Often I dread the thought of going through Maslak in Istanbul ,most of the time I am stuck in a car on the way home from a two hour journey from Hadimkoy . So for once I looked up and around instead of the mayhem in front of me for some photography.
via Istanbul: Two Minutes in Maslak | Istanbulblogger.
(Video) ‘Valley of the Wolves – Palestine’ tells story of Turkish agent’s revenge campaign against IDF soldiers following takeover of Gaza-bound flotilla. Turkey’s most expensive production yet slated to be major box office hit
Eldad Beck
Published: 11.09.10, 20:03 / Israel News
VIDEO – The already tense relations between Israel and Turkey are about to get even more strained. Turkish TV stations and cinemas have began showing trailers of a violent, anti-Israel film focusing on a fictitious Turkish revenge campaign in response to the killing of nine flotilla activists by the IDF last May.
The film, “Valley of the Wolves – Palestine” will be released in January 28. It is being promoted as an anti-Zionist feature which is meant to raise awareness to “the Palestinians’ terrible suffering” and shows Israel as a bloodthirsty regime. The $10 million production is the most expensive film ever made in Turkey.
Initial Report
Next Turkish blockbuster revisits Marmara / Ynet
New film in ‘Valley of the Wolves’ series tells of secret agent out to avenge deaths of Turkish civilians
Full story
The film’s trailer shows a Turkish secret agent brutally murdering IDF soldiers in an attempt to take out the Israeli officer who planned the raid on the Marmara and oversaw it. Israelis are depicted as a nation of murderers seeking to build “greater Israel” on the bodies of Palestinians.
The film is the third is a series of features considered to be the Arab world’s answer to “Rambo.” The series is abundant in nationalistic-racist violent content and is directed against Turkey’s enemies – The Kurds, Jews and Americans.
The first installment, “Valley of the Wolves – Iraq,” was released four years ago and sparked outrage in the Jewish world. It depicted Jewish doctors harvesting the organs of Iraqis and transferring them to Israel for transplants. The series’ films, which are hugely popular in Turkey, are based on a television series which has already prompted a crisis in Israel-Turkish relations.
‘Valley of the Wolves – Palestine’ trailer
Last January, Israel summoned the Turkish ambassador to Israel for a reprimand after Ankara refused to remove the series from the air. Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon met with the ambassador who was seated in a lower chair in a humiliating gesture.
Murdering IDF soldiers
Production on “Valley of the Wolves – Palestine” began before May’s raid on the Turkish flotilla. The screenwriters used the incident to their advantage and incorporated it into their story.
The film presents the Turkish version of the deadly raid, showing Marmara passengers fleeing as IDF soldiers shoot at them and emerge unharmed. The hero, former Turkish special agent Polat Alemdar embarks on a revenge campaign after the raid in order to kill the Israeli commander who oversaw the operation, Moshe Ben-Eliezer.
Alemdar is seen murdering dozens of Israeli soldiers, who are showed abusing innocent Palestinians, throughout the film. In one of the scenes, the Turkish agent discovers how “Moshe burns down villages and kills children.”
In the film’s website, the producers noted that the feature will “turn the world’s attention to Palestine, where people are facing one of humanity’s biggest dramas.”
“Our hero acts for the rights of the oppressed,” director Zübeyr Sasmaz said. “We’re talking about things people don’t want to hear,” his brother, Necati Şaşmaz who stars in the film, said. “Up until now we have seen only Western heroes such as Rambo and James Bond. For the first time in the history of cinema there is an undefeatable protagonist from the Middle East.”
The trailer has already received enthusiastic responses from viewers in various websites, including YouTube. One talkbacker commented: “The Israelis will flip when this is made. Let the Jewish dogs die. I bless whoever made this film. Israel will pay for it. It is a murderer.”
The film has been widely covered by the Turkish media, as well as by international press. Al Jazeera and various German media outlets have been covering the production and have aired several pieces on it.
Like its predecessors, the film is slated to be a huge success at the box office.
Aviel Magnezi contributed to this report
via Marmara raid – the Turkish version – Israel News, Ynetnews.
Despite the terrified conditions in Istanbul due to suicide bomb attack, the ‘Dookudu’ unit has been bold enough to stay back and complete the fixed schedule (first schedule). Next schedule will be shot in Dubai. Details of the schedule will be announced soon.
