REES-465 | I Lost It at a Turkish Movie

NEW ...NEW ...Film Notes 1-12
ALL 12 NOTES PREPARED FOR REES-465

Plus Modern/Postmodern Philosophy and Film Theory (click to download 11x17 chart in PDF)

Click on the image to download the latest PDF of the information chart
and
Click to get a PDF of Turkish Cinema History 1897-2006

The Ten Best Turkish Films of All Time (2003 Poll)


GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY REES-465
I LOST IT AT A TURKISH MOVIE

LECTURE (David Cuthell) WED 4:15-6:05 ICC 205B
SCREENING (Erju Ackman) TUE 6:15-8:15PM ICC 118

Week 1. Introduction. Modern Turkey before the collapse of the Soviet Union

Week 2. Nationalism, Poverty and Oppression in the 1970’s:
Film: Yol (click for synopsis) Yilmaz Guney Bio
An Interview with Omer Kavur: Constructing a Cinema of the City
Omer Kavur; Miriam Rosen Middle East Report, No. 160, Turkey in the Age of Glasnost. (Sep. - Oct., 1989), pp. 19-21.

Week 3. Honorable Bandits and the Big City:
Film: Eşkiya (click for synopsis) Yavuz Turgul Bio
Old Culture-New Culture: A Study of Migrants in Ankara, Turkey
Ned Levine Social Forces, Vol. 51, No. 3. (Mar., 1973), pp. 355-368.

Week 4. Constructed Ties and the Quality of Mercy:
Film: Tabutta Röveşata
Interview with Dervis Zaim on Somersault in a Coff...
Tabutta Rovasata
Somersault in a Coffin 1996
Review:Somersault in a Coffin (1997)
Derviş Zaim Bio (1964- )

Week 5. Imagined Communities and Boundaries:
Film: Bulutlari Beklerken
Yesim USTAOGLU Bio ( 1960- )
Interview with Yesim Ustaoglu on Waiting for the C...
Waiting for The Clouds (6:32 min. clip)
Waiting for The Clouds Film Poster

Week 6. Village Life: Family Ties:
Film: Beş Vakıt
Poster and a review
More Reviews

Week 7 Turks as Euro-Citizens?: The Lives of Women
Film: Oyun Official website Information

Week 8 Art and Social Aspirations:
Film: Karpuz Kabuğundan Gemiler Yapmak

Week 9. Social Equity, Justice and Change:
Film: Uzak
Film Notes 8
Official website Information

Week 10 Democracy, Law and Central Authority: Koker; Local Politics and Democracy in Turkey. Keyder; Chs.1-5

Film: Babam ve Oğlum Soundtrack Award Turkish Cinema Newsletter Link

Week 11. On the Road Turkey Today; Fathers and Sons:
Film: Hokkabaz

Week 12 Globalization and the Media:
Film: Head-On
Fatih Akin Interview Fatih Akin Bio German Cinema and immigration
Young Turks of German Cinema (Download Power Point presentation)
as presented at Goethe Institute in Washington DC

Week 13. Between Two Worlds: Istanbul at the Crossroads:
Film: Crossing the Bridge
Crossing the Bridge
Week 14 Summary. Final Papers due.

Contemporary Turkey Politics and Culture through the Constructed Lens of Cinema

Fall 2007

Turkey today is a nation of seventy three million people occupying a space on the globe that is squarely in the middle of East and West. The Turkish economy has been one of the world’s top performers during the past five years. Literacy among the young is universal and contemporary Turks are connected to their peers and the outside world through cell phones, the internet as well as the traditional media. The result has been an explosion of creative energy in art, music and especially in film. Turkish film is in the vanguard of the many societal debates of the present, the role of Islam, women’s rights, economic and social justice and the question of weather or not Turkey is of the East or the West to name a few.

This course will examine a series of Turkish films in an effort to explore the many issues and debates in Turkish society. It will aim to strip away the constructed artifice of the directors and examine the social and political debates that underlie these works. To do so the course will also involve a series of readings that will examine film and film criticism as well as those that will supply a contemporary and historical background of Turkey.

Zeki Demirkubuz at Walter Reade Theater

Mental Minefields: The Dark Tales of Zeki Demirkubuz | September 19 – 24, 2007

This series contains seven of Zeki Demirkubuz’s feature films, including the “Tales of Darkness” trilogy (Fate, Confession and The Waiting Room) that for many constitutes the core of his achievement. On Saturday, September 22, at 3pm in the Walter Reade Theater there will be an onstage discussion on director Zeki Demirkubuz and Turkish cinema. This panel discussion is free with the purchase of a ticket to any film in the Mental Minefields series.

Walter Reade Theater

Block-C / C Blok Turkey, 1994; 90m |Wed Sep 19: 9:00 | Sat Sep 22: 1:00
Confession / Itiraf Turkey, 2001; 100m|Wed Sep 19: 6:30 | Sat Sep 22: 7:00
Destiny / Kader Turkey/Greece, 2006; 103m NY Premiere |Fri Sep 21: 6:15 | Sun Sep 23: 8:15
Fate / Yazgi Turkey, 2001; 119m |Fri Sep 21: 8:45 | Sun Sep 23: 3:00
Innocence / Masumiyet Turkey, 1997; 105m |Sat Sep 22: 4:45 |Mon Sep 24: 8:00
The Third Page / Üçüncü Sayfa Turkey, 1999; 92m |Sun Sep 23: 1:00 | Mon Sep 24: 6:00
The Waiting Room / Bekleme Odasi Turkey, 2003; 88m |Sat Sep 22: 9:15 | Sun Sep 23: 6:00

Traditionally, film critics have made a sharp distinction between a cinema of cold, hard reality and a cinema of an interior, mental world inflected by fantasy and invention—the Lumière brothers and Méliès as the perpetually warring fathers of the medium. Zeki Demirkubuz is one of the contemporary filmmakers who most makes a lie of that hollow distinction. Together with Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Yesim Ustaoglu and a handful of others, Demirkubuz has been leading a revolution in Turkish cinema for the past decade. Born in Isparta in 1964, he was politically engaged at an early age, even spending a term in jail during the end of his teenage years.

After studies at Istanbul University, he came to the cinema as an assistant to director Zeki Okten, who he has often credited as his mentor. Demirkubuz established a strong, personal style right from his debut feature, Block-C. A powerful exploration of a woman whose marriage is falling apart, the film moves freely between the perceptual world and the world of the woman’s fears and desires. The cool look of the modern apartment complex where the film is set makes an effective counterpoint to the emotions raging beneath his character’s seemingly placid surface.

The burden of realism, especially for non-Western filmmakers, is often so strong that characters are reduced to social archetypes and understood as products or reflections of their environments. Demirkubuz’s characters could never be seen as such. His protagonists all have astonishingly rich, varied and at times frightening personal psychologies, yet one never feels that their inner worlds are completely divorced from the external circumstances of their lives––or even their experiences in reality.

