Tag: Turkish film industry

Turkey’s “Winter Sleep” wins Cannes top Palme d’Or prize

Turkish film “Winter Sleep” directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the top Palme d’Or award for best film on Saturday at the 67th Cannes International Film Festival, the prize jury announced.

Ceylan, whose three-hour-plus film explores the huge gap between the powerful and powerless in his country, noted that the award came on the 100th anniversary of Turkish film.

He dedicated the award to “those who lost their lives during the last year”, adding that he was referring to the youth of his country.

“Le Meraviglie” (The Wonders) by Italian director Alice Rohrwacher took the second place prize for a coming-of-age story set in the Tuscan countryside as a family tries to eke out a bohemian life making honey.

Twenty-five-year-old Canadian director Xavier Dolan’s film “Mommy” shared the third-place prize with octogenarian French director Jean-Luc Godard’s “Adieu au Langage” (Goodbye to Language).

via Turkey’s “Winter Sleep” wins Cannes top Palme d’Or prize | JPost | Israel News.

May 25, 2014
Come to My Voice (Were Dengê Min/Sesime Gel): Istanbul Review – The Hollywood Reporter

by Clarence Tsui

Istanbul International Film Festival

The Bottom Line

Accessible narrative and beautiful visuals belies a fiery account of political suppression of Turkey’s Kurdish minority.

Venue

Press screening, Istanbul International Film Festival (National Competition), Apr. 14, 2014

Director

Hüseyin Karabey

Cast

Feride Gezer, Melek Ülger, Tuncay Akdemir, Muhsin Tokcu

Hüseyin Karabey’s road-movie follows a Kurdish child and her grandmother’s desperate task to find a gun, which could buy their loved one free.

Compared to his festival-garlanded 2008 feature film debut My Marlon and Brando– in which a Turkish actress braves war and all to find her Kurdish lover in northern Iraq– Hüseyin Karabey’s second outing seemingly offers a less solemn and more crowd-pleasing premise. Revolving around a girl and her grandmother’s travels and travails to find a much-needed item– in this case, the very masculine symbol of a gun– Come to My Voice could easily play well with more mainstream audiences who, years before, have propelled similar lost-and-found films like Children of Heaven or The White Balloon to wider prominence.

After its world premiere at the Berlinale’s teen-oriented Generation 14plus section in February, Come to My Voice has just scooped the audience-voted People’s Choice award at the Istanbul International Film Festival, in addition to a jury-determined Best Music prize. While boasting Feride Gezer’s measured performance as a stoic matriarch and Melek Ülger’s vibrant turn as the wide-eyed and inquisitive child, the film also provides DP Anne Misselwitz’s vivid visual showcase of sweeping rural landscapes, awe-inducing mountains and plains very much dwarfing the protagonists and most of their much-suppressed Kurdish compatriots.

While the dynamism renders Come to My Voice accessible to all ages alike, it also belies the film’s sharper political edge than Karabey’s previous film. The fury shown on the director’s non-feature projects during the past five years– the murdered Istanbul-based Armenian journalist Hrant Dink (No Darkness Will Make Us Forget, 2011), the portmanteau about solitary-confined prisoners in Turkey (F-Type Film, 2012)– is manifested full-blown here as Berfe (Gezer) and Jiyan (Ülger) contends with brutal Turkish military commanders and their corrupt underlings, and also crooked village headmen, callous militiamen on their own Kurdish side.

In fact, it’s an unholy alliance between bad elements from both sides that kickstarted Berfe and Jiyan’s ordeal. Raiding a Kurdish village after a tip-off, a Turkish military unit fails to find the weapons suggested by the informer; enraged, the captain (Nazmi Sinan Milici) orders all male villagers to be taken away for detention and questioning at the barracks, and told the remaining folk – elderly and children mostly – they would have to hand over 15 rifles and 20 guns within a week in exchange for the release of the men.

As Berfe’s initial attempts to get her son Temo (Tuncay Akdemir) flounders (the old musket she brought in was angrily dismissed by the captain) and Jiyan more than eager to contribute to her father’s freedom (she runs around collecting toy guns, sometimes even in the face of Turkish soldiers), the pair begin their long journey to look for a firearm to submit to the army. Living up to the folktale being told in installments throughout the film – about a fox’s long-winded efforts to repair his beautiful but broken tail – Berfe and Jiyan’s struggle is drawn-out, as requests for help are repeatedly rebuffed by the community chieftain, smugglers and finally even relatives living in town.

In the meantime, nearly every one strays beyond the pale to protect themselves or capitalize on the crisis; a sergeant (Savas Emrah Özdemir) offers to sell guns to villagers through a middle man, both of which skimming quite a bit off these deals. Past woes are revealed through details of Berfe’s struggling life of poverty, persecution and being rendered a pariah by a village leader whose advances she spurned. And then there are those who are supposedly “our boys”: As Berfe and Jiyan make their way through rebel-held territory, slacking gunmen just sit in the shade as they tease the women that they are sure “Temo is being beaten in prison– everyday”.

