Istanbul Film Festival

YESTERDAY AT THE FESTIVAL(09.04.2012)

• A FULL WEEK AGAIN!!! Second week of the festival presents a programme even more intense than the first day.

• STREET DOGS FROM THE DIRECTOR WITH GOLDEN PALM Who remembers the street dogs exterminated in 1910 for the sake of modernisation? How is the life for street dogs today and how will it be in the future? Director Serge Avédikian looks for an answer to that question... Dogs Story was at 11.00 at Fitaş 1 with the participation of assistant director Burçin Gerçek and scriptwriter Catherine Pinguet. Pinguet said: “We showed what is good in the documentary: those who behave well to street dogs and protect them... However, it should not be considered that this is the situation. There are also a lot of bad things going on.”

• LEVELS OF SOCIAL SCHIZOPHRENIA Director Savaş Baykal shows us the dysfunctionality of legal and social institutions while presenting the childhood of the cruel youth. Those who wanted to go travel further down into the director’s perspective participated to the screening of Lament for Foresight in New Turkish Cinema section and Q&A with the participation of the director Baykal at Beyoğlu Sineması at 11.00. Director Baykal said: “It was an experimental work. That was my aim while making the film. For example, I gave the camera to the children and we shot the film with them.”

• A FIRST FILM IN THE “NATIONAL COMPETITION” We witness the journey of a pessimist and neurotic architect back home in the first film by Muzaffer Özdemir, who was awarded with the Golden Palm in Cannes with his role in Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film in 2003. Home was screened at Atlas Sineması at 13.30 with the participation of director Özdemir, actors Kanbolat Görkem Arslan, Muhammet Uzuner and Saygın Soysal.
“The main character resembles my youth somehow –neurotic and shrewd. I left the village while I was five. Therefore, the film is autobiographical, somehow based on me. He is an anti-hero. He doesn’t have very much to be liked. The film is actually about the dominance of science and betrayal to the nature for money. Look at what we do to places where we call gardens of Eden!” said the director on the character. You can reach the special interview with Muzaffer Özdemir from the website.

• BETWEEN TWO CULTURES Semi, the only son of a family migrated to Germany, lives under the pressure of getting stuck between the two cultures although he is ten. If you want to witness Semi getting lost between Germany and Mardin, Semi was at Beyoğlu Sineması at 13.30 with the participation of Refik Çakar. Semi Çakar, hero of the film, actors Katharina Simon, Şefik Çakar, Andreas Stephany, co-producer Adnan Boznar, and general coordinator Rahşan Toker participated to the screening as well as the Çakar.

• GOLDEN TULIP JURY MEMBER ON THE SILVER SCREEN Brillante Mendoza, jury member for Golden Tulip International Competition, is known for his multi-awarded films “Kinatay”, “Lola” and “Serbis”. The director tells the story of the abduction of the NGO volunteer Thérèse and a group of tourists in the Philippines in Captive, screened at Nişantaşı Citylife City’s at 13.30 with the participation of Mendoza.

• FIRST FILM OF THE “MAKAM TRILOGY” Hicaz, the first film of the trilogy which will continue with “Sabâ” and “Nihâvend”, is the first film of director Erdal Rahmi Hanay... We see diseases of the modern age such as physical and spiritual loneliness, helplessness, consumption, and dissatisfaction in the characters. Erkan Oğur has his name under the soundtrack of Hicaz composing of five different stories. The film was screened at Beyoğlu Sineması at 16.00 with the participation of director Hanay, actors Memet Işık, Hakan Bozkan, Erol Özdek, and art Director Ayşe Sultan. The director stated: “The hardest feature of the film was to reflect the musical maqam on screen. I consider this as a challenge.”

• TUNISIAN REVOLUTION, AGAIN! Rouge Parole follows the traces of the Tunisian public revolution. The film visits cities and towns of the revolution one by one. The film was screened at Pera Museum at 16.00 for those who want to witness effects of Arab Spring in Tunisia and listen to the experiences of the director Elyes Baccar. On the film, director stated: “Although the film seems like it’s about revolution, it is actually about love and passion. The word ‘rouge’ in the title is not about the blood or the flag. It reflects the passion. I didn’t have much of an idea before making the film. This is of course a documentary. The greatest difficulty for me is to build everything before shooting the documentary.