The series is co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, ArteEast and the Moon and Stars Project in collaboration with Altyazi. Mental Minefields: The Dark Tales of Zeki Demirkubuz has been made possible by generous grants from Turkish Cultural Foundation and the American Turkish Society. Additional support has been provided by Turkish Kitchen, FedEx Turkey, Ramerica International, Inc. and Turkish Culture and Tourism Office.

Turkish film wins Sarajevo film festival award

Turkish film wins Sarajevo film festival award

Reuters |Sunday, August 26, 2007; 8:53 AM |By Daria Sito-Sucic

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - A Turkish film about fear overwhelming a true believer when he is caught up in religious corruption has been chosen as the best movie at the 13th Sarajevo Film Festival.The jury, headed by British actor Jeremy Irons, awarded "A Man's Fear of God" (Takva) by director Ozer Kiziltan with the 25,000 euros ($33,920) Heart of Sarajevo award at the closing ceremony on Saturday night.The film tells the story of a strict Muslim whose solitary life changes when a powerful religious group recruit him as a rent collector, throwing him into the modern outside world.The new job puts his devotion to the test and the fear of God starts to drive him mad.

"When you think of fear, when fear brings you close to losing your mind, it's just as if the fear eats away at your soul," said Fatih Akin, the Turkish-born German co-producer of the film receiving the award on behalf of the crew."We didn't expect that (award)," Akin said, explaining the absence of the film's authors who had already left Sarajevo.

Turkish films dominated the festival with three competing at the Balkan's largest film forum for the first time this year.Saadet Isil Aksoy was awarded the best actress for her role in "Egg" by Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu.

Macedonian film "I'm from Titov Veles" by Teona Strugar-Mitevska won the special jury award.U.S. actor Steve Buscemi was honoured for "outstanding contribution to the art of cinema and the support to the development of the Sarajevo Film Festival."The festival showed over 170 features and short and documentary films during the past seven days. Big industry names, such as French Oscar-winner Juliette Binoche and U.S. documentary director Michael Moore, also presented their latest films.Moore's "SiCKO" about the U.S. health system and American greed closed the festival, with the director promising the 3,000-strong applauding audience to work to prevent the horrors of the Bosnian war happening elsewhere again.The Sarajevo Film Festival was launched near the end of the 1992-95 war as an act of resistance by a group of enthusiasts. It grew into the biggest regional film competition.

A new season for Turkish cinema

Veterans, newcomers, all set for full new season in Turkish cinema
Although there has been a visible rise in recent years in the number of films produced by the Turkish cinema industry, these figures are not the sole measure in evaluating the progress made in Turkish film.

There will be numerous fresh faces and filmmakers having their names run for the first time on the silver screen when the new movies of the upcoming season make their debut in theaters from September. Of course, already well-known directors work hard too. Here is a summary of Turkish productions of the upcoming season:
Movies being anticipated with curiosity

"Kabadayı" (Bully) by Ömer Vargı: Featuring screenplay by Yavuz Turgul, the film stars both veterans and young actors such as Şener Şen, Kenan İmirzalıoğlu, İsmail Hacıoğlu and Ruhi Sarı. The movie, which recounts the story of an old bully who has to fight the mafia for his son, will open Dec. 14.

"Yumurta" (Egg) by Semih Kaplanoğlu: Starring Nejat İşler, Saadet Işıl Aksoy, Ufuk Bayraktar, Tülin Özen, Gülçin Santırcıoğlu and Kaan Karabacak, the movie is about a poet who returns to his homeland years later upon his mother's death.

"Mülteci" (Refugee) by Reis Çelik: The movie, set to open on Sept. 21, centers on the story of a youngster who escaped to Germany in fear for his life. Derya Durmaz and Haluk Piyes play the leading roles.

"Rıza" by Tayfun Pirselimoğlu: The film will open on Oct. 26. Starring famed actors Rıza Akın, Nurcan Eren, Turgay Tanülkü, Menderes Samancılar and İstar Gökseven, the storyline follows the experiences of a truck driver from Adana during his brief stay at a hotel in the small town of Küçükpazar.

"Yaşamın Kıyısında" (The Edge of Heaven) by Fatih Akın: Winner of the best screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival, the film will finally open in Turkish theaters on Oct. 26. Starring Nurgül Yeşilçay, Tuncel Kurtiz, Baki Davrak and Hana Schygulla, the film revolves around the stories of six people whose lives intersect with a death.

"Ulak" (The Messenger) by Çağan Irmak: Irmak's favorite actors Çetin Tekindor, Yetkin Dikinciler, Hümeyra, Şerif Sezer and Feride Çetin star in "Ulak," which is based on a legend set in a vague time and place. Meanwhile, Irmak's debut feature, "Bana Şans Dile" (Wish Me Luck), will open on Oct. 5. Deniz Uğur, Melisa Sözen and İsmail Hacıoğlu star in the movie about a troubled pupil who terrorizes his school.

"Anka Kuşu" (Phoenix) by Mesut Uçakan: Yalçın Dümer, Kenan Bal, Ceren Öztürk and Rahmi Dilligil play the leading roles in the movie which recounts the story of Selman, who starts a new life in İstanbul after losing his family at an early age. The movie underlines the dilemma Selman has to deal with in between the culture he was raised in and the metropolitan culture he has to live in.

"Saklı Yüzler" (Hidden Faces) by Handan İpekçi: With Cem Bender and Füsun Demirel in the title roles, the movie addresses the social issue of "honor killings" and will open on Nov. 23.

"Hicran Sokağı" (Grievance Street) by Safa Önal: The movie, which brings veterans of Turkish cinema such as Türkan Şoray, Cüneyt Arkın, Hülya Koçyiğit and young thespians Arda Esen, Ahu Türkpençe and Pelin Batu together on the silver screen, will open on Dec. 7.

"Ara" (Ambivalence) by Ümit Ünal: The film, where fresh faces Erdem Akakçe, Betül Çobanoğlu, Serhat Tutumluer and Selen Uçer play the leading roles, centers on the relationships between four characters throughout their 10-year friendship.

"Şanjan" (Opalescence) by Aydın Sayman: The director tells a complex love story between a pretty young girl, an old man and a handsome young man. Berk Hakman, Çetin Öner, Seyven Katırcıoğlu and Aykut Oray play the leading roles.

"Suna" by Engin Ayça: Türkan Şoray, Gülsen Tuncer and Demir Karahan play the title roles in the film, which recounts the events that four friends -- two girls and two boys from the '68 generation -- go through in the 2000s.
Feature-length debuts

"Sacayağı" (Trivet) by Berrin Dağçınar: Starring Zeki Alasya, Tarık Pabuççuoğlu and Haldun Boysan, the film tells the story of a sick boy, the son of one of three close friends.

"Zeynep'in Sekiz Günü" (Eight Days of Zeynep) by Cemal Şan: Fadik Sevin Atasoy, Fırat Tanış and Sinan Albayrak star in the film that delves into issues such as alienation, love, loneliness and despair.

"İki Çizgi" (Two Lines) by Selim Evci: Gülçin Santırcıoğlu and Haluk Piyes play the leading roles in the film, which underlines the difference between the male and female identities; the action takes place in a metropolitan city and the story becomes a sad one.

