Thessaloniki 49 | Three Monkeys by Nuri Bilğe Ceylan

Three Monkeys / Nuri Bilğe Ceylan
A family dislocated when small failings blow up into extravagant lies, battles against the odds to stay together by covering up the truth... In order to avoid hardship and responsibilities that would otherwise be impossible to endure, the family chooses to ignore the truth, not to see, hear or talk about it. But does playing Three Monkeys invalidate the truth of its existence?
Director:	Nuri Bilğe Ceylan
Script:	Ebru Ceylan, Ercan Kesal, Nuri Bilğe
Photographer:	Gökhan Tiryaki
Montage:	Ayhan Ergürsel, Bora Gökşingöl, Nuri Bilğe Ceylan
Sound:	Murat Şenürkmez
Art Direction:	Ebru Ceylan
Actors:	Yavuz Bingöl (Eyüp), Hatice Aslan (Hacer), Ahmet Rıfat Şungar (İsmail), Ercan Kesal (Servet), Cafer Köse (Bayram), Gürkan Aydın (child)
World Sales:	Pyramide Films, France T. + 33 1 4296 0101 F. +33 1 4020 0221 www.pyramidefilms.com
Distribution in Greece:	Rosebud T. +30 210 6786505 F. +30 210 6755067 fint@hvh.com.gr www.odeon.com
Producer:	Zeynep Özbatur, Fabienne Vonier, Valerio De Paolis, Cemal Noyan, Nuri Bilğe Ceylan
Production:	Zeyno Film & Pyramide Films & Bim Distribuzione NBC Film & IMAJ
Production Country:	Turkey, France, Italy
Type:	35mm Color
Duration:	109'
Production Year:	2008

Nuri Bilğe Ceylan

Director

Nuri Bilğe Ceylan

Filmography 1995 Koza/Cocoon (short) 1997 Kasaba/Small Town 1999 Mayis sikintisi/Clouds of May 2002 Uzak/Distant 2006 Iklimler/Climates 2008 Üç Maymun/Three Monkeys Biography He was born in Istanbul in 1959, but grew up in the country. He studied Filmmaking at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul. "Small Town", was screened at festivals around the world and won numerous awards. "Distant" won many national and international awards, including the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Actor Award at the Cannes IFF. "Climates", won the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes IFF 2006, while "Three Monkeys" won the award for Best Director at Cannes IFF 2008.

Thessaloniki 49 | Süt by Semih Kaplanoğlu

Süt / Semih Kaplanoğlu
Young Yusuf, 18-years-old, is disconcerted when he learns that his mother Fatma, 40- years-old, is having a secret affair with the town’s railroad stationmaster. Should he behave in accordance with the traditional male-dominated culture and traditions of the town or should he develop a new perspective that goes along with the new modernization process that is on-going in the area?
Director:	Semih Kaplanoğlu
Script:	Semih Kaplanoğlu, Orçun Köksal
Photographer:	Özgür Eken
Montage:	François Quiqueré
Sound:	Marc Nouyrigat
Art Direction:	Naz Erayda
Actors:	Melih Selçuk (Yusuf), Başak Köklükaya (Zehra), Şerif Erol (Station Master), Rıza Akın (professor), Saadet Işıl Aksoy (Semra)
World Sales:	The Match Factory Germany T. +49 221 539 709-0 F. +49 221 539 709-10 info@matchfactory.de www.the-match-factory.com
Producer:	Semih Kaplanoğlu
Production:	Kaplan Film Production
Production Country:	Turkey, France, Germany
Co-production:	Arizona Films, Heimatfilm
Type:	35mm Color
Duration:	102'
Production Year:	2008

Semih Kaplanoğlu

Director

Semih Kaplanoğlu

Filmography 1984 Mobapp (short) 1993 Asansör/Elevator (short) 2000 Herkes kendi evinde/Away From Home 2004 Meleğin Düşüşü/Angel’s Fall 2007 Yumurta/Egg 2008 Süt/Milk Biography Hewas born in Smyrna, Turkey in 1963 and received a degree in Film and Television from Dokuz Eylül University, Smyrna in 1984. His debut feature film, "Away From Home", has won many awards. His second feature film, "Angel’s Fall", had its World Premiere at the 55th Berlin FF, and was screened at the Thessaloniki IFF in 2005. "Egg" is the first part of a trilogy called "Egg-Milk-Honey". "Egg" was invited to the Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes IFF 2007, while the second part of his trilogy, "Süt", received production support from the World Cinema Fund of the Berlinale.

