Times And Winds (Bes Vakit)
Cert: 15
Evening Standard review by Derek Malcolm
Dir: Reha Erdem. Cast: Ozkan Ozen, Ali Bey Kayali, Elit Iscan, Selma Ergec, Tarik Sonmez
Description: Vivid portrait of the hopes and dreams of three youngsters who live in a remote Turkish hillside community on the country's northwest coast. Omer, best pal Yakup and Yildiz hang out together after school, chewing over their humdrum routines and the people shaping their futures, including their beautiful teacher and the local shepherd boy Davut with a secret crush. An ill wind blows across the hillside, compelling the youngters to make difficult decisions.
Country: TURK. 2006. 111mins
Village people in Times and Winds
By Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard 28.08.08
Though painfully slow to ignite and poetically portentous on occasions, Reha Erdem’s film about three children growing up in a remote Anatolian village, isolated by high mountains, has an impressive edge to it. It is shot with great care for the harsh beauty of the terrain, and seeks to show us both the travails of daily existence and the pain of adolescence.
Omer, the son of the sick local imam, wishes for the death of a father who prefers his daughter to himself. He’s quite willing to force the issue by secretly throwing away his medicine. Yacob has a crush on his young teacher and begins to feel the same way as Omer when he catches his father spying on her. Yildiz, being a girl, has to see to household chores as well as studying.
The village scene is painted with a kind of resignation that seems to believe that the rhythms of the seasons and the five daily calls to prayer have a formative impact on its young characters, even at play on the mountains. Erdem’s film is nothing if not ruminative and always beautiful to look at.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Times and Winds | DVD Review
Times and Winds
Kino // Unrated // July 15, 2008
List Price: $29.95
Review by Jamie S. Rich | posted July 5, 2008 |
THE MOVIE:
Slowly paced films have a strange, ironic quality in that despite the glacial pace at which their narratives move, they are often the films that pass the fastest when you are watching them. It's as if the demand they place on you as a viewer is so great, you become even more immersed in the story than you do when the picture is moving at a constant sprint. So focused are you on digesting every small morsel it has to offer, the closing credits come on before you even have a chance to check your watch.
The Turkish movie Times and Winds has this kind of time-warp sensation. Set in a predominantly Muslim mountain village, writer/director Reha Erdem's 2007 feature borrows the ambling pace of rural life at high altitudes. Following the adolescent struggles of three teenagers, Erdem captures the predicament of youth perfectly, creating the simultaneous feeling that life will never move forward and that everything is slipping away faster than you can control.
All three of the children in Times and Winds are at the juncture of growing up where they are becoming aware of the adult world and its pleasures, and that there might be more to the world beyond the confines of their hometown. They want to experience these new discoveries and to express themselves for who they are, but their parents are too busy placing restrictions on them. Cigarettes are too mature for them, for instance, but they are expected to help with work, look after younger siblings, and appear for their daily prayers. They can't be childish, but they won't be given the rewards of adulthood, either.
Of the three teenagers, two are boys and one is a girl. Of the boys, Omer (Özkan Özen) is ostensibly the leader. His father is the head of the village church, and both of Omer's parents dote on his younger brother as a way of calling attention to their eldest son's faults. Omer dreams of the day he will be free of his father, and when the old man becomes sick, he tries whatever he can--opening his bedroom window at night, emptying his medicine--to help the illness win. When that's not fast enough, Omer dreams of other forms of patricide, weighing the consequence of the sin against the benefits of the result.
In contrast, Omer's slow-witted friend Yakup (Ali Bey Kayali), like most boys his age, is obsessed with sex. He dreams of his teacher (Selma Ergeç), whom he clearly has a crush on, but his inability to talk about it would lead us to believe that he doesn't really know what sex is. Though all of the children see the animals in their village go at it from time to time, they giggle at what they don't understand. Yakup is so embarrassed, in fact, he chases off Yildiz (Elit Iscan) when he realizes that she is also there when he and Omer are watching donkeys have sex. Not that Yildiz has much interest in growing into a woman. She has been placed in the role of caretaker too early, stuck babysitting when she'd rather be out enjoying the world. She is also leery of what goes on behind her parents' closed bedroom door.