"Fikret Bey" (Mr. Fikret) by Selma Köksal: The film, which was first screened at the İstanbul International Film Festival, depicts a day in the life of the bankrupt Fikret Bey. The movie in which Erol Keskin, Fuat Onan and Gökçe Algan play the lead roles will open in movie theaters on Nov. 16.

"Sıfır Dediğimde" (When I Say Zero) by Gökhan Yorgancıgil: Famous thespians Oktay Kaynarca, Hazım Körmükçü, Görkem Yeltan and Semih Sergen act in this film based on a story of the weird behavior exhibited by a young girl under hypnosis. The movie will open on Nov. 2.

"Kiralık Oda" (Room for Rent) by Murat Ergün: First-time feature film director Ergün is also featured in the cast, along with actors Tamer Karadağlı, Olgun Şimşek and Mehmet Ali Alabora. The film, which will open Jan. 4, depicts the incidents that happen in a room rented by a man who wants to make a fresh start to his life.

"Musallat" (Haunt) by Alper Mestçi: Both written and directed by Mestçi, this movie featuring Burak Özçivit, Biğkem Karavus and Kurtuluş Şakirağaoğlu in the title roles, is about creatures that haunt characters Suat and Nurcan. The film opens Nov. 16.

"Beyaz Melek" (White Angel) by Mahsun Kırmızıgül: Arabesque singer Kırmızıgül tries his hand at directing with this film starring veterans Erol Günaydın, Emel Sayın, Müşfik Kenter and Gazanfer Özcan. Details of the plot for the movie have been kept strictly under wraps, but rumors say it will include lessons for the young generation.

"İki Koca Adam Bir Küçük Bebek" (Two Big Men, One Little Baby) by Hasan Kırcı: The movie, starring Ali Başar, Kadim Yaşar and Nilüfer Aydan, tells the story of two men who grew up on the streets and their relations with kids who now experience similar lives.

"İyi Seneler Londra" (Happy New Year, London) by Berkun Oya: Ülkü Duru, Denis Lavant, Ali Atay, Zuhal Olcay and Hugh Hayes star in this film which depicts the coincidences famous singer Yaşar Nur runs into in London.

"Kutsal Damacana" (Sacred Demijohn) by Ahmet Yılmaz: Famed comedians Şafak Sezer, Settar Tanrıöğen and Erdal Tosun will star in the film which has a screenplay written by the popular comedians of the humor magazine LeMan, hinting at how hilarious the film will be. The film opens Dec. 21.

"Kara Toprak" (Black Earth) by Tarık Akan: İsmail Hacıoğlu, Deniz Sezer, Halil Ergün and Müşfik Kenter assume the title roles in this film which centers on the story of a revolutionary young girl and a pianist with a backdrop of the military coup of Sept. 12, 1980.

"Gitmek" (To Go) by Hüseyin Karabey: Based on a true story with real characters, the movie recounts the reunion story of northern Iraqi Kurd Hama Ali and thespian Ayça, who lives in İstanbul; both play themselves in the movie.

[IN THE WORKS]
Upcoming productions by prolific directors

Hasan Karacadağ is currently working on a new movie titled "Semum" following his 2006 horror film "Dabbe." The film, starring Burak Hakkı, Ayça İnci, Nazlı Ceren Argon and Cem Kurtoğlu, tells of extraordinary creatures that possess the body of a woman.

Director Biray Dalkıran will narrate the story of a mentally ill youngster in "Cennet" (Heaven), where Engin Altan Düzyatan, Zeynep Pabuçcuoğlu, Fahriye Evcen and Mehmet Birkiye play the leading roles. Ulaş Ak will present his latest film "Avrupalı" (The European) to moviegoers on Oct. 12. The movie, starring Cem Davran, Yasemin Kozanoğlu, Sema Öztürk and Aydemir Akbaş, is a comic take on Turkey's Europeanization process, told via the relationship between a Greek and a Turkish family.

Independant filmmakers Reha Erdem, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Zeki Demirkubuz and the team of Yeni Sinemacılar (New Moviemakers) are also working on new projects while Derviş Zaim is continuing with his new movie "Nokta" (The Dot), about the art of calligraphy.

Ömer Uğur is currently busy forming the cast for his upcoming prison drama called "Firar" (Escape). Meanwhile Sinan Çetin has secretly completed filming on a movie called "Yankee Go Home," but the film's opening date is still undetermined.

Two films recounting the life story of Sufi saint and poet Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi are in the works. One of them is expected to open on Nov. 16 with screenplay by Ömer Lütfi Mete and direction by Kürşat Kızbaz. The other Mevlana movie, slated to open Dec. 14, is co-directed by Sinan Çetin and Fatih Aksoy and stars Kenan Işık in the title role. A film recounting the tragedies of Turkish soldiers who froze to death during the Sarıkamış campaign in World War I is expected to start filming in January and will star Özcan Deniz, Fikret Kuşkan and Altan Erkekli in leading roles.

Head On | Sight and Sound Review

Dark Passion

Sex, suicide, romantic abandon and hard rock collide in Head-On, Fatih Akin's electrifying exploration of the changing dynamics of German-Turkish identity. Asuman Suner on the critical hit of 2004

After it took the top prizes at the 54th Berlinale and the 2004 European Film Awards, German/Turkish director Fatih Akin's Head-On (Gegen die Wand) was claimed by Germany and Turkey alike. German newspapers talked of "German cinema" winning Berlin's Golden Bear for the first time in 18 years, while the Turkish press celebrated the "great victory" of "a Turkish film-maker". It was not difficult, however, to detect a sense of discomfort amid the applause. Head-On, after all, resists easy assimilation into the existing matrix of cultural stereotypes, and it is perhaps for this reason that most of the media coverage in both countries focused not so much on the film itself as on 'juicy' controversies involving the performers, notably lead actress Sibel Kekilli's previous appearances in porn videos.

But then Head-On is not an easy film to pin down. Audiences seem to find it deeply disturbing, perhaps because it draws on cultural tropes that co-exist in an eclectic and volatile disorder. Head-On arguably belongs to a sub-genre that could be called the 'hardcore love story', a group of films whose mood is different from that of either romance or melodrama, despite some shared themes. There is always a doomed affair at the centre of such movies, but what transforms this commonplace into something extraordinary here is Head-On's elusive atmosphere - an affective intensity, a concentration of desire and passion conveyed with utter conviction. The 'hardcore love story' category might absorb such disparate titles as Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris (1972), Fassbinder's Sirkian (anti)melodrama Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Ettore Scola's costume drama Passion of Love (1981) and Wong Kar-Wai's Happy Together (1997). Head-On joins them less because of its storyline than because of its haunting tone.

Female hedonism

Like Fatih Akin himself, the film's two protagonists are members of the second generation of Turkish immigrants in Germany. Cahit (Birol Ünel) is a middle-aged loner who has a job collecting glasses in a rock club and spends the rest of his time fuelled by heavy doses of hard rock, alcohol and cocaine. At the film's beginning, after a night spent at a bar, he drives his car at full speed into a wall. In hospital he meets Sibel (Sibel Kekilli), an attractive young woman who has also tried to kill herself. After a brief encounter in the doctor's waiting room, Sibel rushes after Cahit and asks him to marry her.