Thessaloniki 49 | Shell by Uygar Asan

Shell / Uygar Asan
Burhan a young man in his mid-twenties, works at the post office. His job is allocating the incoming letters according to their addresses. He lives alone. His mother and sister are dead. His father is a retired army officer who is now a senile and lives in a clinic. He likes a girl that he has never disclosed his feelings to. He has his own way of building a relationship with her that causes him trouble. Despite the troubles he faces, he manages to go on with his life thanks to a letter addressed to someone else. Burhan will start behaving in an strange manner and he will pose as someone else through this letter. What will this new situation bring? Will the “shell” that Burhan lives in break? Will he find a way out from his alienated life?
Director:	Uygar Asan
Script:	Uygar Asan
Photographer:	Uygar Asan
Montage:	Uygar Asan
Sound:	Tolga Çelik
Music:	Tolga Çelik
Art Direction:	Anita Sezgener, Nilay Kacar
Actors:	Sezgin Cengiz (Burhan), Ayşe Bayramoğlu (the girl working in the laundry), Tolga İskit (Burhan’s friend at the post office)
World Sales:	Yeşil Karinca Video Düş Laboratuvari, Turkey Uygar Asan T. +90 216 550 1142 yesilkarinca@yahoo.com www.yesilkarinca.com
Producer:	Uygar Asan
Production:	Yeşil Karinca Video Düş Laboratuvari
Production Country:	Turkey
Type:	Digibeta Color
Duration:	100'
Production Year:	2007

Uygar Asan

Director

Uygar Asan

Filmography 1995 13 (short) 2003 Where is the House of the Wind? (short) 2003 Perpetuum Immobile (short) 2003 Leap into the Void: İlhan Usmanbaş 2005 Winter Garden 2007 Kabuk/Shell Biography He was born in Isparta in 1967 and studied at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts Faculty Cinema-TV Department for two years. From 1995 until 2002, he worked in various jobs except cinema. During these years he was only interested in literature, and published poems and writings. By the year 2003 he started to write and direct his own films. He lives in Istanbul.

Thessaloniki 49 | Pandora’s Box by Yeşim Ustaoğlu

Pandora’s Box / Yeşim Ustaoğlu
When three forty-something siblings in Istanbul receive a call one night that their aging mother has disappeared from her home at the western Black Sea coast of Turkey, the three set out to find her, momentarily setting aside their problems. As the siblings come together, the tensions between them quickly become apparent, like Pandora’s box spilling open. They come to realize that they know very little about each other and are forced to reflect on their own shortcomings.
Director:	Yeşim Ustaoğlu
Script:	Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Selma Kaygusuz
Photographer:	Jacques Besse
Montage:	Franck Nakache
Sound:	Bernd von Bassevitz
Music:	Jean-Pierre Mas
Costumes:	Gülname Eşsiz
Actors:	Tsilla Chelton (Nusret), Derya Alabora (Nesrin), Onur Ünsal (Murat), Övül Avkiran (Güzin), Osman Sonant (Mehmet)
World Sales:	The Match Factory, Germany T. +49 22 153 9709-0 F. +49 22 153 9709-10 info@matchfactory.de www.matchfactory.de
Distribution in Greece:	2-1-0 Films T. +30 210 3303433 F. +30 210 3303432 leo@2-1-0.gr www.2-1-0.gr
Production Design:	H.F. Farsi, Elif Taşçioğlu, Serdar Yilmaz
Producer:	Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Muhammet Çakıral, Serkan Çakarer, Behrooz Hashemian, Setareh Farsi, Natacha Devillers, Catherine Burniaux, Michael Weber, Tobias Pausinger
Production:	Ustaoglu Film Yapim
Production Country:	Turkey, France, Belgium, Germany
Co-production:	Silkroad Production & Les Petites Lumières & Stromboli Pictures & The Match Factory
Type:	35mm Color
Duration:	112'
Production Year:	2008

Yeşim Ustaoğlu

Director

Yeşim Ustaoğlu

Filmography 1994 Iz/The Trace 1999 Günese yolculuk/Journey to the Sun 2004 Bulutlari beklerken/Waiting for the Clouds 2008 Pandoranin kutusu/Pandora’s box Biography She was born in Sarikamis, in eastern Turkey, in 1960. After making several award-winning shorts in Turkey, she made her feature film debut with 1994’s "The Trace" which was presented at numerous international festivals. Her second feature film, "Journey to the Sun", won the Blue Angel Award for Best European Film at the Berlin IFF and the Best Film and Best Director prizes at the Istanbul IFF in 1999. "Waiting for the Clouds" won the Special Jury Award and the Best Actress award at the Istanbul IFF and was screened at the Thessaloniki IFF 2004.