Prince Mahesh starrer ‘Dookudu’ is an action-packed romantic entertainer being directed by successful director Srinu Vytla. Samantha Ruth Prabhu is playing the lead female role. Anil Sunkara, Achanta Gopinath and Achanta Ram are producing this film under the banner of 14reels Entertainment Private Limited.
Thaman S is composing music. Gopi Mohan provided the story while dialogues are written by Kona Venkat.
Shot and edited with advertising esthetics, Kemal Uzun’s “Vay Arkadaş” comes to the screens as an amicable comedy of errors full of contemporary İstanbul slang and vernacular — its only setback being that it was released on the same date as Mahsun Kırmızıgül’s “New York’ta Beş Minare” (Five Minarets in New York).
Uzun’s film does indeed carry some of the over-the-top burlesque elements adopted by Turkish comedies; however, it’s an admirable effort in that it tries to incorporate an intelligible plot — something that is usually lacking in recent action-comedy releases. In fact, at times I was reminded of Guy Ritchie’s “Snatch” as I found myself laughing at some of the absurdly philosophical dialogues and the preposterous operatic sensibilities of the action scenes.
Manik (Ali Atay), Dildo (Mete Horozoğlu) and Tik (Fırat Tanış) are three lifelong friends and flat mates who get away with small misdemeanors as they hang out and enjoy their life in İstanbul. As you can imagine, their names have much to do with their personality traits: Manik is a cantankerous manic depressive who’s ready to explode at any time; Dildo (yeah, dildo) is an unstoppable womanizer of the slimy sort; and Tik, who is the nicest and calmest of them all, suffers from an uncountable range of tics that prevent him from engaging in decent conversations with the opposite sex.
When Dildo’s father becomes fatally ill and only able to recover through an expensive operation, the trio decides to somehow find the money to finance the man’s operation. They decide that the best method for quick cash is stealing fancy cars — of course they only realize later what they’re in for.
Two of the cars they steal turn out to belong to two rival mafia families. One of the cars has 15 kilograms of cocaine and the other car a dead body. The final car, turns out, belongs to the daughter of the İstanbul police chief. Dildo insists that they try to sell the cocaine and become millionaires, and from that point on these three likable dimwits find themselves in a vortex of trouble leading to the head mafia guy, Sadık (Mustafa Üstündağ), who is quite the character — he kills his victims with volumes of the “Psychological Disorders” encyclopedia and quotes proverbs to engage in any kind of conversation. And of course there’s Nil (Demet Evgar), the daughter of the police chief, who definitely sheds a new light on Turkish female characters — she’s a downright tomboy ready for a confrontation and fight at any time of the day.
Though the friendship and quirky characters of the lead trio have their charm, sometimes the quirky bits outrun their screen time for the sake of gathering chuckles. The main forte of the film lies in the ingenious and implausible incidents and misunderstandings — i.e., when Manik plasters the cocaine on the wall as paint to not be caught by the police, or when a misunderstanding between Nil and Dildo leaves us laughing at an almost nude Dildo. I’m glad someone took the time to actually write the screenplay rather than expect the audience to laugh at the usual stereotypes.
The film is made out of a hustle and bustle of shots that manage to keep up a good rhythm. The city is shot with a keen sense of aesthetics and good use of locations. When you’re making a comedy of urban sensibilities, it really does work on your behalf to use the patterns and authenticities of the urban fabric — something that is usually avoided in other Turkish films as they lock us into meaningless interiors and bad lighting.
“Vay Arkadaş” defines itself to be the right kind of popcorn weaved with stylish filmmaking; perhaps there’s a bit too much of an inclination of trying to be “hip,” but at least you’ve got a comedy that steers away from the crass and moves towards wit.
The film might just have opened a few doors for a new understanding of Turkish comedy — one that is neither a sloppy amalgamation of fart jokes nor a derivative of the Cem Yılmaz humor monopoly.
The history of Istanbul’s famous Kapalıçarşı (Grand Bazaar) is now on display at the exhibition ‘Grand Bazaar in 10 Steps,’ which opened Monday at the İş Bankası Museum. The event, which runs until Feb. 27, displays original documents and gravures, golden calligraphy and illuminations on leaves, other golden and silver works, jewelry and textiles
The exhibition ‘Grand Bazaar in 10 Steps’ is being curated by Professor Önder Küçükerman and Professor Kenan Mortan. AA photo
A new exhibition featuring the 550-year history of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı), long recognized as one of the world’s longest continual shopping locations, opened Monday at the city’s İş Bankası Museum.