The animals copulating are shown to us in contrast to the images of death that Erdem peppers throughout Times and Winds. The teens live in a natural environment where the cycle of life is always on display. On one end, Omer's father and Yildiz's grandmother are both showing their mortality; on the other, Yakup's mother is about to have another child. Erdem creates a world of dualities. Omer in contrast to his younger brother is mirrored in Yakup's father being seen as less capable next to his brother. By extension, this shows the conflict between the generations is ongoing. Yakup's grandfather orders his sons to build a stone wall outside the garden they inherited from him; ever since that gift, however, he has made sure the men are beholden to him, and as soon as the wall is built, he dismantles it, declaring it's not good enough. Yakup is eventually torn between the shame for his father's humiliation in such situations and the betrayal of realizing he really is a nincompoop, catching the older man peeping through the teacher's window.
Unlike the sturm und drang of western films about adolescent angst, Erdem infuses Time and Winds with a quieter melancholy. These kids are restless and they want to lash out, but they aren't particularly destructive; life hasn't yet taught them to be. Though they see some violence among the adults, they don't mimic it. Even Omer's murderous daydreaming is free of any actual blood, stopping short at the moment of action. Instead, the yearning fantasies of the trio show how far beyond childhood they have been pushed. Erdem's images of death are merely the teens lying in the dirt and the brush, as if asleep, covered by rocks and leaves like they have been there for some time, the natural way of things overtaking their prone bodies. It's an approach that goes counter to the normal suicide fantasies of troubled adolescence. They are more like older folk, tired and wanting to lay down. Thus, Erdem chooses to show us time in reverse. Rather than have Times and Winds be one long night of the soul, waiting for dawn to break and all that comes with it, the director moves us back through the day, taking the long way around as it were, as if his children have to regress to reclaim their childhood. Thus, the on-screen chapter breaks go from night, to early afternoon, noon, and then morning.
One other element of note in Times and Winds is the marvelous musical score by composer Arvo Pärt, whose moving music has been used in movies like The Thin Red Line and The Good Shepherd even when he's not the one responsible for the score. For Time and Winds, he creates a vivid soundscape that adds a grandiosity to the subdued images. In his emotionally weighty orchestration, he is able to express the seething power of the turmoil that the teenagers have no outlet for, working hand-in-hand with Erdem's measured visual style to draw the sadness and the longing from the situation. While most of the time the best scores work subliminally without the audience really being aware of the magic the musicians are creating, this is one of those rare cases where there is nothing wrong with taking a moment to just enjoy the sounds for what they have to offer.
Kino // Unrated // July 15, 2008
List Price: $29.95
Review by Jamie S. Rich | posted July 5, 2008 |
THE MOVIE:
Slowly paced films have a strange, ironic quality in that despite the glacial pace at which their narratives move, they are often the films that pass the fastest when you are watching them. It's as if the demand they place on you as a viewer is so great, you become even more immersed in the story than you do when the picture is moving at a constant sprint. So focused are you on digesting every small morsel it has to offer, the closing credits come on before you even have a chance to check your watch.
The Turkish movie Times and Winds has this kind of time-warp sensation. Set in a predominantly Muslim mountain village, writer/director Reha Erdem's 2007 feature borrows the ambling pace of rural life at high altitudes. Following the adolescent struggles of three teenagers, Erdem captures the predicament of youth perfectly, creating the simultaneous feeling that life will never move forward and that everything is slipping away faster than you can control.
All three of the children in Times and Winds are at the juncture of growing up where they are becoming aware of the adult world and its pleasures, and that there might be more to the world beyond the confines of their hometown. They want to experience these new discoveries and to express themselves for who they are, but their parents are too busy placing restrictions on them. Cigarettes are too mature for them, for instance, but they are expected to help with work, look after younger siblings, and appear for their daily prayers. They can't be childish, but they won't be given the rewards of adulthood, either.
Of the three teenagers, two are boys and one is a girl. Of the boys, Omer (Özkan Özen) is ostensibly the leader. His father is the head of the village church, and both of Omer's parents dote on his younger brother as a way of calling attention to their eldest son's faults. Omer dreams of the day he will be free of his father, and when the old man becomes sick, he tries whatever he can--opening his bedroom window at night, emptying his medicine--to help the illness win. When that's not fast enough, Omer dreams of other forms of patricide, weighing the consequence of the sin against the benefits of the result.