Despite Cahit's initial refusal, it is obvious he is attracted to Sibel and will eventually say yes. She is desperate to escape the authority of her father and the brother who, we learn, broke her nose after seeing her with a boy. She chooses Cahit because he is Turkish, which means her family will accept him, but also because his cool looks suggest he will be unlikely to stop her from pursuing the independence she craves. After a series of farcical scenes of pre-nuptial arrangements, they marry. Sibel takes advantage of her new-found freedom from day one, storming out during a quarrel about Cahit's former wife and spending the night with a guy she meets in a bar.

One refreshing element of Head-On is its non-judgemental attitude to its female protagonist's appetite for hedonism. What might otherwise be perceived as banal promiscuity is rendered here as a sincere and naive passion for living life to the full. The film conveys the sheer enjoyment Sibel derives from having her belly-button pierced, putting on sexy clothes, dancing at clubs, and sleeping with men she likes the look of. Meanwhile a subtle attraction builds between Sibel and Cahit, thwarted by a fundamental obstacle. Sibel cannot make love with Cahit, she explains, because this would make her truly his wife, so jeopardising her cherished independence.

This state of affairs is abruptly interrupted when Cahit unintentionally kills one of Sibel's boyfriends after he has made insulting remarks about her. The mood of the film darkens as Cahit is imprisoned and Sibel recognises, at the very moment she loses him, how much she has been in love with Cahit: an instance of, to borrow cultural theorist Walter Benjamin's phrase, "love at last sight". As she mourns their relationship, she also realises that her brother might try to kill her to save the 'family honour'. Before escaping to Istanbul, she pays a visit to Cahit; in their first truly intimate moment, she tells him she will wait for him.

Postcards of Istanbul

In Istanbul we see a different Sibel. She cuts off her beautiful long hair and dons shabby, masculine clothes. Her expression is sober and depressed and she seems drained of all her energy and passion. She moves in with her female cousin Selma (Meltem Cumbul), an ambitious middle manager in a big hotel. For a while Sibel adopts a strictly conservative lifestyle, working as a chambermaid during the day and watching television in the evenings. In a letter to Cahit, she writes: "Istanbul is an energetic city full of life. I feel that I am the only lifeless thing in this city." But one night, driven mad by boredom, she walks down to the buzzing Beyoglu district in search of drugs. She soon falls into a self-destructive pattern like the one Cahit followed at the start of the film: now it is Sibel's turn to run, as the German and Turkish titles of the film have it, "against the wall" and crash.

Thus Head-On is divided into two parts: first, a light-hearted Hamburg-set romantic black comedy, then a heavier, Istanbul-set tragedy. But though only the second half of the story actually takes place in Istanbul, images of the Turkish capital pervade the film throughout.

Head-On both begins and ends with a particular shot of the city, and this image also interrupts the narrative several times. At the close of the credits sequence we hear a male voice counting off numbers - "one, two, three, four" - then a postcard-style view of Istanbul fills the screen, with a group of musicians performing traditional Turkish music on the shore of the Golden Horn. The sidewalk is covered by brightly coloured carpets that form a kind of stage and in the background, across the blue waters, rises the dreamy silhouette of a mosque. As the six male musicians, dressed in black suits, play their instruments, a woman in an old-fashioned red dress performs a song. The vision seems to belong to an imaginary past - it could have come from an old album cover - and is both familiar and intimate yet distant and mysterious. An abrupt cut takes us to the bar in Hamburg where Cahit works. Six different songs performed on the same set are inserted at various points in the course of the story: usually we hear the music in the background, then the image appears; after the closing song the musicians salute the audience.

This framing device can be read on one level as a self-reflexive Brechtian strategy serving to remind the audience of the constructed nature of the narrative. This would align Head-On with the films of Fassbinder, in which strategies of disruption and distanciation merge with stories of profound emotional intensity. But at another level the musical sequences direct attention to a deeper layer of meaning, in which Istanbul features not only as a physical counterpart to Hamburg but also as a locus of the imagination that opens up a realm of overlapping sensibilities.

Saved by devastation

Head-On makes use of an assortment of music from hard rock to rap to frame its story, but the majority of its songs come from Turkish popular music. In most scenes the lyrics resonate with the events depicted, and the phrase kara sevda, which can be translated as 'dark passion', forms a persistent refrain. The word sevda, with roots in Persian and Arabic, referred originally to "a dark-coloured fluid that the body produces when one gets sick." It later came to denote intense passionate love: a prevailing theme of fables, music, cinema and poetry, kara sevda is an overwhelming condition experienced almost like an incurable illness, from which the 'victim' can never recover and through which s/he will be forever transformed. But this 'dark passion' also holds the promise of renewed wisdom and deeper insight. It teaches one to be courageous enough to risk everything for love, but also to accept defeat. It inflicts pain, yet supplies the strength to endure it. Kara sevda is both the poison and the remedy.

The bond between Cahit and Sibel is a 'dark passion' of this kind. After his release from prison Cahit meets his friend Seref (Güven Kiraç), who tries to dissuade him from going to Istanbul to seek out Sibel by arguing that she has already ruined his life. Cahit, however, believes he has been saved precisely by the devastation Sibel caused. "Without her," he says, "I could not have survived." And as Cahit and Seref talk, we hear sung in the background the words: "I cannot call you my love, for you are my dark passion."
Singing in tongues

Drawing on diverse cultural influences and _challenging the notion of an authentic or fixed _cultural identity, Head-On poses questions about place, tradition and language. The Turkish-German characters shuttle between languages as the film moves locations; the conversations between Cahit and Sibel are striking more for their broken Turkish than for their accented German. Time and again the switching of languages becomes an ironic, even subversive device. When Sibel is trying to convince Cahit to marry her, they argue loudly in German on a bus empty of other passengers. After Sibel declares that her family will accept Cahit because he's Turkish, the bus stops and the driver, who turns out to be Turkish himself, starts yelling at them in Turkish to get out of his bus since he cannot stand "bastards like [them] who have no respect for their God and religion." Cahit coolly reminds him in German that this is not "his" bus, but it belongs to the municipality. The driver gets increasingly furious.

A reverse scenario occurs in Istanbul when Cahit is looking for Sibel. Hiring a cab at the airport, he doesn't know where to go, so tells the driver to cruise around for a while. The driver asks where he's from and on learning that Cahit originates from Hamburg he delightedly switches to German, explaining that he lived in Munich for several years. Then when Cahit visits Selma and finds her reluctant to help him to track down Sibel, he moves from German to Turkish to try to express his feelings but is unable to do so, as if Turkish were a foreign language (or maybe as if Turkish were not foreign enough). So he switches to English, a language foreign to both of them. Yet during her prison visit, Sibel said in Turkish the words Cahit takes to his heart: "I will wait for you."