The only kind and kindred souls the pair would eventually run into are three blind storytellers (played by real-life “dengbej” Muhsin Tokcu, Ali Tekbas and Kadir Ilter), whose willingness to play foil at checkpoints– where they are still hassled by Turkish officers for being “guerilla propagandists”– would prove to be crucial to Berfe and Jiyan’s passage back home. It’s perhaps not coincidental that storytellers– Berfe, the three wise men, and other elderly villages offering their own recollections of life– are central to Come to My Voice: The oral tradition has always been the key to resistance against oppressors who could burn manuscripts but not erase memories. Among Kurds, passed-down parables are political in itself; with his beautifully-rendered film, Karabey has joined in this ever-louder chorus articulating the anguish of a suppressed minority.

Venue: Press screening, Istanbul International Film Festival (National Competition), Apr. 14, 2014

Production Company: Asi Film, Neue Mediopolis Filmproduktion, EZ Films

Director: Hüseyin Karabey

Cast: Feride Gezer, Melek Ülger, Tuncay Akdemir, Muhsin Tokcu

Producer: Huseyin Karabey, Emre Yeksan

Screenwriter: Huseyin Karabey, Abidin Parilti

Director of Photography: Anne Misselwitz

Editor: Baptiste Gacoin

Music: Ali Tekbas, Serhat Bostanci, A. Imran Erin

International Sales: EZ Films

In Kurdish and Turkish

105 minutes

via Come to My Voice (Were Dengê Min/Sesime Gel): Istanbul Review – The Hollywood Reporter.

April 26, 2014
Belmont World Film presents the US premiere of “Istanbul, My Dream” on April 22

Hungarian/Turkish co-production stars “The Vanishing” star Johanna ter Steege

Belmont, Mass. —

Belmont World Film 2013 series, “Found in Translation,” continues on Monday, April 22, at the Studio Cinema in Belmont (376 Trapelo Road) with the US premiere of Istanbul, My Dream by Hungarian filmmaker Ferenc Török 7:30 PM. A co-production between Hungary, Turkey, the Netherlands, and Ireland, the film stars Dutch actress Johanna ter Steege (The Vanishing) as a Hungarian woman who literally goes into shock after her husband of thirty years leaves her, only to find renewed passion after hitchhiking her way to Istanbul. The evening is sponsored by the Hungarian Consulate of Boston and will be attended by Gabor Garai, Honorary Consul General.

“The film is as much a story of a woman’s awakening from a stifling marriage as much as it is a love letter to the city of Istanbul in Turkey,” said Ellen Gitelman, Belmont World Film’s executive director. “The images of Istanbul are so vivid and beautiful, one almost has the sensation of being transported to Turkey.”

The film screening is the second to last in the series. The final film in the series, In the House by François Ozon, on April 29 will be preceded by a “Wrap Party” from 6-7 p.m. featuring wraps and other south of the border treats from Café Burrito next door to the theater (a separate admission of $12 is required for the party and tickets must be reserved by Friday, April 26). Winner of the International Critic’s Prize at the Toronto Film Festival the film stars Kristin Scott-Thomas, Emmanuele Seigner (Mrs. Roman Polanski) and Fabrice Lucchini (Potiche) and tells the story of a 16 year-old boy who insinuates himself into the family of a fellow student. The boy’s jaded literature teacher becomes increasingly drawn to him after his essays about the family perversely begin to blur the lines between reality and fiction.

Tickets for individual films are $11 general admission and $9 for students, seniors, and Belmont World Film members. Separate admission to the Wrap Party on April 29, is $12 and must be purchased or reserved by Friday, April 26. Purchase tickets for films and the Wrap Party in advance at www.mktix.com/bwf or in person at the Studio Cinema during box office hours. On day of show tickets are available beginning at 7 p.m.

Sponsors of the “Found in Translation” series include Cambridge Savings Bank, Big Picture Framing, Wicked Local, and the French Consulate of Boston. Belmont World Film is sponsored year-round by Cambridge Reprographics, Rule Boston, and in part by a generous grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

For more information, visit www.belmontworldfilm.org or call 617-484-3980.

Belmont World Film is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that promotes cross-cultural understanding through the powerful universal language of film. It presents award-winning feature films, documentaries, animation, and shorts from around the world for both adults and children enhanced by topical speakers, cultural performances and ethnic cuisine.