In contrast, Omer's slow-witted friend Yakup (Ali Bey Kayali), like most boys his age, is obsessed with sex. He dreams of his teacher (Selma Ergeç), whom he clearly has a crush on, but his inability to talk about it would lead us to believe that he doesn't really know what sex is. Though all of the children see the animals in their village go at it from time to time, they giggle at what they don't understand. Yakup is so embarrassed, in fact, he chases off Yildiz (Elit Iscan) when he realizes that she is also there when he and Omer are watching donkeys have sex. Not that Yildiz has much interest in growing into a woman. She has been placed in the role of caretaker too early, stuck babysitting when she'd rather be out enjoying the world. She is also leery of what goes on behind her parents' closed bedroom door.
The animals copulating are shown to us in contrast to the images of death that Erdem peppers throughout Times and Winds. The teens live in a natural environment where the cycle of life is always on display. On one end, Omer's father and Yildiz's grandmother are both showing their mortality; on the other, Yakup's mother is about to have another child. Erdem creates a world of dualities. Omer in contrast to his younger brother is mirrored in Yakup's father being seen as less capable next to his brother. By extension, this shows the conflict between the generations is ongoing. Yakup's grandfather orders his sons to build a stone wall outside the garden they inherited from him; ever since that gift, however, he has made sure the men are beholden to him, and as soon as the wall is built, he dismantles it, declaring it's not good enough. Yakup is eventually torn between the shame for his father's humiliation in such situations and the betrayal of realizing he really is a nincompoop, catching the older man peeping through the teacher's window.
Unlike the sturm und drang of western films about adolescent angst, Erdem infuses Time and Winds with a quieter melancholy. These kids are restless and they want to lash out, but they aren't particularly destructive; life hasn't yet taught them to be. Though they see some violence among the adults, they don't mimic it. Even Omer's murderous daydreaming is free of any actual blood, stopping short at the moment of action. Instead, the yearning fantasies of the trio show how far beyond childhood they have been pushed. Erdem's images of death are merely the teens lying in the dirt and the brush, as if asleep, covered by rocks and leaves like they have been there for some time, the natural way of things overtaking their prone bodies. It's an approach that goes counter to the normal suicide fantasies of troubled adolescence. They are more like older folk, tired and wanting to lay down. Thus, Erdem chooses to show us time in reverse. Rather than have Times and Winds be one long night of the soul, waiting for dawn to break and all that comes with it, the director moves us back through the day, taking the long way around as it were, as if his children have to regress to reclaim their childhood. Thus, the on-screen chapter breaks go from night, to early afternoon, noon, and then morning.
One other element of note in Times and Winds is the marvelous musical score by composer Arvo Pärt, whose moving music has been used in movies like The Thin Red Line and The Good Shepherd even when he's not the one responsible for the score. For Time and Winds, he creates a vivid soundscape that adds a grandiosity to the subdued images. In his emotionally weighty orchestration, he is able to express the seething power of the turmoil that the teenagers have no outlet for, working hand-in-hand with Erdem's measured visual style to draw the sadness and the longing from the situation. While most of the time the best scores work subliminally without the audience really being aware of the magic the musicians are creating, this is one of those rare cases where there is nothing wrong with taking a moment to just enjoy the sounds for what they have to offer.
Review | A Youthful Awakening to Mother Nature’s Laws in a Turkish Village
Movie Review
Times and Winds (2006)
Kino International
Ozkan Ozen, left, and Ali Bey Kayali in “Times and Winds.”January 11, 2008
A Youthful Awakening to Mother Nature’s Laws in a Turkish Village
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: January 11, 2008
Livestock far outnumber humans in “Times and Winds,” Reha Erdem’s transporting vision of life in a mountain village in northwest Turkey as seen through the eyes of three children on the verge of adolescence. Make no mistake: The movie, for all its majestic shots of the rocky landscape and of the moon skittering behind clouds, is not a lump-in-your-throat portrait of the noble poor living in harmony with the elements.
Even in this remote hamlet untouched by television, human nature is what it is. The two boys, the best friends Omer (Ozkan Ozen) and Yakup (Ali Bey Kayali), and one girl, Yildiz (Elit Iscan), whose day-to-day lives the movie observes with an affectionate detachment, giggle and point at the spectacle of animals mating.
Within their families there is an ugly heritage of generational strife. Because Omer’s strict, ailing father (Bulent Emin Yarar), the village imam, prefers Omer’s younger brother, Omer devoutly wishes his father dead.