Head-On also shuttles between cultural codes. Having grown up in Germany with Turkish parents, the protagonists seem to feel equally (not) at home in either culture, quoting freely from both their Turkish and German cultural heritages. Yet the film presents this not as a problem of non-belonging but rather as an opportunity to construct multiple belongings. Instead of portraying the experience of exile in terms of homelessness and loss, Head-On emphasises its enabling side, what Edward Said called the "plurality of vision" it offers.

Fatih Akin has said that his film has no ambition to "represent" the Turkish minority in Germany. Instead, his protagonists are outsiders, "on a quest to find themselves." They seek to invent a new life, a new morality, and they pay a price for trying to do so. The film ends with the suggestion that for both of them the quest and the passion are ongoing. In the words of one Turkish pop song: "What would remain from the story, if there were not passion?"

Turkish Pop Cinema

Directed by Pete Tombs and Andy Starke / Turkish Pop Cinema
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhCVJaIYiNY


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAd_NvGN3AM



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMxhFoGx0Z4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImrmJh8fGh8

Akin's EDGE OF HEAVEN in The Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival announces 32 international selections to screen this September after premiering at film festivals the world over. Programmers have brought back their favourites from Berlin, Cannes and others, to screen as part of the 32nd edition of the Festival running September 6 - 15, 2007. The official website for the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, tiff07.ca, is live on Wednesday, July 4, 2007.

THE EDGE OF HEAVEN Fatih Akin, Germany/Turkey
Focused on the interweaving lives of six people in Hamburg and Istanbul, the film - winner of the Award for Best Screenplay at Cannes 2007 - is the second in what filmmaker Akin (Head-On) calls his "Love, Death and the Devil" trilogy.

Under Production | Kabadayi by Omer Vargi

Young and veteran Turkish actors on the set of new film ‘Kabadayı’
Screenwriter Yavuz Turgul and actor Şener Şen are often asked “Don’t the two of you ever separate?” Both say they’d like to work on different projects, but for various reasons they always end up working together.

But the new movie “Kabadayı” (bully) will mark a change in direction in the “director Yavuz Turgul-actor Şener Şen” combo. Although Turgul wrote the screenplay, the movie will be directed by Ömer Vargı. Actors Ruhi Sarı and Kenan İmirzalıoğlu will also star in the movie.

A press conference was held at İstanbul’s Sürmeli Hotel this week to introduce the movie. Şen will take on the role of a former bully named Ali Osman. When one day Osman encounters his first love, Afet (Selma Kutlu), and learns that she has a son named Murat (İsmail Hacıoğlu), Osman’s life takes a twist. Devran (İmirzalıoğlu), a mafia boss, is in love with Murat’s girlfriend, Karaca (Aslı Tandoğan), and is willing to do anything to get her. Osman, on the other hand, is willing to do anything to keep his son and his girlfriend safe and happy. We’ll see how just far Osman has to go when the movie plays in theaters in December.

The movie will be shot in 30 different locations in İstanbul, from Halkalı to Beykoz. Each actor and actress said they fell in love with the script as soon as they read it. Speaking of part of the film, Şen says, “It is a scene that has all of Yavuz Turgul’s qualities,” while Sarı notes, “There are some screenplays where you can take out a few parts and nothing will change. Those types of screenplays are no good. But with this one, even if you take out just one sentence it changes everything. This shows the screenplay is very good. It doesn’t include a single line that is useless. You are going to watch a wonderful film.”

Referring to the similarity between the title of the upcoming film and Turgul’s former popular movie, “Eşkıya” (bandit), Sarı hinted that the movies have nothing in common.

Like the movie, which brings two brave men from different periods together, the set of the movie has brought the old and new stars together. With Şen on the top of the list, the oldies include Rana Cabbar, Süleyman Turan, Ferdi Akarnur, Dursun Ali Sarıoğlu and Ayberk Atilla.

İmirzalıoğlu and Sarı take their place on the list of younger stars. The young actors say they are excited to have the opportunity to work with veterans of Turkish cinema. “We have a lot to learn from them,” they say, while the older generation compliments the performance of the younger ones.

Director Vargı says it’s no easy task working with these names. “My feet are shaking because I am so nervous,” Vargı says and explains why he is directing Turgul’s screenplay. “Yavuz and I are old friends. He told me about this story before and I really liked it. He said, ‘I’ll write it for you if you are willing to film it’. So Yavuz didn’t write this movie for himself, he wrote it for me. If I do a good job of directing it is going to be a great film.”

Violence is not on the screen, but within society

The name of the movie means bully and Şen’s opponent is İmirzalıoğlu -- who we’re used to seeing in TV and movie productions as a tough and angry man -- raising questions over violence in the movie. “There isn’t a lot of violence,” Vargı says, adding: “Violence is not present within the public because there is violence in movies. If there is violence in public then there will be violence on the screen. Instead of blaming producers and directors, everyone needs to look at themselves. As for this particular production, there is nothing that promotes violence.”

23.06.2007
ELİF TUNCA İSTANBUL

Fida Film Ad Campaign

Fida Film acquires theatrical, home video and television domestic rights for foreign films in Turkey and also started feature film production recently. The aim of this campaign is to make people realise that when movies are concerned, the entertainment aspect lasts even after the film ends on silver screen. People play “charades” and try to explain/guess the name of a movie -most probably brought to them by Fida Film- by using just body gestures. The campaign makes use of illustrations to visualise those body gestures in viewers mind.


Credits:
Advert title(s): Born on the screen, lives in memories: Cinema
Advertising Agency :GREY Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey ;Creative Director: Tugbay Bilbay, Engin Kafadar, Tevfik Semsi Naipoglu; Art Director: Caglar Biyikoglu | Copywriter: Tugbay Bilbay |Illustrator: Caglar Biyikoglu |Typography: Engin Kafadar

Altin Koza | Feature Film Applications

Altin Koza Film Festival
Türkocağı Mah. Ulus Cad. Tarihi Kız Lisesi Binası Seyhan / Adana Turkey
T:(90 322) 352 47 13 F: (90 322) 359 24 96

Altin Koza | Feature Film Applications

1. 2 Süper Film Birden - Murat Şeker
2. Ademin Trenleri - Hasan Barış Pirhasan
3. Araf - Biray Dalkıran
4. Barda - Serdar Akar
5. Beynelmilel - Sırrı Süreyya Önder
6. Bir İhtimal Daha Var - Uğur Uludağ
7. Cenneti Beklerken - Derviş Zaim
8. Çinliler Geliyor - Zeki Ökten
9. Eve Dönüş - Ömer Uğur
10. Eve Giden Yol 1914 - Semir Arslanyürek
11. Fikret Bey - Selma Köksal Çekiç
12. Hokkabaz - Cem Yılmaz, Ali Taner Baltacı
13. İlk Aşk - Nihat Durak
14. Joenjoy - Nur Akalın
15. Kader - Zeki Demirkubuz
16. Kardan Adamlar - Altan Gönülşen
17. Küçük Kıyamet - Yağmur Ve Durul Taylan
18. Mavi Gözlü Dev - Biket İlhan
19. Polis - Onur Ünlü
20. Sis ve Gece - Turgut Yasalar
21. Son Osmanlı Yandım Ali - Mustafa Şevki Doğan
22. Takva - Özer Kızıltan
23. Unutulmayanlar - Ayhan Sonyürek

Beynelmilel' sweeps awards at Altın Koza

Beynelmilel' sweeps awards at Altın Koza

Adana's Altın Koza (golden cocoon) Film Festival, which went international in its 14th edition this year, handed out awards to the winners of the national feature-length film competition on Saturday night as the seven-day festival readied to wrap up tonight.