Thessaloniki 49 | My Marlon and Brando by Hüseyin Karabey

My Marlon and Brando / Hüseyin Karabey
Hama Ali, a charismatic B movie actor from Iraq, and Ayça, a similarly rotund but charming actress from Turkey, met on a film-set. Their love affair continued across borders through video love letters and broken phone calls until the Americans invaded Iraq and hellish violence engulfed the country. As most people fled from East to West seeking safety, Ayça decided to make the journey from West to East, seeking her lover. This dramatic feature film is the true story of her extraordinary, and ultimately tragic, experiences in such mad times...
Director:	Hüseyin Karabey
Script:	Hüseyin Karabey, Ayça Damgaci
Photographer:	A. Emre Tanyildiz
Montage:	Mary Stephen
Sound:	Mohammed Mokhtari
Music:	Kemal S. Gürel, Erdal Güney, Hüseyin Yildiz
Costumes:	Yasemin Taşkin
Actors:	Ayça Damgaci (Ayça), Hama Ali Khan (Hama Ali), Cengiz Bozkurt (Azad), Savaş Emrah Özdemir (Soran), Ani İpekkaya (Mrs Ariknas)
World Sales:	Insomnia World Sales, France T. +33 1 4358 0804 F. +33 1 4358 0932 contact@insomnia-sales.com www.insomnia-sales.com
Producer:	Lucinda Englehart, Hüseyin Karabey, Sophie Lorant
Production:	A-si Film Yapim & Motel Films & Spier Films
Production Country:	Turkey, The Netherlands, UK
Type:	35mm Color
Duration:	92'
Production Year:	2008

Hüseyin Karabey

Director

Hüseyin Karabey

Filmography 1996 Etruch Camp (doc.) 1999 Boran (short) 2003 Gift to Nazim Hikmet Ram (doc.) 2001 Silent Death (docu-drama) 2004 Breath (Pina Bausch) (doc.) 2007 I Cheated Death at the Meeting Point (doc.) 2008 My Marlon and Brando (Gitmek) Biography He is regarded as one of Turkey’s new directing talents. His previous works, "Boran" and "Silent Death", both won numerous awards and have been shown at film festivals worldwide. His documentary "Breath", has been shown everywhere from Japan to Cuba. Apart from filming, he also lectures at universities and cultural organizations in Turkey. "My Marlon and Brando (Gitmek)", his first feature film, was selected for Cinemart 2006 and IFP No Borders in New York in 2006.

Thessaloniki 49 | Lost Songs of Anatolia by Nezih Unen

Lost Songs of Anatolia / Nezih Unen
As the fruit of 350 hours of footage and 5 years of labor and creative study, "Lost Songs of Anatolia" may be the first example of its kind as a documentary-musical film. The cultural riches of Anatolia are sung in authentic performances recorded live on location, spontaneously. Through the modern arrangements, an incomparable musical is formed. While this journey shows how music and culture is derived from life, geography and work, an exploration of Anatolia’s versatile cultures takes place on the basis of music, dance and rituals. The staggering environment surrounding these people and influencing their lifestyles contributes to the lyric flow of the film.
Director:	Nezih Unen
Photographer:	Aras Demiray, Behic Gulsacan
Montage:	Nezih Unen
Sound:	Sarp Ozdemiroglu
Art Direction:	Ceyda Caba
Actors:	featuring: Cemile Yildirim, Cetin Icten, Osman Turan, Osman Efendioglu, Cevahir Serbetci, Mustafa Metin, Cevdet Oztopal, Halil Er, Mehmet Bedel, Mehmet Celer, Kirtil Folk Music Ensemble, Muhammet Demir, Ceyhun Demir, Ismail Ozdemir, Denizli Zeybek Dancers, BehzatYurt, Ali Kara,Mehmet Demir, Madine Ozen, Orhan Karadagoglu, Mahmut Karatas, Sabri Yokus, Herkul Boncuk, Ali Bilgis, et al.
World Sales:	Nezih Unen Productions, Turkey T. +90 212 257 4562 F. +90 212 263 4930 mail@nezihunen.com www.nezihunen.com
Producer:	Nezih Unen
Production:	Nezih Unen Productions
Production Country:	Turkey
Type:	Digibeta Color
Duration:	97'
Production Year:	2008