While his parents are asleep, he steals into their room and opens a window over their bed, hoping the night air will aggravate his father’s severe respiratory problems. He surreptitiously pulls apart and empties the capsules prescribed for his father’s condition. He even traps a poisonous scorpion he intends to unleash on his father, but it dies.
There is a scene of a frustrated farmer beating a horse and another of an old man attacking his son for stealing nuts from a tree. Yildiz is treated like a servant by her mother. Yakup has a secret infatuation with the village teacher (Selma Ergec), a beautiful young woman whom the villagers reward with regular deliveries of milk and bread. The boy is crushed when he comes upon his father peeping at her through a window of her house. The scene of the son spying on the father spying on the woman rubs in the fact that this is no Garden of Eden.
The teacher’s lessons about the Earth’s rotation, light, heat and the water cycle reflect the film’s focus on the intersection of daily life with the laws of nature. Its absence of high drama allows such primary forces to become its main subject. The film is organized around the five daily calls to Islamic prayer, chronologically reversed so that night is followed by evening, then afternoon, noon and dawn. As the sun rises at the end of the movie, this rearrangement of time simultaneously evokes the village’s unchanging way of life and the blind expectations of preadolescent children facing adulthood.
As in Iranian films that focus on childhood, the soundtrack of “Times and Winds” is filled with the stirrings of nature — the wind rushing through trees, animal sounds and bird song from near and far. Augmenting this pastoral symphony are excerpts from several pieces by Arvo Pärt (including the “Te Deum”) that add texture and gravity to the film. The music — lush but emotionally neutral and at times static — conjures eternal things.
For all its beauty, though, you couldn’t describe “Times and Winds” as uplifting, and its attitude toward childhood is not sentimental in the manner of similarly minimalist Iranian movies. Its vision of people in thrall to religious ritual and living at the mercy of nature may be poetic, but it is no idyll. The serpent has done its dirty work.
TIMES AND WINDS
Opens in Manhattan on Friday.
Written (in Turkish, with English subtitles), directed and edited by Reha Erdem; director of photography, Florent Herry; art director, Omer Atay; produced by Mr. Atay; released by Kino International. At the Anthology Film Archives, 32-34 Second Avenue, at Second Street, East Village. Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes. This film is not rated.
WITH: Ozkan Ozen (Omer), Ali Bey Kayali (Yakup), Elit Iscan (Yildiz), Bulent Emin Yarar (Imam), Taner Birsel (Zekeriya), Yigit Ozsener (Yusuf) and Selma Ergec (Teacher).
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Cairo 2008 | Turkish Films
32nd. Cairo International Film Festival
The International Feature Films Competition
The messenger | Ulak
SYNOPSIS: A mysterious stranger with lots of secrets and a lot to say in his tales pays a visit to a village where people are desperate because of the fear and cruelty they have been suffering. Will the stranger give them hopes to overcome their fears? What are people afraid of? Are sins and crimes punished sooner or later?
Director : Cagan Irmak
Cast : Çetin Tekindor, Hümeyra , Yetkin Dikinciler, Şerif Sezer
Production : Avsar Film - 2008
Time : 102min
Official Selection: Out of Competition
Three Monkeys | Director :Nuri Bilge Ceylan
International competition for Digital Feature Films
Dot | Director : Dervis Zaim
Human Rights Films
Hidden Faces | Director :Handan Ipekci
Havar | Director :Mehmet Guleruz
Refugee | Director :Reis Celik
Sunday, November 16, 2008
N.B.Ceylan wins an Asia Pacific Screen Award
ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARDS 2008 NOMINEES ANNOUNCED
17 ASIA-PACIFIC COUNTRIES REPRESENTED IN NINE AWARD CATEGORIES
Men Jeuk (Sparrow, Hong Kong), Om Shanti Om (India), Tulpan (Kazakhstan, Russia, Switzerland/Poland/Germany), Uc maymun (Three Monkeys, Turkey/France/Italy) and Hong Se Kang Bai Yin (The Red Awn, The People’s Republic of China) will vie for Best Feature Film in the Asia Pacific Screen Awards to be announced on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, on November 11.The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (the APSAs) – the region’s highest accolade in film in 2008 - has announced nominees in nine Award categories representing 33 films from 17 countries and areas of the Asia-Pacific region. They are Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Lebanon, Qatar, New Zealand, People’s Republic of China, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
Johnnie To’s Men Jeuk (Sparrow) has received four nominations - Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing, Achievement in Cinematography and Best Performance by an Actor. Uc maymun (Three Monkeys), directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, has received three nominations. [1]
“The nominees were determined from more than 180 films from 43 countries and areas entered in these, the second APSAs. We are greatly encouraged by the response from filmmakers from Asia-Pacific in our mission to acclaim their work and promote it to an international audience. Once again, the nominees showcase the tremendous talent and creativity that exists in the burgeoning film industries of the region,” said APSA Chairman Des Power.