• A VERY LONG NIGHT IN A ROOM... Awarded in Nürnberg, Würzburg, and Berlin, the film set a light to “child brides” phenomenon in the east. Actors İlyas Salman and Ezgi Dilan Aksüt share the leading roles in the film. Director Reis Çelik participated to the screening of Night of Silence, at Atlas Sineması at 19.00. İlyas Salman, Dilan Aksüt, İsrafil Parlak, executive producer Anıl Çelik, and art director Burcu Karakaş also participated to the screening.
“We have to look at the past. We know that there was a matriarchic society during hunter-gatherer era. However, this has changed into a patriarchal society for the last couple of thousands years. I think this is not the real problem. The greatest problem is that capitalism shapes everything with money; the situation we witness in the film is the worst of all. I cannot believe that a phenomenon like love, requiring much labour, is tried to be sustained with money,” said İlyas Salman on child-brides. You can reach the special interview with director Reis Çelik from the website.

• WHAT THE SUPERHERO TELLS ABOUT HIS FILM In The Death of a Superhero, we watch an adolescent’s life torn between his age of young adulthood and illness. The Death of a Superhero by Golden Tulip-winner Ian FitzGibbon is adapted from a novel and the film competes in the International Competition category. Lead actor Tomas Broddie-Sangster participated to the screening at Nişantaşı Citylife City’s at 19.00. “This film is on the life... And of course it is about death. Death is a part of life. Life changes according to way you want to perceive it. Whether you look from the life or from the death,” stated actor Broddie-Sangster.

• PAINFUL MEMORIES FROM 1961 IN THE “DOCUMENTARY TIME WITH NTV” Awarded the second prize in Dubai, the film is about the protest of Algerians in 1961 in Paris. This protest was suppressed by the French government with violence. Here We Drown Algerians-October 17th 1961 mixed with the images of witnesses and archives was screened at Fitaş 1 at 19.00 with the participation of director Yasmina Adi.
“I did not have any problems due to the film, neither during shoot nor during screenings... Everyone supported me. The film travelled world festivals. It was nominated for the best film award at the Césars. But There weren’t any reactions to the film in France. I didn’t hear anything from the government. The French Government accepted the state crime happened in 1961 officially only in 2011. I researched a lot and I worked with materials from the archives. I had significant numbers of images and recordings. The images, showing Algerians filled to busses and taken to sports halls, reminded me of Nazis filling trains with Jews in 1940s. You saw those deported with buses of municipalities. Last year, stateless Roma were also deported with the same busses. Governments, states, boundaries change, but the methods and the language they use never change. It’s not only in France. It’s everywhere and every time. The history is history and it is written by historians. I made this film to convey the past to future generation through an neutral vision. But you have to remember, although Sarkozy was mentioning Armenians and Turkey, they have to talk about crimes against humanity in Madagascar and Africa committed by France first.”

• SIMURGH FOR “FACE” Journalist-director Ruhi Karadağ tells the story of the death fast actions that spread in protest of the F-type prisons in Bayrampaşa Prison in 2000 and the subsequent “Return to Life” operation. The screening of the documentary Simurgh, in which the activists take part, was screened at Beyoğlu Sineması at 21.30 with the participation of the director Karadağ. Apart from the director Karadağ, the theatre was full of the people depicted in the film and audience who were affected from the death fasts and their families. The documentary contains images from 1994, 2000, and 2010. Karadağ stated: “I think every land has its breaking points. And we experience the breaking in Turkey through such events.”

• TUNISIA REVOLUTION TELLS ABOUT ITSELF! Director Mourad ben Cheikh follows the traces of Tunisian Revolution from the first day to the overthrown of Bin Ali in his first feature documentary. No More Fear was screened at Pera Museum at 21.30 with the participation of the director. Director Cheikh said: “Actually the most important result of revolution is that it makes us know our surrounding better. We weren’t aware of the groups in the country before the revolution. Although they existed, each group was confined to themselves. We now know better the levels of the society.”