Nezih Unen

Director

Nezih Unen

Filmography 2008 Anadolu’nun kayip sarkilari/Lost Songs of Anatolia (doc.) Biography He graduated as an Engineer from Bogazici University. Always interested in music, photography and drama, he pursued his career in music as a composer, producer, arranger and singer. The most common aspect of his works has been the fusion of music from different genres and cultures in a unique personal style. In his 20-year music career, he produced music videos and made music for films. These experiences gave him the courage to start his first film, "Lost Songs of Anatolia".

Thessaloniki 49 | Dot by Derviş Zaim

Dot / Derviş Zaim
Dot is the story of a man tormented by a crime he once committed, who now seeks to redeem himself. The action, which advances along an axis of crime and punishment, organically incorporates one of Turkey’s traditional art forms, calligraphy, into the story. One of the most striking ways in which calligraphy marks both language and content is the film’s structure as a single, fluid shot.
Director:	Derviş Zaim
Script:	Derviş Zaim
Photographer:	Ercan Yılmaz
Music:	Mazlum Çimen
Art Direction:	Natali Yeres
Actors:	Mehmet Ali Nuroğlu (Ahmet), Serhat Kılıç (Selim), Settar Tanrıöğen (Mumin), Şener Kökkaya, Mustafa Uzunyılmaz, Nadi Güler
World Sales:	Sarmaşık Sanatlar, Turkey Baran Seyhan T. +90 212 219 5335 F. +90 212 219 5334 baranseyhan@sarmasiksanatlar.com www.sarmasiksanatlar.com
Producer:	Derviş Zaim, Baran Seyhan
Production:	Marathon Film & Sarmaşık Sanatlar
Production Country:	Turkey
Type:	35mm Color
Duration:	58'
Production Year:	2008

Derviş Zaim

Director

Derviş Zaim

Filmography 1996 Tabutta Rövaşata/Somersault in a Coffin 2000 Filler ve Çimen/Elephants and Grass 2003 Çamur/Mud 2006 Cenneti Beklerken/Waiting for Heaven 2008 Nokta/Dot Biography He was born in Famagusta, Cyprus in 1964, graduated from Warwick University in England and studied Film Production in London. In 1995, his first novel, "Ares in Wonderland", won the prestigious Yunus Nadi literary prize in Turkey. A year later he made an auspicious debut as a director with "Somersault in a Coffin", which won various awards, including the Silver Alexander at the Thessaloniki IFF 1997. All of his films have received honors and awards in film festivals around the world.

Thessaloniki 49 | Autumn by Özcan Alper

Autumn / Özcan Alper
Sentenced to prison in 1997 as a university student at the age of 22, Yusuf is released on health grounds 10 years later. He returns to his village in the Black Sea region, where he’s welcomed only by his sick and elderly mother. It turns out that his father died while he was in prison and his older sister got married and moved away to the city. Economic factors mean that it’s almost exclusively old people who live in the mountain villages, and the only person Yusuf sees is his childhood friend Mikhail. As autumn slowly gives way to winter, Yusuf meets Eka, a beautiful Georgian hooker. Neither the timing nor the circumstances are right for these two people from different worlds. Even so, love becomes a final desperate attempt to grasp life and elude loneliness.
Director:	Özcan Alper
Script:	Özcan Alper
Photographer:	Feza Çaldiran
Montage:	Thomas Balkenhol
Sound:	Mohammed Mokhtary
Music:	Yuri Rydahencko, Ayşenur Kolivar, Sumru Agiryürüyen, Onok Bozkurt
Art Direction:	Canan Çayir
Actors:	R. Gulefer Yenigül (mother), Serkan Keskin (Mikail), Onur Saylak (Yusuf), Megi Koboladze (Eka)
World Sales:	Media Luna Entertainment GmbH, Germany T. +49 221 801498 F. +49 221 80149821 info@medialuna-entertainment.de www.medialuna-entertainment.de
Producer:	F. Serkan Acar, Kadir Sözen
Production:	Kuzey Film Production
Production Country:	Turkey, Germany
Co-production:	Filmfabrik Spiel-und Dokumentarfilmproduktion
Type:	35mm Color
Duration:	106'
Production Year:	2008