“I don’t think there any other shopping center in the world with 4,000 business places as in the Grand Bazaar. Some 4,000 different merchants operate in harmony like a union,” İş Bank General Manager Ersin Özince said during Monday’s opening ceremony.
The exhibition “10 Adımda Kapalıçarşı” (Grand Bazaar in 10 Steps) will make an intellectual and aesthetic contribution to the works regarding the Istanbul, İş Bank Executive Board Chairman Caner Çimenbiçer said.
The Grand Bazaar was a common market and finance complex where the foundations of modern banking were laid not only in Turkey but also in the West, said Çimenbiçer, adding that Istanbul was a world city home to various civilizations, cultures and colors.
Özince said the history of the Turkish Republic and its economy could be seen at the İş Bankası Museum while the pre-Republic period could be seen at the Grand Bazaar exhibition.
The Grand Bazaar, the world’s oldest finance center, was built by Mehmet the Conqueror and has continued to survive in all its magnificence for the past six centuries, the İş Bank general manager said, adding that the exhibition was a very short summary of the bazaar’s history and that further information could be found in various publications.
Istanbul a center of finance yesterday and today
“We hope that Istanbul will embrace trade and finance,” said Istanbul Gov. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu during the ceremony, adding that Turkey’s largest city had also become an international brand. “The Grand Bazaar was the center of finance in the city. I believe that it will maintain this mission in the future, too.”
Hasan Fırat, the chairman of the Grand Bazaar Merchants’ Association, said the covered market was still one of the most important finance centers in the world.
Following the speeches at the ceremony, Fırat presented a golden key of the Grand Bazaar to Çimenbiçer and Özince.
History of Grand Bazaar
The exhibition “Grand Bazaar in 10 Steps” is being curated by Professor Önder Küçükerman and Professor Kenan Mortan, the writers of the book “Çarşı, Pazar, Ticaret ve Kapalı Çarşı” (Shopping, Bazaar, Trade and Grand Bazaar), published by the Kültür Publications.
It displays original documents and gravures showing the history of the Grand Bazaar, golden calligraphy and illuminations on leaves which were produced in the bazaar and reveal the different use of works in gold, works in silver, jewelry and textiles.
Famous orientalist painter Amadeus Preziosi’s “Grand Bazaar” painting is also on display at the exhibition, as well as 360-degree photos taken in various parts of the bazaar, Grand Bazaar kitsch and other artifacts.
The exhibition will continue until Feb. 27.
A major selection from Turkish artist Kutluğ Ataman’s works is going on public display today at the İstanbul Modern in what is billed as the first-ever retrospective in Turkey of the internationally acclaimed contemporary artist.
“The Enemy Inside Me,” curated by İstanbul Modern’s chief curator, Levent Çalıkoğlu, is billed by the museum as a “mid-career retrospective” and it brings together Ataman’s milestone video installations.
Running through March 6, 2011, at the İstanbul Modern’s temporary exhibit hall, “The Enemy Inside Me” presents 11 major works by the artist, starting from “Women Who Wear Wigs,” a four-screen video installation from 1999, made up of interviews with four Turkish women who discuss the reasons they have had to wear wigs. Another video on display is “Beggars,” a 2010 work by Ataman, which was never before exhibited in Europe and which is co-commissioned by the London-based Thomas Dane Gallery and the São Paulo Art Biennial 2010.
Ataman’s videos document the lives of marginalized individuals who explicitly give voice to their own obsessions, their relations with micro and macro power structures and verbalize straightforwardly their subliminal issues. “I am not interested in exposing these people and turning them into a show,” Ataman is quoted as saying about his preference of these characters in a press release about the exhibition on the museum’s website. “I only work with people that I see myself in.”
Ataman, who particularly owes his reputation in art circles to the social and political consciousness in his works, first made his mark in contemporary art with his works displayed at the 1997 İstanbul Biennial.
The 49-year-old Ataman, who pursued a successful international career exhibiting in distinguished museums and prestigious biennials around the world, has exhibited very few of his works in Turkey to date and this exhibition is “designed as a mid-career retrospective to celebrate the homecoming of the İstanbul-born artist after an international career spanning 13 years,” the museum said.