The big winner of the night was "Beynelmilel" (international), which scooped major awards such as best film, best screenplay and people's choice, while Cezmi Baskın took home the award for best actor for his role in the film. Meral Okay and Dilberay shared the award for best supporting actress, both for their roles in "Beynelmilel." The film also brought the best director of photography award to Gökhan Atılmış, reported the Anatolia news agency.

Another significant winner at the ceremony was Vahide Gördüm, who took home the best actress award for her role in the movie "İlk Aşk" (first love), which also brought the best director prize to its director Nihat Durak. The film also won the jury's special prize named after the late actor and filmmaker Yılmaz Güney.

The festival, organized by the Adana Greater Municipality, also handed out the awards for the winners of the student films competition. Two productions shared the best documentary prize. Eskişehir Anadolu University's Serkan Yüksel won for "Issız" (deserted) and Konya Selçuk University's Caner Erzincan and Mevlüt Çiftçi took the prize for "Buzlar Kırılınca" (when ices break).

The festival's selection committee, presided over by actress Çolpan İlhan, consisted of photography artist Mehmet Bayhan, filmmaker Reis Çelik, musician Gökhan Kırdar, writer Tuna Kire-mitçi, academic Oğuz Makal, director of photography Özdemir Öğüt, screenwriter Safa Önal, movie critic Agah Özgüç, actress Işık Yenersu and producer Kadri Yurdatap.

Cannes 2007 | Best Screenplay Award to Fatih Akin

Best screenplay was awarded to German-Turkish director and writer Fatih Akin for The Edge of Heaven, a cross-border story of love and reconciliation.

Cannes 2007 | The Ecumenical Jury Prize to Fatih Akin

The Ecumenical Jury Prize was awarded to The Edge of Heaven by Fatih Akin, presented in Competition. The Jury mentioned: "This film skillfully tells the story of the intersecting destinies in Germany and Turkey of men and women from different backgrounds. It makes the viewer aware of the pain and complexity of the loss of cultural identity and relationships, as well as the valuable cultural exchanges, transitions, and cohabitations possible between these two worlds. Two other major themes are parent-child relationships, sacrifice, and reconciliation." Established in 1974, the Ecumenical Jury designates works of artistic quality, film testimonials to the depth of human feeling and its mystery, through human preoccupations, hopes, and despairs.

Review | The Edge of Heaven

Akin speaks of The Edge of Heaven (Auf Der Anederen Seite) as the second instalment of a hypothetical trilogy entitled "Love – Death – Evil" that began with Head On. Actually, the theme of death, or the Western taboo of death, is only of the film’s strong elements. It is interwoven with political passion, ideology and militancy, borders, globalization, and the languages and cultures that divide populations and individuals.While his previous hit feature was a dramatic love story in which the two main characters lose and find each other again here Akin focuses on more characters, creating a hefty role for the superb Hanna Schygulla (an actress who has worked with Fassbinder, Wajda, Wenders, von Trotta, Godard, Scola and Ferreri), who plays the mother of a university student (Patrycia Ziolkowska) who meets a young Turk who has fled his country as a result of his political activities. Yet the perfect and enthralling structure of Head On is here transformed into a screenplay and directing style that are level and without any particular sparks, in a story that unfolds between Germany and Turkey not, however, lacking in intensity and strong emotions, supported by magnificent supporting cast (Baki Davrak, Nursel Kose, Tuncel Kurtiz and Nurgul Yesilcay). It will be interesting to see how the film, acted in German, English and Turkish, will be received in Turkey. The Edge of Heaven was produced by Corazon International in co-production with Anka Film and in association with NDR and Dorje Film. It is being sold by The Match Factory.
Camillo de Marco

Cannes 2007 | Review for Auf der anderen seite

The Edge of Heaven Auf der anderen seite (Germany-Turkey)
A Corazon Intl. (Germany)/Anka Film (Turkey) production, in association with NDR, Dorje Film. (International sales: The Match Factory, Cologne.) Produced by Andreas Thiel, Klaus Maeck, Fatih Akin. Co-producers, Erhan Ozogul, Funda Odemis, Ali Akdeniz. Directed, written by Fatih Akin.

Nejat Aksu - Baki Davrak
Ali Aksu - Tuncel Kurtiz
Yeter Ozturk - Nursel Kose
Ayten Ozturk - Nurgul Yesilcay
Susanne Staub - Hanna Schygulla
Lotte Staub - Patrycia Ziolkowska


By DEREK ELLEY

Baki Davrak plays a Hamburg U professor who befriends a Turkish prostitute (Nursel Kose) in 'The Edge of Heaven.'


The point at which a good director crosses the career bridge to become a substantial international talent is vividly clear in "The Edge of Heaven," an utterly assured, profoundly moving fifth feature by Fatih Akin. Superbly cast drama, in which the lives and emotional arcs of six people -- four Turks and two Germans -- criss-cross through love and tragedy takes the German-born Turkish writer-director's ongoing interest in two seemingly divergent cultures to a humanist level that's way beyond the grungy romanticism of his 2003 "Head-On" or the dreamy dramedy of "In July" (2000). Robust upscale biz looks a given.
Pic opens and closes in Turkey during a bayram, the word for a festival or holiday regardless of national or religious differences. First seen tooling around the Black Sea coast, Hamburg U. prof Nejat (Baki Davrak) is next seen arriving in nearby Bremen, where his father, sprightly septuagenarian Ali (Tuncel Kurtiz), still visits hookers as a cure for his loneliness.

Happening upon a no-nonsense Turkish prostie, Yeter (Nursel Kose), he proposes she moves in with him if he matches her hooking income. Under pressure to quit her job by two fundamentalist Turkish thugs, Yeter agrees.

Turns out that, back in Turkey, Yeter has a 27-year-old daughter, Ayten (Nurgul Yesilcay), who thinks her mom works in a shoe shop. When Ali is hospitalized after a heart attack, Yeter forms a close relationship with the quiet Nejat, who accepts his father's patriarchal lifestyle.

However, viewers have already been warned, in pic's opening title ("Yeter's Death"), that tragedy is waiting round the corner. Sure enough, Yeter is accidentally killed by Ali in an argument. As Ali is incarcerated in a German jail and Yeter's body is shipped home, story shifts to Istanbul, where Nejat has bought a German-language backstreets bookshop. Between times, he's searching for Ayten, to finance her education as a form of reparation.