Read more: Belmont World Film presents the US premiere of “Istanbul, My Dream” on April 22 – Belmont, MA – Belmont Citizen-Herald http://www.wickedlocal.com/belmont/news/x709247876/Belmont-World-Film-presents-the-US-premiere-of-Istanbul-My-Dream-on-April-22#ixzz2RIyGgTXP
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April 23, 2013
Yozgat Blues: Istanbul Review – The Hollywood Reporter

Yozgat Blues: Istanbul Review

12:50 PM PDT 4/14/2013 by Stephen Farber

This slice of Turkish life meanders but achieves some pungent moments.

Istanbul Film Festival

Cast

Ercan Kesal, Ayca Damgaci, Tansu Bicer

Director

Mahmut Fazil Coskun

Mahmut Fazil Coskun’s film, which received its world premiere in Istanbul, follows a city slicker forced to relocate to the provinces.

The story of a city slicker forced to relocate to the provinces has been retold many times, in many different countries. Yozgat Blues, one of the Turkish movies receiving its world premiere at the Istanbul Film Festival, discovers a tasty variation on this well worn theme. Yuvaz (Ercan Kesal) is a music teacher in Istanbul who also performs occasionally as a musician. When a performing gig is offered to him in a city in the middle of the country, he decides to seize the opportunity, even though he is reluctant to trade the stimulations of the big city for life in a more remote outpost.

Nothing quite works out as he hopes, but he does make some satisfying human connections in the town of Yozgat. Even though the story is universal, the details are probably too Anatolian to imagine much of a release for this movie outside Turkey. But it will win some nice reviews when it plays at other festivals around the world.

Although Yuvaz is the protagonist, the film turns out to be a group portrait of half a dozen people whose lives intersect with his in Yozgat. Nese (Ayca Damgaci), his singing partner, develops an attachment to Sabri (Tansu Bicer), the barber who helps the balding Yuvaz with the toupee he wears while performing. The nightclub owner and a local radio host also become part of the ensemble as this shaggy dog tale unfolds. Istanbul audiences roared at droll comic touches that probably won’t translate as well to audiences in other parts of the world. But the characters and relationships are incisively drawn, and the film’s deadpan sense of humor tickles.

One disappointment of the movie is that it relies heavily on closeups and gives us very little of the atmosphere in this section of the country. (Yozgat seems to be the Turkish equivalent of Tulsa or Des Moines.) That may be the point the director was trying to make, but the film still could have benefited from a sharper sense of the locale. In addition, the humor and pathos are both a little too low-key to register vividly. On the other hand, the performers make the most of the wry material. Kesal gives a sympathetic performance as Yuvaz, and the plump but attractive Damgaci plays nicely against Hollywood images of women. Bicer is equally engaging as the sheltered barber who still lives with his grandmother. At the beginning he has been set up on a date with a religious Muslim woman who is not as demure as her traditional garb suggests. She proves to be far too opinionated for Sabri, and he forges an easier connection with Nese, though this frustrates Yuvaz’s unspoken hopes for their relationship.

The nightclub scenes capture the humiliations of performers forced to entertain bored audiences, and Yuvaz’s financial difficulties will resonate with aspiring actors or singers anywhere in the world. While some of the characters achieve a happy ending that they were not expecting, Yuvaz’s future is far more precarious. Despite its uneven script and direction, Yozgat Blues succeeds in capturing a bittersweet mood that will haunt viewers.

Venue: Istanbul Film Festival.

Cast: Ercan Kesal, Ayca Damgaci, Tansu Bicer, Nadir Saribacak, Kevork Malikyan.

Director: Mahmut Fazil Coskun.

Screenwriters: Tarik Tufan, Mahmut Fazil Coskun.

Producer: Halil Kardas.

Executive producer: Catharina Schreckenberg.

Director of photography: Baris Ozbicer.

Art director: Osman Ozcan.

Editor: Cicek Kahraman.

No rating, 96 minutes.

via Yozgat Blues: Istanbul Review – The Hollywood Reporter.

April 15, 2013
Turkey Wired: By the Numbers

A recent article in Variety gave some information about the TV and film industry in Turkey and about social media usage. Here’s the article. Here’s the info briefly (with my comments):

Local movies took 47% of market share last year, despite only 70 local movies produced. (Fetih 1453 — see my review here — made $31 million.) Average movie ticket price is five bucks. But movie attendance is low (0.6 visits per person per year; 2.7 in the UK)

Local movies took 47% of market share last year, despite only 70 local movies produced. (Fetih 1453 — see my review here — made $31 million.) Average movie ticket price is five bucks. But movie attendance is low (0.6 visits per person per year; 2.7 in the UK).

Imax has two theaters in Turkey and plans to open three more. (This is particularly galling, given the razing of classic movie theaters like the Emek Cinema that date to the beginning of Turkey’s own movie industry, now sacrificed to the relentless construction of malls — into which Imax would fit perfectly, if completely without character.) The entire country at present has 2000 screens. I find it hard to imagine, despite Imax’s optimism, that the present government would like more opportunities for promiscuous mingling of the sexes in the dark.