• MASTER CLASS FROM THE ROMANIAN MASTER! Filmekimi audience will remember “East of Bucharest” screened in 2006. The director won the Golden Camera, the award for the best first feature film in Cannes with this film. Porumboiu is also a jury member for Golden Tulip International Competition this year.
Director Corneliu Porumboiu gave a master class on his experience and perspective of cinema at Boğaziçi University Mithat Alam Film Center at 16.00 with Esin Küçüktepepınar as moderator. The director talked about his past of cinema and answered the questions of the audience. Firstly he recalled directors such Bresson and Fellini whom he admired. On his cinema featuring ironical elements, he stated: “I don’t write to make people laugh. But the irony in life is reflected in the films somehow. Irony is a must, without it you cannot talk about cinema.” He also shared his ideas about the times of revolution: “We think that revolution will take place tomorrow, we hope so. However, change happens in slow motion. Just like it did in Romania. In ‘East of Bucharest’, I tried to show what revolution is and to clarify the content of it. My characters question themselves and the revolution during this long process of change. Actually I tried to question the meanings of language and communication in both films.”

• SWORDS ON THE LEAD! This year is the Year of Culture of China in Turkey... Therefore the festival programme has a section on China: “A Chinese Tradition: WuXia”. There was a panel discussion on the films in the section and all brilliance and colours of the genre in the Chinese cinema sector. Panel Discussion: Tiger at the Movies–WuXia was held at Akbank Sanat at 16.00 with the participation of kung fu researcher Wang Qun, and moderated by academician Melis Behlil. Structure of these films was the main topic of the panel. According to Wang, we follow the amazing editing mixed with technology and emotions in WuXia which presents a magnificent visual integrity...

• A MASTER FROM THE PHILIPPINES! Cinephiles will remember Brillante Mendoza from his films “Kinatay”, “Lola” and “Serbis”. Mendoza, who is a jury member for Golden Tulip International Competition and has his latest film in the festival programme, Captive, gave a masterclass moderated by critic Cüneyt Cebenoyan. The event was at Akbank Sanat at 18.00! Filipino filmmaker, with films highly regarded in Locarno, Cannes, and Venice, talked about his world of cinema with the audience.
Mendoza stated he nourishes from the real life and added: “If an idea of a film in my mind does not coincide with real life, I can get rid of everything I thought of. Besides, I conduct a very long preliminary research in order to make the script coincide with reality. I try to understand the inner worlds of my characters by interviewing people who have similar lives. Shoots last 10-12 days in general, but preparation can take a year sometimes. I do not give the script to my actors because I do not want them to become calculated. I want to be surprised on the set, to learn something from every film. When they do not have the script, the actors give raw reactions. They are not god, they cannot know their past and their future. I guess they call me a realist because of this.”

• JOY OF FILMS DURING THE BREAK WTIH BitamBiöğrenci Students will meet with The Giants, story of two brothers who live outside the city and society, at 11.00 at Nişantaşı Citylife City’s. Afterwards, they will watch The Field of Enchantment, reflecting the amazing scenery on the shore of a secluded lake, at 13.30 Fitaş 1.

TODAY AT THE FESTIVAL (10.04.2012)

• MORE EXTENSIVE PROGRAMMES FROM THE FESTIVAL EVERYDAY!!! A tiresome but enjoyable day is ahead of the festival audience. Get ready for the presentations and events!

• PRESS MEETING WITH THE JURY Today National Competition Jury and International Competition Press will meet with the press at 10.00 and 11.00 consecutively. Press meetings with the Jury will be at Salon.

• A HERO FORM THE “INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION” The film on an adolescent boy who confronts with illness presents amazing visuals by mixing animation with real images. The film in the “International Competition” category is an Ian FitzGibbon’s film who was awarded with the Golden Tulip with “A Film with Me in It”. Death of a Superhero adapted from a novel will be screened at Fitaş 1 at 11.00 with the participation of actor Tomas Broddie-Sangster.

• WHAT A GRANDFATHER SHARES WITH HIS GRANDCHILD IN THE MOTHER TONGUE Realizing that his mother tongue is disappearing slowly, Mustafa decides to teach his mother tongue Zazaki to his grandchild. Where is My Mother Tongue?, a film on the effects of cultural traumas on families, in the “National Competition” category will be screened at Atlas Sineması at 13.30 with the participation of director Veli Kahraman. You can reach the special interview with Veli Kahraman in the website .

• IN THE “INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION” WITH A THIRD FILM! Maria is exhausted both financially and spiritually. She leaves her father, whom she does not care much, in the street one day. Third film by director Rodrigo Plà, The Delay will be screened at Atlas Sineması at 16.00. Producer Sandino Saravia will be present at the screening.

• A WARM FAMILY DRAMA Director Cédric Kahn tells the story of a couple who is torn between two countries for a better life. A Better Life will be screened at Fitaş 4 at 16.00 with the participation of director Kahn.