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards – the APSAs – is a collaboration with CNN International, UNESCO and FIAPF – International Federation of Film Producers Associations and is an international cultural initiative to acclaim films that best reflect their cultural origins and demonstrate cinematic excellence.
[1]
APSA Nomination for Best Feature Film Uc Maymun’ (Three Monkeys) Turkey/France/Italy
Produced by Zeynep Özbatur. Co-Produced by Fabienne Vonier, Valerio De Paolis, Cemal Noyan, Nuri Bilge 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 existence of truth?
APSA Nomination and Winner Achievement in Directing APSA for Achievement in Directing to Nuri Bilge Ceylan for ‘Uc Maymun’ (Three Monkeys) Turkey/France/Italy | Nuri Bilge Ceylan was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1959. After graduating as an engineer from Bosphorus University, Istanbul, he studied filmmaking for two years at Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul. His credits include: Les Climats (2006) Uzak (2003) and Mayis Sikintisi (Clouds of May) (1999).
APSA Nomination for Achievement in Cinematography Gökhan Tiryaki for ‘Uc Maymun’ (Three Monkeys) Turkey/France/Italy | Gökhan Tiryaki was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1972 and studied economics at Anadolu University. After graduating, Gökhan initially worked in the TV and documentary areas as a cameraman in Turkish radio and television and, since 1996, has been a Director of Photography and Steadycam operator for IMAJ. He has received several awards for his cinematography including Best Cinematography for Climates at the Thailand World Film Festival, 2006, and a Special Award of Mosfilm for Three Monkeys.
Interview | Film director Hüseyin Karabey
Film director Hüseyin Karabey
Claims that the film "Gitmek" (known in English as "My Marlon and Brando") was too "divisive" have led to its screenings in Switzerland being halted earlier this month. But on Friday, 20 copies of the cross-border love story hit the big screen in Turkish movie theaters.
This film, which has already collected such prizes as best film, best director and best actress at a variety of international film festivals, has a total of eight awards to its name. And this can be said about the work: "Gitmek" is absolutely not divisive; to the contrary, it highlights Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood.
The film is based on the story of a journey taken to Iraq during the war by a young Turkish woman named Ayça, who risks her life to see her Iraqi Kurdish love, Hama Ali. The fact that the screenplay is based on the real lives of the leading actors makes this film all the more interesting. This is the first feature-length film by director Hüseyin Karabey; the shooting of this film occurred over a total of 6,000 kilometers in Turkey, Iran and Iraq. We, of course, discussed Turkish-Kurdish tension with Karabey when we talked about his latest film. As a last point before moving on to our interview, it would be fair to note that though "My Marlon and Brando" is an art film, it is certainly neither boring nor slow.
What do you make of the statement from Minister of Culture Ertuğrul Günay, who said that the showings of "Gitmek" at the Swiss Culturescapes Art Festival had been banned because the film was divisive?
Well, actually, this was not the statement made by the minister. But that was what people inferred from that statement. In news about this incident, these were the words attributed to the minister, though.
Well, actually, the minister said: "We do not have a problem with this film. This film is already a part of the festival program." But some articles that appeared in Swiss newspapers carried quotes from different people in various regions of Turkey who said that they would not have allowed the film to be shown, which is why I never took any of this to be aimed at me. There is definitely no such divisiveness in this film. This is, after all, a film that received support from the Ministry of Culture and has passed through the most detailed inspections. In fact, there was not even any age limit placed on this film.
In any case, these recent developments have helped formed certain preconceptions about this film. How are you going to transcend these preconceptions?
I have spoken with high-placed authorities at the Ministry of Culture, who have assured me that in fact Ertuğrul Günay will be attending our gala showing in Ankara. This gala will be on either Nov. 24 or 26.