With 18 million TV homes, Turkey is one of Europe’s major markets. Half of the viewers use satellite TV or cable. More than 3 million subscribe to pay-TV. There are two dozen private national and hundreds of regional and local channels. “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and “Pop Idol” are big, but the most popular show is Star channel’s historical soap, “Magnificent Century” (Muhteşem Yüzyıl), to which I have admittedbeing addicted.

42.5% of the population [of 80 million, 70% living in cities] is aged 25-54; 26.2% are under 14. There are lots of cool, stylish kids with the latest smartphones. The country has among the world’s highest social media use through mobile Internet. An estimated 30 million Turks use Facebook. Turkey ranks eighth among nations in terms of Twitter penetration. Some 71% of Turkish Internet users go online every day for entertainment purposes. According to the BKM (Interbank Card Center) data, the Turkish e-commerce market reached a whopping $25 billion in 2012.

Given that most people didn’t have home telephones in the 1980s, this is a remarkable transformation. (I still remember the first phone booths in Ankara appearing in the mid-1970s; their cords were immediately cut by vandals. Anyway, who could you call?)

I’ve always believed that the introduction of the cellphone at the end of the 1980s and its immediate spread was a major factor in Islamist political organizing, making it possible to set up phone trees and mobilize large numbers of people through their personal networks. I remember the frustration of trying to do research in Istanbul in the 1980s by making appointments from a phone booth, the long lines, men swinging their worry beads at the glass if you were taking too long, and the frutsration of finding no one home of the few people who even had telephones that one could call. The unwritten phone booth etiquette rule was that you could dial one call (even if no one answered) and then you went to the back of the line again. Imagine doing business or political organizing like that.

Istanbul is so big that sometimes I’d spend hours to travel to visit someone (not having been able to tell them I was coming) only to find them not at home. No wonder people took to cell phones like a third ear. The Turkish custom of hosting a visitor at your door, regardless of how inconvenient, is likely related to this inability to plan ahead. Now people don’t have to visit (and getting through traffic is even worse), so why not tweet and twitter instead, like birds comfortably perched on a power line high above the gridlocked city.

http://kamilpasha.com/?p=6840

April 15, 2013
Filmmakers, Police Clash in Istanbul

By Fercan Yalinkilic and Ayla Albayrak

ISTANBUL–Hollywood film directors got a not-so-warm welcome from Turkish police on the weekend when they joined a protest while visiting Istanbul as guests of the city’s annual international film festival.

On Sunday, a group of acclaimed international filmmakers, including Mike Newell, Constantinos “Costa” Gavras and Marco Bechis, were met by police tear gas and water cannons when they joined some 2,000 people marching to protest against plans to replace a 90-year old Istanbul cinema with a shopping mall. Four people were arrested and later charged, including a Turkish member of the International Federation of Film Critics, Berke Gol. Turkish TV channels showed footage of one policeman grabbing the throat of Mr. Gol, who has been charged with “illegal meeting and protest” as well as resisting police and destroying public property.

Turkish newspapers on Monday carried banner headlines about the altercation, which diverted attention from Istanbul’s film festival, which is taking place throughout April to showcase some of the best Turkish and international cinema. One leading daily called the protest “a battle,” while Turkey’s best-known film critic, Atilla Dorsay, said Monday that he would abandon his daily column in solidarity with protesters, citing his frustration with his “inability to change anything.”

Mr. Gavras and the film federation, known as FIPRESCI, released statements accusing the police of responding harshly to a peaceful protest.

“The violence occurred after a peaceful demonstration, and was triggered by an unapparent cause,” said Mr. Gavras, who acknowledged participating in the protest. “The peaceful protesters were unjustly attacked by the police with tear gas and water cannon, simply for insisting to enter the historical building,” FIPRESCI said.

Interior Minister Muammer Güler said the actions of the police were being investigated, but added that there were “provocateurs” among the protesters who weren’t artists and who had illegally entered the cinema building previously.

Demonstrators were protesting to save Istanbul’s Emek movie theater, an art-nouveau building opened in 1924. The cinema has become a symbol of Istanbul’s cultural heritage, which many say is being sacrificed to give way for shopping malls and sprawling apartment complexes in the fast-growing metropolis. Turkish filmmakers, who have protested for nearly three years to save the theater, say it holds a special place in Turkey’s storied film history, and accuse the government of suppressing their freedom of speech.

Sunday’s demonstration isn’t the first time representatives of Turkey’s performing-arts sector have held protests. Last year, Turkish artists and theater fans demonstrated against government’s plans to privatize state theaters, another move seen as an attempt by the Islamic-rooted government to retain control over theater art, traditionally dominated by Turkey’s secular, Westernized upper class.

The government said the move was intended to make theater more competitive and less reliant on state subsidies.

April 10, 2013