As another audience warning ("Lotte's Death") appears on screen 40 minutes in, we meet Ayten, a political activist using the alias Gul Korkmaz who's on the run from the authorities. Fleeing to Germany, she ends up penniless in Hamburg where she's befriended by college student Lotte, daughter of comfy, middle-class Susanne (vet Hanna Schygulla). Lotte and Ayten become lovers, setting in motion a complex series of criss-crossing events that changes the lives of the survivors for ever as the story shifts back to Turkey.

Pic has a lean, almost procedural style, in which every scene and line of dialogue counts. Akin doesn't try to hide the plot's coincidences or Swiss watch-like precision, which is given human resonance by the flawless playing of the six leads. Only one scene, a political face-off by Ayten and Susanne, rings awkwardly.

By the time the second seg segues into the final one (film's German title, "From the Other Side"), helmer's long-burn approach packs a considerable emotional wallop in a quiet, inclusive way.

Veteran Turkish actor Kurtiz, who's almost a national monument back home, dominates the early going with his frisky but deeply traditional Ali. Distaffers take over the running in the second half, with the utterly convincing Yesilcay (so good in the very different role of a quiet Moslem bride in recent Turkish pic "Adam & the Devil") and Ziolkowska (from Akin's "Solino") as the lesbian lovers. Schygulla's low-key perf grows more slowly, bringing a reconciliatory glow to the final reels.

Akin's cultural ease with both countries shows in the shooting, spread between Bremen, Hamburg, Istanbul and Trabzon. Good-looking but never gratuitously glossy lensing by Rainer Klausmann ("Solino," "Head-On," "Downfall") is an extra plus, as is the liberating score by Shantel (aka Stefan Hantel).

Camera (color), Rainer Klausmann; editor, Andrew Bird; music, Shantel; art directors, Tamo Kunz, Sirma Bradley; costumes, Katrin Aschendorf; sound (Dolby Digital), Kai Luede, Richard Borowski; sound designer, Joerg Krieger; associate producers, Alberto Fanni, Flaminio Zadra, Paolo Colombo; casting, Monique Akin. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (competing), May 23, 2007. Running time: 120 MIN.
(German, Turkish, English dialogue)

Cannes 2007 | The World Cinema Foundation

Officially launched at the press conference today, the World Cinema Foundation is a non-profit organization that is to contribute financial support to the restoration and distribution of films from all over the world. Joining Martin Scorsese on today’s panel of filmmakers were Souleymanne Cisse, Gianluca Farinelli, Ermanno Olmi, Walter Salles, Wong Kar Wai, Ahmed El Maanouni and Fatih Akin.

Martin Scorsese on the origins: “This goes back to the founding of the Film Foundation in America, with myself and George Lucas, and Spielberg, and Coppola, and Pollack, Stanley Kubrick and Eastwood, where we began to understand with the archives that if we were to combine our influence as filmmakers, we could put pressure upon the studios and other areas as so many American films have been neglected and some have lost their rights, out there like orphan films. We could take that influence and create a different way of thinking about cinema patrimony in America. And that was started in 1990. During that time we kept thinking that wouldn’t it be great if we could do that internationally, particularly with countries that may not have the ability to get the support and finances to restore certain films…It’s the tenacity and the obsession of the filmmaker that I’m hoping we will be able to deal with here.”

Martin Scorsese on the impact of watching international movies: “I saw a great deal of films on television, in particular, and I remember learning something about India from watching a Satyajit Ray’s films, not from watching film about India made by other countries and this opened a whole world to me. Foreign films on television introduced so many different cultures to me. What may happen is that we re-influence each other and that creates a new kind of cinema that is right her in Cannes. But most importantly is that once we begin to understand, we’ll begin to have less of a feeling of strangeness towards other cultures. This hopefully can bring about some political understanding.”

Walter Salles on preserving cinema history: “A sentence said by Glauber Rocha, producer and also director of photography: ‘A country without cinema or cinema history is like a house without mirrors.’ So you understand rapidly that the question of preserving films is preserving cultural identity.”

Souleymane Cissé on the preservation of film in Africa: "This Foundation represents hope for us in Africa, because we are more and more aware of the multitude of problems on the continent… In many African countries there is no such thing as the film preservation. We organized a festival in the center of Africa and we invited Serge Toubiana, head of the French Cinematheque. We wanted him to talk about preservation, yet we were reminded that we were in a region where people are scrambling to find food and that is where the filmmakers came together to talk about the preservation of their identity. To put it simply, I think Martin Scorsese has a strong place in his heart for humanity and a great foresight. He came to us and we have joined the battle wholeheartedly, because it is essential to our survival. Our films are beginning to raise buzz. If in 15 or even 30 years down the line, these films are no longer visible, well, we will cease to exist."

Wong Kar Wai on the Hong Kong Film Archives: “Actually I think the films before 1949 are well preserved in China. Perhaps it’s the habits of the Chinese; they like to keep things…In the past few years they have been trying to restore them, like one of my favorites: Springtime in a Small Town. After 1949, Hong Kong Film Archives have been the center for entertainment for all the overseas Chinese communities. A few years ago I went to Chinatown in San Francisco and we realized there’s a warehouse outside of San Francisco with hundreds of titles. And I think all these films are something very important, to link all of the Chinese around the world because they have something to share. So we are trying to get these film shipped to the Hong Kong Film Archives.”

Cannes 2007 | Turkish Pavilion

PAVILION PROFILE: Turkey Looks to Boost Visibility with Bigger Pavilion

This time last year Turkey was in a Pavilion space half its current size, but 2007 brought along a newfound confidence and along with that, the need for expansion. With 100 square meters, Turkey has created a "welcoming home" of sorts for their Cannes line up of filmmakers to relax, work, and network. Not only has their square footage increased, but so has their advertisement of their films. Visible on the market floor and in the trade paper Variety, Turkey has made some clear financial commitments in order to augment their exposure to the Cannes international community.

This year, Turkey's collaborative film with Germany, "The Edge of Heaven," by Fatih Akin, which is about a young man who goes on a search for his father's girlfriend's political activist daughter, is in the festival's official competition and will have its gala screening (with all the trappings accustomed to those nightly events) on Wednesday, May 23rd in the Lumiere. Another film that brought Turkey back to Cannes is the Director's Fortnight selection "Egg," by Kaplanoglu Semih. Centered on Yusuf, a poet, the man returns to his home village, which he hasn't visited for years, following the death of his mother. A young girl named Ayla, who had been living with Yusef's mother for the past five years, is waiting for him in their decrepit house. Ayla has a mission for Yusuf, he must perform a sacrificial rite and visit a Saint's tomb that his mother, Zehra, was not able to fulfill before she died.