You say, "If only there were 10 films made like 'Gitmek,' the Kurdish problem in Turkey would be solved." As a cinematographer, how do you think the Kurdish problem could be solved?
Television series tend to portray Kurds as terrorists, narcotics smugglers or people who carry out honor killings. We need to talk about the Kurdish problem on a more real, human level. We need films that show Kurds and Turks living in equal conditions, so that people understand that both sides are people who can fall in love, who have senses of humor, who miss their children, who want the warring to end. All Kurds really want to achieve the same level of life they see others enjoying when they watch television; they really don't want anything else.
The people in the main roles are not types we are accustomed to seeing in films. One is a quite heavy woman, while the other is a bald man. Why did you make these choices for actors?
I wanted to turn all the clichés upside down. For me, the real heroes in life are us, the real people. I try to remind people of this, convince people of this. I am not going to create false heroes in my films. To wit, you notice that during the film, Ayça becomes more and more beautiful, and in fact you begin to become jealous of her love affair, and you begin to wish that you too could experience something like it.
Right up to the end of the film, the viewer doesn't see the conditions of war in which Hama Ali lives. Was this because of the difficulties in filming in that region, or for some other reason?
There is a different reason, actually. In the film, we always view Hama Ali through Ayça's screen. This is actually a criticism of our perception of reality these days. … These days, we make do with what we see on our monitors. We no longer seem to say, "Let me go and see what actually happened there." Also, I wanted to make the action of Ayça going to Iraq form some question marks in the viewers' minds. Like, "Is it worth it for this man? Is this man really giving it his best effort? Is it really difficult to get from Turkey into Iraq?" Because if the man awaiting her on the other side had been some sort of Brad Pitt type, I have no doubt everyone would have jumped at this journey! I think what is important in life is not who you love, but how you love.
In the news, we read that while people pass from the north of Iraq into Turkey, that the reverse is impossible. While Ayça attempts the impossible, Hama Ali says in his video to her that as soon as the borders are opened, he will walk all the way to be by her side. Is this a mistake in the plot? Or are we to understand that Hama Ali does not love her as much as she loves him?
Actually, there is not enough information provided in the film at that point. I should have underscored this more clearly. You are not the first person to ask this question, and you are clearly a careful viewer. It is impossible for Iraqis to go back and forth between Iraq and Turkey. As for Turks, they do have permission to pass from Iraq back into Turkey. But Turks do not have permission to go from Turkey into Iraq.
In one part of the film, we hear the words, "The Americans are killing the Arabs, and the Arabs are killing each other and the Kurds. The Kurds are afraid of being killed as Saddam did to them in 1991." Are the Kurds as pure as all this?
No, definitely not. In fact, the film contains criticism of Kurdish leadership because there is no meaning to savior and freedom that comes from another's hand. In the end, forces may come and stay for a while in your land, but the same pressures put on by Saddam will be exerted by another this time around. Hama Ali is living out these conflicts on his insides. He is afraid that what happened to the Kurds in 1991 will happen again. In the end, this is the result of mistaken decisions taken by their politicians.
A chauffeur from Diyarbakır is talking to Ayça as though he knows absolutely nothing about Istanbul, and asks her "Do they ask for passports in İstanbul?" Then he adds: "I am from Diyarbakır, but they ask us for our identification. It's a crime if you have one and crime if you don't!" What is it that you are trying to explain here? I understand how not carrying your identification around with you could be a crime, but how could it be a crime to have your ID with you?
With these words, I wanted to portray some of the pressures that Kurds experience in daily life. There is no one who doesn't know that when certain [violent] incidents take place in Istanbul, police stop people to check their identity cards and that it is always the citizens from the East who are taken under arrest. In this sense, whether or not you have your identity card with you, there is no way to avoid being arrested. If what we are talking about divisiveness, this derives directly from the fact that the state itself does not treat its citizens equally. The anger of the chauffeur is this: "You come and go from over there. But did you know, around here, it's not so easy. No matter what we do, it's difficult. No matter what we do, we are guilty!" Automatically seeing certain factions as potentially guilty in a number of situations opens the way to great anger. And what I am most afraid of is this anger exploding. That anger, which still hasn't exploded despite all the provocation that has occurred, if it does in fact explode one day, there will be very bad things that happen here in Turkey. Because some people no longer have anything left to lose: no village, no home, no work, belittled every day … With this film, I am saying, "Be a little different from the others, try to understand the spiritual state your brothers and sisters are in, support them." This film really says "The real problem facing the people living in the East is how they are supposed to live dignified daily lives. There is really no other request on the table, be aware of this." I believe that the moment people really become aware of this, peace will settle permanently in Turkey.
