Cinematic Head Start on Istanbul Art Biennial

A scene from “Ah, Güzel Istanbul” (“Oh, Beautiful Istanbul”).

ISTANBUL — The 13th Istanbul Biennial — whose title theme is ‘‘Mom, am I Barbarian?’’ — doesn’t officially open until Sept. 14. But you can get a leap on the curator Fulya Erdemci’s views on the public versus private spheres, civility versus violence, and utopian societies by going to the movies this week.

Ms. Erdemci and her crew building the citywide contemporary art event have carved out a niche within the 32nd Istanbul Film Festival. Their subset of 17 curated films will play from April 6-11 in a festival category called ‘‘Am I Not a Citizen? Barbarism, Civic Awakening, and the City.’’

What’s that mean on the screen?

Well, it’s a chance to see classics like Luis Buñuel’s ‘‘The Exterminating Angel,’’ his 1962 take on how people behave in microsocieties. Another nostalgic choice is ‘‘Oh, Beautiful Istanbul,’’ a 1966 film by Atif Yilmaz about an aspiring actress who sets out from her village to seek fame and fortune in the big (bad?) city.

But it’s also an opportunity to see how international directors are documenting urban transformations in cities like Barcelona (‘‘Work in Progress’’ by José Luis Guerín) and Tirana, Albania (‘‘Dammi i Colori’’ by Anri Sala.) America is not spared: The Dutch director Bregtje van der Haak takes a hard look at people hit by the U.S. economic crisis in ‘‘California Dreaming.’’

A discussion of urbanization and capitalism and their effect on daily lives is particularly apt these days in Istanbul, a city undergoing rapid and intense changes as high-rise offices and residential towers increasingly compete for space against with the city’s historic skyline. Here, shiny shopping malls are replacing lovely older structures and even classic movie theaters like the beloved Emek, which long hosted the film festival and where protesters gathered this week to oppose its planned demolition.

via Cinematic Head Start on Istanbul Art Biennial – NYTimes.com.