Currently, Turkey's main interests are enhancing visibility and shopping around their seven screenings at the market, pitching ideas to other filmmakers, and searching for co-producers. The Turkish Pavilion offers a daily happy hour that goes from 6-9pm. They boast that when the rest of the International village is desolate, they are busy and alive with attendees sipping on Turkish wine and coffee. Turkey's box office is perhaps itself a mirror of this liveliness as well. In 2005, Turkish film was 40% of the country's domestic box office revenues. In 2006, the percentage had increased to 51.8% of the box office, a figure that gives the country an enviable home grown film industry in comparison to many of its neighbors. [Ashley Adams]

2007 Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival

Flying Broom bids farewell to Ankara

The 10th edition of Ankara's Uçan Süpürge (Flying Broom) International Women's Film Festival ended Sunday with an award ceremony at the Metropol movie theater, where the festival has been screening 149 productions by female filmmakers for the last 10 days.

Japanese actress-director Kaori Momoi's feature-film "Faces of a Fig Tree" was named the winner of the prestigious International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Prize at the ceremony, beating 14 entrants from various countries screened in the "Each has a Different Color" section of the festival. The winners of the short film screenplay competition were also announced during the ceremony. There was a three-way tie for first place -- including Burcu Tasçı for her story titled "Tek Sahnelik Hayat" (Single-act Life), Merlin Yılmaz for "Ve Bir Tüy Düstü" (And a Feather Fell) and Esra Günel and Erhan Yavuz for "Oyuncak" (Toy) -- according to the Anatolia news agency.

This year's theme for the short film screenplay competition was "Marriage and Playing Family," aiming to draw public attention to problems caused by early marriages. Flying Broom women's platform coordinator Halime Güler said the festival has once more proven that "democracy has been approved by women." She said the Flying Broom was "a bold, leading and mighty festival. For a festival to be marking its 10th year shows its permanence," she added.

Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival | Uçan Süpürge Uluslararası Kadın Filmleri Festivali
Büyükelçi Sok. 20/4, Kavaklıdere – Ankara, Turkey
T: 0 312 427 00 20/4 | F: 0 312 466 55 61 |
W: http://festival.ucansupurge.org | E: festival@ucansupurge.org

Honey by Semih Kaplanoglu

HONEY /SYNOPSIS

Honey, the third in the Yusuf trilogy, is also the last stage in the journey we take to the origin of a soul.

Yusuf reached maturity in Egg while in Milk he was on the verge of leaving home and becoming an adult. Honey takes us to the childhood of the poet.

Honey is the inner story of a boy who searches for his lost father at a point where he's trying to make sense of life, living in the remotest and wildest area of the Eastern Black Sea Region where modern life has not yet penetrated.

Called 'The World's Finest Honey,' the Black Hive Honey (specific to the region) is produced by a dwindling number of beekeepers in hand-made hives set on treetops in the deepest reaches of a dark and frightening forest.

A joint effort by the endangered Caucasian bees and the beekeeper Yakup, this therapeutic honey is the essence of an older world, untouched nature and holiest knowledge for the inhabitants of the region.

Yakup, the skilful gatherer of this miracle on high treetops, intrepid in the face of all hardships and perils, is a holy person in the eyes of his son Yusuf. The loss of his father, who had vanquished the terrifying forest in Yusuf's eyes, the colossal trees and the monster in his lair, disillusions the boy greatly.

The first poems he writes using the letters he's learned at school taste of the Black Hive Honey.

Yusuf defies the forest on the way between school and home. He wants his father back. He firmly believes his father, in his eyes very like the prophet his grandmother often talks about, will return one day.

Yusuf confronts a completely unfamiliar world when he steps into the forest, gathering all his courage to try to find his father. The tree by which he is to spend the night and the darkness of the forest will capture his soul for all eternity.

Cannes 2007 | Egg by Semih Kaplanoglu

Egg,"the first film of Semih Kaplanoğlu's "Yusuf Trilogy", has been selected for screening at the "Quinzaine des Realisateurs" section of the 60th Cannes Film Festival.A co-production between Turkey and Greece, the film was made with the support of Eurimages, Turkey's Ministry of Culture, the Greek Film Center, Efes Pilsen and the Municipality of Tire and features Nejat İşler and Saadet Işıl Aksoy in the leading roles.

"Milk" the second film from the Yusuf Trilogy--Honey, Milk, and Egg--written by Semih Kaplanoğlu and Orçun Köksal will be introduced to film professionals by the Cannes Atelier, one of the official sections of the Cannes festival. Yumurta
de Semih Kaplanoglu
Egg | Yumurta
Official Site

DIRECTOR Semih Kaplanoğlu SCREENPLAY Semih Kaplanoğlu DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Özgür Eken SOUND İsmail Karadaş
SOUND MIX Yorgos Mikrogiannakis ART DIRECTOR Naz Erayda UNIT PRODUCTION MANAGER
Özkan Yılmaz EDITING Ayhan Ergürsel, Semih Kaplanoğlu, Suzan Hande Güneri
PRODUCER Semih Kaplanoğlu Kaplan Film Production CO-PRODUCER Lilette Botassi Inkas Film Production GREEK CO-PRODUCERSPanayiotis Papazoğlu(PPV S.A.) SOUND STUDIO Papazoğlu S.A. (Athens)LAB Sinefekt (İstanbul)Sklavis Lab (Athens) CAST:Nejat İşler (Yusuf), Saadet Işıl Aksoy (Ayla), Ufuk Bayraktar (Haluk), Tülin Özen (Woman in Bookstore), Gülçin Santırcıoğlu (Gül) Kaan Karabacak (Little Boy)


SYNOPSIS: Poet Yusuf returns to his childhood hometown, which he hadn't visited for years, upon his mother's death. A young girl, Ayla awaits him in a crumbling house. Yusuf has been unaware of the existence of this distant relation who had been living with his mother for five years.

Ayla has something to ask of Yusuf . Yusuf is obliged to perform the sacrifice his mother Zehra had been prevented by death from fulfilling. Yusuf agrees as he finds himself unable to withstand the passive rhythm of rural life, the spaces imbued with the ghosts and personages of old lovers and friends, nor against the overriding feeling of guilt.

Yusuf and Ayla set off for the saint's tomb, some three or four hours away, for the traditional sacrifice ceremony. Unable to locate the herd amongst which the sacrificial animal was to be selected, they have to spend the night in a hotel by the crater lake. Yusuf and Ayla are drawn closer together by the atmosphere of the wedding party at the hotel.

While the falling snow blankets guilt, the place to which they are returning will no longer be that old town.


Film greco-turc en couleur, 2007, tous publics
Quinzaine des réalisateurs Cannes 2007

A la mort de sa mère, le poète Yusuf retourne dans son village natal où il n'était pas venu depuis des années. Ayla, une jeune fille qui vivait avec sa mère depuis cinq ans l'attend dans une maison décrépite.
Ayla demande à Yusuf d'accomplir le rite sacrificiel que sa mère Zehra n'a pas pu faire avant de mourir. En route our la tombe du saint, ils doivent s'arrêter pour la nuit dans un hôtel. Se trouvant pris dans une fête de mariage, Yusuf et Ayla découvrent qu'ils sont attirés l'un par l'autre.

Casting : Semih Kaplanoglu (Réalisation), Nejat Isler , Saadet Isil Aksoy , Ufuk Bayraktar , Semih Kaplanoglu (Scénario), Orcun Koksal (Scénario)

Durée : 97 minutes