When he sees images of mountains in his video, Hama Ali says, "The mountains are the friends of Kurds." After that, he shows a photograph of himself from when he was 23 years old, saying that at that time he was a peshmerga. Won't these things disturb Turkish viewers?
Well, I think that if a viewer is determined to find something wrong or disturbing about the film, they will find it in the end, no matter what. We need to allow an approach which is on the side of friendship, peace and talking about the brotherhood between these two peoples. If you are trying to prove a certain point, of course you can perceive certain things I say, or certain things you see in the film, as proving your point. But of course, this should not be my goal, nor yours either.
It is quite clear that this film is not in fact divisive. But there are unsettling details in this film.
Well, for 92 minutes, this film does talk about gigantic topics. You are not, for example, mentioning the words spoken by the Kurdish mother. If you put the spotlight on these words, which are about peace, then this is what the viewer will watch out for. I am defending this film, which is why I have invited the Ministry of Culture to attend the gala opening.
Is the love between Ayça and Hama Ali, who risk death for this love, still ongoing?
The war does not allow this love to live on. Their relationship turns into a very close friendship. If they weren't such good friends, we would never have been able to make this film.
That whole "I don't want a Kurdish son-in-law" or "I can't imagine having a Turkish daughter-in-law" mentality continues in Turkey even today. Why? How do we get over this?
Well, to prevent peace just because certain people don't want it is stupid. This is actually a kind of special wealth; it's from God that we have become so intertwined. If it weren't for the rising tides of nationalism we have seen over these past five years, no one would even be thinking these things. We need to share with each other the richness that our mutual existences provide. Actually, I do believe that an incredible level of peace and brotherhood really does exist on this soil.
16 November 2008, Sunday
SERKAN KARA İSTANBUL
Friday, November 14, 2008
Thessaloniki 49 | Three Monkeys by Nuri Bilğe Ceylan
| Three Monkeys / Nuri Bilğe Ceylan | |
| |
| Nuri Bilğe Ceylan | |
| Ebru Ceylan, Ercan Kesal, Nuri Bilğe | |
| Gökhan Tiryaki | |
| Ayhan Ergürsel, Bora Gökşingöl, Nuri Bilğe Ceylan | |
| Murat Şenürkmez | |
| Ebru Ceylan | |
| Yavuz Bingöl (Eyüp), Hatice Aslan (Hacer), Ahmet Rıfat Şungar (İsmail), Ercan Kesal (Servet), Cafer Köse (Bayram), Gürkan Aydın (child) | |
| Pyramide Films, France T. + 33 1 4296 0101 F. +33 1 4020 0221 www.pyramidefilms.com | |
| Rosebud T. +30 210 6786505 F. +30 210 6755067 fint@hvh.com.gr www.odeon.com | |
| Zeynep Özbatur, Fabienne Vonier, Valerio De Paolis, Cemal Noyan, Nuri Bilğe Ceylan | |
| Zeyno Film & Pyramide Films & Bim Distribuzione NBC Film & IMAJ | |
| Turkey, France, Italy | |
| 35mm Color | |
| 109' | |
| 2008 | |
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?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 | |
| |
| Semih Kaplanoğlu | |
| Semih Kaplanoğlu, Orçun Köksal | |
| Özgür Eken | |
| François Quiqueré | |
| Marc Nouyrigat | |
| Naz Erayda | |
| Melih Selçuk (Yusuf), Başak Köklükaya (Zehra), Şerif Erol (Station Master), Rıza Akın (professor), Saadet Işıl Aksoy (Semra) | |
| The Match Factory Germany T. +49 221 539 709-0 F. +49 221 539 709-10 info@matchfactory.de www.the-match-factory.com | |
| Semih Kaplanoğlu | |
| Kaplan Film Production | |
| Turkey, France, Germany | |
| Arizona Films, Heimatfilm | |
