Sisler Kovulunca / (documentary short) / Suha Arin 1986
1990-1997
Presented Turkish directors during Toronto International Film Festival
1990 Furuzan, Gulsun Karamustafa
1991 Omer kavur
1992 Nizamettin Aric
1997 Dervis Zaim
1999 Yesim Ustaoglu
1990
Programme Organized by E. Akman on behalf of Turkish Culture and Folklore Society
Turkish Film Festival, North York, Ontario, Canada
October 10-13, 1990 at Fairview Library Theatre, North York, Ontario, Canada
My Aunt / Teyzem/ Halit Refig
After Yesterday, Before Tomorrow/ Dunden Once Yarindan Sonra/ Nisan Akman
Summer is Over/ Yaz Bitti /Zeki Alasya
Any Woman/ Herhangi Bir Kadin / Serif Goren
1993
Animation Programme / Toronto Animated Image Society
1993 Japaneese Animation Programme/ Art Gallery of Ontario
1996
Czech Cinema and Literature/
Cinematheque Ontario
Pasific Cinematheque, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Ontario, Canada
Waterloo University, Waterloo Ontario, Canada
1996
Jan 10- Feb 11, 1996 / New Turkish Cinema
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Canadian Film Institute, Ottawa Ontario, Canada
Waterloo University, Waterloo Ontario, Canada
Motherland Hotel/ Anayurt Oteli / Omer Kavur 1987
Daydreams of Miss Cazibe / Cazibe Hanimin Gunduz Dusleri /Irfan Tozum 1993
Walking on Fire / Ates Ustunde Yurumek/ Yavuz Ozkan 1991
Berlin in Berlin/ Sinan Cetin 1993
Two Women /Iki Kadin / Yavuz Ozkan 1992
Dream Travellers/ Dus Gezginleri / Atif Yilmaz 1992
Initiated a campaign for the installation of a Toronto Historical Board plaque
at the site of the first moving picture show on the occasion of the Centennial of Cinema
1995-1999
Interviews about Turkish Cinema / CIUT Toronto,
Interview about Turkish Cinema / CHIN Radio,November 1, 1997
Interviews about Turkish Cinema / Voice of America, Washington DC
Voice of America interview (in Turkish)
1999
May 1 -June 27, 1999 / New Turkish Cinema
Freer and Sackler Galeries, Washington DC
The Bandit / Eskiya / Yavuz Turgul 1966
Somersault in a Coffin / Tabutta Rovesata / Dervis Zaim 1966
Lobster Pot / Yengec Sepeti / Yavuz Ozkan 1994
Innocence / Masumiyet / Zeki Demirkubuz 1998
Journey on the Clock Hand / Akrebin Yolculugu / Omer Kavur 1997
Traces / Iz / Yesim Ustaoglu
A Boat Anchored in the Desert / Colde Yanliz bir Gemi / Basar Sabuncu 1993
The Town / Kasaba / Nuri Bilge Ceylan 1997
Cholera Street / Agir Roman / Mustafa Altioklar 1998
1999-2002
New Turkish Cinema Fall-Spring
6 Feature Films / University of Boston
A Boat Anchored in the Desert / Colde Yanliz bir Gemi / Basar Sabuncu 1993
Everything's Gonna be Great / Hersey Cok Guzel Olacak / Omer Vargi 1998
Mr. Muhsin / Muhsin Bey / Yavuz Turgul 1986
Somersault in a Coffin / Tabutta Rovasata / Dervis Zaim 1996
Cholera Street / Agir Roman / Mustafa Altioklar 1998
The Wound / Yara /
Presented Turkish films during Filmfest DC International Film Festival 2000
Harem Suare / Propaganda / Journey to Sun
Presented Turkish film during Filmfest DC International Film Festival 2001
Run For Money / Kac Para Kac / Reha Erdem 1999
Presented Turkish film during Filmfest DC International Film Festival 2002
Vizontele / Yilmaz Erdogan, Omer Faruk Sorak 2001
Latest Voice of America interview after FilmfestDC 2002 (in Turkish)
Organized TURKISH FILM FORUM
Friday June 8, 2001 at the Turkish Embassy for DC film community to seek advice on how to make Turkish Films available for public and discuss Turkish Film Programs in USA
Guest Curator NEW TURKISH CINEMA AT THE FREER AND SACKLER GALLERIES, September-October 2001
Run for Money / Kac Para Kac / Reha Erdem 1999
Third Page / Ucuncu Sayfa / Zeki Demirkubuz 1999
House of Angels / Melekler Evi/ Omer Kavur 2000
Double feature:
A Madonna in Laleli/ Laleli'de Bir Madonna / Kudret Sabanci 1998
On Board / Gemide/ Serdar Akar 1998
Balalayka / Ali Ozgenturk 2000
Clouds of May / Nuri Bilge Ceylan 2000
Copyright ©2001 Turkish Cinema Newsletter, Washington D.C.