Özcan Alper

Director

Özcan Alper

Filmography 2001 Grandmother (short) 2002 Voyage in Time with a Scientist (short doc.) 2005 Rhapsody and Melancholy in Tokai City (short doc.) 2008 Sonbahar/Autumn Biography He was born in Artvin, Turkey in 1975 and studied Physics and History of Science at the University of Istanbul. Since 1997 he has been working as assistant director and production manager on a variety of feature filmand TV productions. He directed a short fiction, "Grandmother", and two short documentaries, "Voyage in Time with a Scientist" and "Rhapsody and Melancholy in Tokai City".

2007 Fall |GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY REES-465

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.

Antalya Golden Orange 2008 | 3 Apples Fell From the Sky

3 Apples Fell From the Sky
Raşit Çelikezer
Orginal Title:
Gökten 3 Elma Düştü
Turkish Title:
Gökten 3 Elma Düştü
Director:
Raşit Çelikezer
Screenplay:
Raşit Çelikezer
Cast:
Köksal Engür, Bennu Yıldırımlar, İsmail Hacıoğlu, Kürşat Alnıaçık
Country:
Turkey
Year:
2008
Duration:
119'
Production:
Defne Film Prodüksiyon
Producer:
Raşit Çelikezer
Photography:
Mustafa Nuri Eser
Editing:
Serdar Çakular
Music:
Tamer Çıray
Young Ali who is a small time thief runs away from home, from his mother and his father whom he rarely sees. Without knowing how he will be received, he takes an awkward trip to his grandfather in Istanbul, whom he has never seen before.

San Sebastian winner is Pandora's Box

Turkish film wins top award in San Sebastian. Nineteen films vied for San Sebastian awards at the 10-day festival held in the northern Basque coastal city facing the Bay of Biscay. Donostia is San Sebastian’s name in the locally spoken Basque language. This year was the 56th edition of Spain’s top film festival.


Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf’s film "Two-legged Horse" took the festival jury’s special prize. The best actor award went to Argentina’s Oscar Martinez for his role in "El Nido Vacio" (The Empty Nest). The best cinematography award went to Hugo Colace for his camera work in "El Nido Vacio." Benoit Delphine and Gustave Kervern shared the award for best screenplay for the French movie "Louise-Michel."

Festivals annual New Director award went to Chinese filmmaker Cao Baoping for his film "The Equation of Love and Death." American director, Paul Thomas Anderson, was awarded the Fipresci prize - a subordinate category - for his film "There Will Be Blood." American actress Meryl Streep and Spanish actor Antonio Bandera’s were honored on Friday with the Donostia Prize for a lifetimes work.


[1] The Match Factory has sold Greek rights to San Sebastian Film Festival winner "Pandora's Box" to 2-1-0 Films after Spain's Karma Films acquired it for Spain at the beginning of the fest.

Cologne-based Match Factory said Trigon Film will release the pic in Switzerland. It will also be broadcast on the NHK web in Japan.

Fatih Akin gets funding for new projects

The upcoming financing slate for the Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Film Fund provides subsidies for both features and TV productions that promise high-quality content as well as showcasing the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. The institution has funneled $1.26 million into Fatih Akin’s upcoming comedy Soul Kitchen. That represents the largest single contribution of a $4.8 million initiative to fund new films by local auteurs Tom Tykwer (left), Hans Weingartner (center), and Akin (right).

Of most interest is the $310,000 given to the Herbstfilm produced omnibus Deutschland 09. Featuring segments by Akin/Tykwer/Weingartner along with Isabella Stever (Gisela) and Dominic Graf (The Red Cockatoo), the project is a platform for the filmmakers to experiment with the form as they offer their personal insights on the current political and social climate in Germany. The film is a nod to 1978’s Germany in Autumn featuring shorts by Sinkel and Fassbinder.