| 35mm Color | |
| 102' | |
| 2008 | |
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?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 | |
| |
| Uygar Asan | |
| Uygar Asan | |
| Uygar Asan | |
| Uygar Asan | |
| Tolga Çelik | |
| Tolga Çelik | |
| Anita Sezgener, Nilay Kacar | |
| Sezgin Cengiz (Burhan), Ayşe Bayramoğlu (the girl working in the laundry), Tolga İskit (Burhan’s friend at the post office) | |
| Yeşil Karinca Video Düş Laboratuvari, Turkey Uygar Asan T. +90 216 550 1142 yesilkarinca@yahoo.com www.yesilkarinca.com | |
| Uygar Asan | |
| Yeşil Karinca Video Düş Laboratuvari | |
| Turkey | |
| Digibeta Color | |
| 100' | |
| 2007 | |
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?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 | |
| |
| Yeşim Ustaoğlu | |
| Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Selma Kaygusuz | |
| Jacques Besse | |
| Franck Nakache | |
| Bernd von Bassevitz | |
| Jean-Pierre Mas | |
| Gülname Eşsiz | |
| Tsilla Chelton (Nusret), Derya Alabora (Nesrin), Onur Ünsal (Murat), Övül Avkiran (Güzin), Osman Sonant (Mehmet) | |
| The Match Factory, Germany T. +49 22 153 9709-0 F. +49 22 153 9709-10 info@matchfactory.de www.matchfactory.de | |
| 2-1-0 Films T. +30 210 3303433 F. +30 210 3303432 leo@2-1-0.gr www.2-1-0.gr | |
| H.F. Farsi, Elif Taşçioğlu, Serdar Yilmaz | |
| Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Muhammet Çakıral, Serkan Çakarer, Behrooz Hashemian, Setareh Farsi, Natacha Devillers, Catherine Burniaux, Michael Weber, Tobias Pausinger | |
| Ustaoglu Film Yapim | |
| Turkey, France, Belgium, Germany | |
| Silkroad Production & Les Petites Lumières & Stromboli Pictures & The Match Factory | |
| 35mm Color | |
| 112' | |
| 2008 | |
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.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... | |
| Hüseyin Karabey | |
| Hüseyin Karabey, Ayça Damgaci | |
| A. Emre Tanyildiz | |
| Mary Stephen | |
| Mohammed Mokhtari | |
| Kemal S. Gürel, Erdal Güney, Hüseyin Yildiz | |
| Yasemin Taşkin | |
| Ayça Damgaci (Ayça), Hama Ali Khan (Hama Ali), Cengiz Bozkurt (Azad), Savaş Emrah Özdemir (Soran), Ani İpekkaya (Mrs Ariknas) | |
| Insomnia World Sales, France T. +33 1 4358 0804 F. +33 1 4358 0932 contact@insomnia-sales.com www.insomnia-sales.com | |
| Lucinda Englehart, Hüseyin Karabey, Sophie Lorant | |
| A-si Film Yapim & Motel Films & Spier Films | |
| Turkey, The Netherlands, UK | |
| 35mm Color | |
| 92' | |
| 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 | |
| |
| Nezih Unen | |
| Aras Demiray, Behic Gulsacan | |
| Nezih Unen | |
| Sarp Ozdemiroglu | |
| Ceyda Caba | |
| 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. | |
| Nezih Unen Productions, Turkey T. +90 212 257 4562 F. +90 212 263 4930 mail@nezihunen.com www.nezihunen.com | |
| Nezih Unen | |
| Nezih Unen Productions | |
| Turkey | |
| Digibeta Color | |
| 97' | |
| 2008 | |
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.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 | |
| |
| Derviş Zaim | |
| Derviş Zaim | |
| Ercan Yılmaz | |
| Mazlum Çimen | |
| Natali Yeres | |
| Mehmet Ali Nuroğlu (Ahmet), Serhat Kılıç (Selim), Settar Tanrıöğen (Mumin), Şener Kökkaya, Mustafa Uzunyılmaz, Nadi Güler | |
| Sarmaşık Sanatlar, Turkey Baran Seyhan T. +90 212 219 5335 F. +90 212 219 5334 baranseyhan@sarmasiksanatlar.com www.sarmasiksanatlar.com | |
| Derviş Zaim, Baran Seyhan | |
| Marathon Film & Sarmaşık Sanatlar | |
| Turkey | |
| 35mm Color | |
| 58' | |
| 2008 | |
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.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. |
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