M. K. Ataturk (1881- 1938) on Cinema
M. K. Ataturk (1881- 1938) Founder and First President of Turkish Republic
Sinema öyle bir kesiftir ki bir gün gelecek barutun, elektrigin ve kitalarin kesfinden çok, dünya uygarliginin görünüsünü degistirecegi görülecektir. Sinema dünyanin en uzak uçlarinda oturan insanlarin birbirlerini tanimalarini, sevmelerini saglayacaktir. Sinema, insanlar arasindaki görüs, görünüs farklarini silecek, insanlik ülküsünün gerçeklesmesine en büyük yardimi yapacaktir. Sinemaya layik oldugu önemi vermeliyiz
"A day will come when the invention of the cinema will seem to have changed the face of the world more than the invention of gun powder, electricity or the discovery of new continents. The cinema will make it possible for people living in the most remote comers of the earth to get to know and love one another. The cinema will remove differences of thought and outlook, and will be of great assistance in realising the ideals of humanity. It is essential that we treat the cinema with the importance it deserves." (1937)
English Translation by Billie Uluisik
"Un jour viendra où l'on verra que le cinéma aura bien plus changé la face du monde que la découverte de la poudre, de l'électricité ou de nouveaux continents. Le cinéma permettra aux hommes répartis aux quatre coins de la Terre de mieux se connaître et de s'apprécier. Le cinéma supprimera les différences de vue et d'opinion; il contribuera de façon primordiale à la réalisation des idéaux de l'humanité. Nous devons reconnaître au cinéma l'importance qu'il mérite."(1937)
French Translation by Maurice Asseo
"Der Tag wird kommen, wenn die Erfindung des Films das Antlitz der Welt wesentlicher veraendert zu haben scheint als die Erfindung des Schwarzpulvers, der Elektrizitaet oder der Entdeckung neuer Kontinente. Der Film ermoeglicht es, dass Menschen in den entfernesten Teilen der Welt sich kennenlernen und einander zugeneigt fuehlen koennen. Der Film wird die Unterschiede zwischen Gedanken und Gesichtspunkten ueberbruecken, und er wird einen grossen Beitrag leisten zur Erlangung der humnitaeren Ideale. Es ist daher wichtig, dass wir dem Film das Ansehen geben, welches er verdient." (1937)
German Translation by Dieter A. Thiemann
Sinema öyle bir kesiftir ki bir gün gelecek barutun, elektrigin ve kitalarin kesfinden çok, dünya uygarliginin görünüsünü degistirecegi görülecektir. Sinema dünyanin en uzak uçlarinda oturan insanlarin birbirlerini tanimalarini, sevmelerini saglayacaktir. Sinema, insanlar arasindaki görüs, görünüs farklarini silecek, insanlik ülküsünün gerçeklesmesine en büyük yardimi yapacaktir. Sinemaya layik oldugu önemi vermeliyiz
Reprinted from Turkish Cinema Newsletter Copyright ©1996 - 2003, Washington D.C.
Sinema öyle bir kesiftir ki bir gün gelecek barutun, elektrigin ve kitalarin kesfinden çok, dünya uygarliginin görünüsünü degistirecegi görülecektir. Sinema dünyanin en uzak uçlarinda oturan insanlarin birbirlerini tanimalarini, sevmelerini saglayacaktir. Sinema, insanlar arasindaki görüs, görünüs farklarini silecek, insanlik ülküsünün gerçeklesmesine en büyük yardimi yapacaktir. Sinemaya layik oldugu önemi vermeliyiz
"A day will come when the invention of the cinema will seem to have changed the face of the world more than the invention of gun powder, electricity or the discovery of new continents. The cinema will make it possible for people living in the most remote comers of the earth to get to know and love one another. The cinema will remove differences of thought and outlook, and will be of great assistance in realising the ideals of humanity. It is essential that we treat the cinema with the importance it deserves." (1937)
English Translation by Billie Uluisik
"Un jour viendra où l'on verra que le cinéma aura bien plus changé la face du monde que la découverte de la poudre, de l'électricité ou de nouveaux continents. Le cinéma permettra aux hommes répartis aux quatre coins de la Terre de mieux se connaître et de s'apprécier. Le cinéma supprimera les différences de vue et d'opinion; il contribuera de façon primordiale à la réalisation des idéaux de l'humanité. Nous devons reconnaître au cinéma l'importance qu'il mérite."(1937)
French Translation by Maurice Asseo
"Der Tag wird kommen, wenn die Erfindung des Films das Antlitz der Welt wesentlicher veraendert zu haben scheint als die Erfindung des Schwarzpulvers, der Elektrizitaet oder der Entdeckung neuer Kontinente. Der Film ermoeglicht es, dass Menschen in den entfernesten Teilen der Welt sich kennenlernen und einander zugeneigt fuehlen koennen. Der Film wird die Unterschiede zwischen Gedanken und Gesichtspunkten ueberbruecken, und er wird einen grossen Beitrag leisten zur Erlangung der humnitaeren Ideale. Es ist daher wichtig, dass wir dem Film das Ansehen geben, welches er verdient." (1937)
German Translation by Dieter A. Thiemann
Sinema öyle bir kesiftir ki bir gün gelecek barutun, elektrigin ve kitalarin kesfinden çok, dünya uygarliginin görünüsünü degistirecegi görülecektir. Sinema dünyanin en uzak uçlarinda oturan insanlarin birbirlerini tanimalarini, sevmelerini saglayacaktir. Sinema, insanlar arasindaki görüs, görünüs farklarini silecek, insanlik ülküsünün gerçeklesmesine en büyük yardimi yapacaktir. Sinemaya layik oldugu önemi vermeliyiz
Reprinted from Turkish Cinema Newsletter Copyright ©1996 - 2003, Washington D.C.
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