• A LOOK INTO 1961’S FRANCE! Awarded the second prize in Dubai, the film is about the protest of Algerians in 1961 in Paris. This protest was suppressed by the French government with violence. Here We Drown Algerians-October 17th 1961 told with the testimonies and archival footage will be screened at Fitaş 1 at 16.00 with the participation of director Yasmina Adi.

• LOVE AND REVOLUTION IN THE NEW TURKISH CINEMA While listening to the radio in his student house, Kemal learns that “socialism” has been collapsed. Despite this fact, the revolutionary organisation, which Kemal is a member of, is determined to continue struggling. Love and Revolution will be screened at Beyoğlu Sineması at 16.00 with the participation of director Serkan Acar.

• A CINEMA MANIFEST IN THE “INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION” The film is about a young film-maker who bears the pain of his brother’s loss with his love to cinema. Director Amir Naderi, actor Hidetoshi Nishijama and producer Engin Yenidünya will be present for the screening of Cut at Atlas Sineması at 19.00.

• HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE CINEMA In this animation film, director Anca Damian tells the story of 33-year-old Claudiu Crulic who was passed away after the death fast in 2008 in Poland. For those who want to see the film and meet with the director, Crulic–The Path to Beyond will be screened at Fitaş 4 at 19.00.

• SECOND DATE WITH THE STREET DOGS It is hard to know that how many films have focused on dogs so far. But director Serge Avédikian adapted the story of Istanbulite dogs, which we share the streets with in the city we live in, and how they position in the city life in the past and future to the screen. Catherine Pinguet, the writer, will be present for the screening of Dogs Story together with the director Avédikian at Fitaş 1 at 19.00.

• STORY OF WOMEN IN THE UNIVERSE OF FEAR What Remains on two women who try to stand still in the “Universe of fear” will be screened at Beyoğlu Sineması at 19.00 with the participation of the director Çiğdem Vitrinel Özcan.

• EASTERN EUROPEAN SPRING The film is about the elections in Ukraine in 2004 and the national drama called “Orange Revolution” after the elections. The documentary, Orange Winter, awarded in festivals will be screened at Pera Museum at 19.00 with the participation of Andrei Zagdansky.

• WHAT BEYOND THE HILL HIDES Beyond the Hill competing in the “National Competition” category is the first feature film of the director Emin Alper after his short films “Rıfat” and “Mektup”. If you want to witness the tension between a provincial family and nomads setting their tents beyond the hill, this Anatolian story will be screened at Atlas Sineması at 21.30 with the participation of director Alper.

• STORY OF A LAWYER FROM TEHERAN Those who follow the cinema world will remember that director, apart from Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof was also imprisoned and prohibited from shooting films. The story of the film has similarities to the director’s life. We watch the efforts of an Iranian female lawyer who lives in Teheran to leave the country. Goodbye will be screened at Beyoğlu Sineması at 21.30 with the participation of the director Rasoulof.

• FOUR WOMEN AND A STORY We watch the story of four women from different age groups and with different pasts along with the Egyptian Revolution. In the Shadow of a Man will be screened at Pera Museum at 21.30 with the participation of the director.

• SCREENINGS WITH BitamBiöğrenci PROJECT CONTINUE! Guests of the films which will meet with the students today within the project will be present at the theatre and answer the questions of students. The first film to be screened is Death of a Superhero by Ian FitzGibbon will be screened at Fitaş 4 at 11.00. And the second film, a documentary, Dogs Story by Serge Avédikian will be screened at Fitaş 1 at 19.00.

• MEETINGS ON THE BRIDGE First panels of the Meetings on the Bridge, which brings European and Turkish film makers together, will be held at Akbank Sanat. The first event will be Franz Rodenkirchen Master Class On Script Development and Evaluation between 10.30 and 13.00. The second seminar Transmedia – My 10 Transmendments / A Case Study Shankaboot will be between 14.30 and 17.00.

TOMORROW AT THE FESTIVAL(11.04.2012)

• MUSIC AND CINEMA WORKSHOP AT SALON Nathan Larson, with a comprehensive filmography with his compositions for soundtrack, and Erdem Helvacıoğlu, an important name for the Turkish contemporary electronic music, will meet for a workshop. Larson will talk about the artistic and aesthetic parts of the soundtracks while Helvacıoğlu will talk about use of music in cinema and technical fields such as sound design, mixing, and arrangements. If you don’t want to miss the workshop, Workshop: Contemporary Music For Film - The Subtle Art will be at Salon İKSV at 12.00.

• FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT GET ENOUGH OF MUSIC IN THE WORKSHOP On the same day of the Contemporary Music for Film Workshop, film music composer Nathan Larson and Turkish contempo and electronic music composer Erdem Helvacıoğlu will be joined by Nina Persson, the world famous, multi-platinum selling singer of the The Cardigans and A Camp, to give an exclusive concert under the band name 777. With Nina Persson on vocals, Nathan Larson will be playing the electric bass and synthesizers, where Erdem Helvacıoğlu will be playing the electric guitar, the Togaman GuitarViol and controlling the live electronics. 777 will be at Salon İKSV at 21.00.

• “FILMING REVOLUTION” Istanbul Film Festival will hold a roundtable discussion with key filmmakers, scholars, archivists, and historians, to hash out the main hurdles and to perhaps illuminate the most creative solutions they have encountered to the challenges of filming revolution. Khaled Fahmy, Orwa Nyrabia, Agnes Devictor, director Hanan Abdalla, Morad Ben Cheikh, Andrei Zagdansky, and academician Alisa Lebow will participate to the meeting. Round Table: Filming Revolution will be at Pera Museum at 16.00.

• MAKE YOUR PROGRAMME IN ADVANCE There will be a number of events in the festival today. Determine your priorities not to get lost in the programme!

• FEARFUL HOURS OF A GIPSY FAMILY Mari, Anna and Rio live under fear due to murdering in Hungarian villages. Turkish audience knows the director Bence Fliegauf with his earlier films “Womb”, “Milky Way” and “Forest”. Just the Wind will be screened at Atlas Sineması at 11.00 with the participation of the director.

• THREE MEN IN THE FAMILY Director Caner Erzincan’s film focuses on three men of a family by the border living in a small town. Mar / Snake in the New Turkish Cinema section will be screened at Beyoğlu Sineması at 11.00 with the participation of the director Erzincan.

• REVOLUTION FROM THE EYES OF WOMEN Director Hanan Abdalla looks at the Egyptian Revoution from a different angle and tells the story of four women, Vefa, Suzanne, Şahinde and Bedriye, through the protestations on the Tahrir Square. In the Shadow of a Man will be screened at Pera Museum at 11.00 with the participation of the director Abdalla.

• BACK HOME FROM EXILE The film is the story of the return of a family, which was forced to migrate and left their homeland three generations ago, to their village. Director M. Tayfur Aydın will participate to the screening of İz-Rêç / The Trace at Atlas Sineması at 13.30.

• BETWEEN FICTION AND REALITY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A DOCUMENTARIST Hail focuses on a couple who projects their real life to the silver screen. Director Amiel Courtin-Wilson will be present for the screening. The film is on the fine line between reality and fiction. The screening will be at Fitaş 1 at 13.30.

• WHAT YOU DEMOLISH IS ACTUALLY THE WALL OF FEAR! First feature documentary on Tunisian Revolution, No More Fear is premiered at Cannes. The documentary combines images from the protests overthrowing 24 years of dictatorship of President Bin Ali and starting the Arab Spring and key people of the revolution. Director Mourad Ben Cheikh will be present for the screening at Pera Museum at 13.30.

• DELTA IN BOTSWANA What do prophecy, memory and traditional beliefs mean to man who lives way beyond them? The River Used to Be a Man focuses on the issue. Director Jan Zabeil will be present in the screening at Fitaş 1 at 16.00 for the Q&A! Let us recall that Alexander Fehling from the international competition jury has the leading role of the film.

• A JOURNEY FROM ISTANBUL TO KARAMAN Directors Tamer Yiğit and Branka Prlic tell the story of the new generation in Turkey who wants to get rid of the burden of their ancestors and live the life as they want. Karaman will be screened at Beyoğlu Sineması at 16.00 with the participation of the director.

• AT ISTANBUL AFTER THE PREMIERE IN ROTTERDAM! After “On the Way to School”, Orhan Eskiköy and Zeynel Doğan are in the festival programme with another film adapted from a real life story, but this time the story of the director Zeynel Doğan’s family. Voice of My Father will be screened at Atlas Sineması at 19.00 with the participation of the directors. Voice of My Father had won two awards at 5th Meetings on the Bridge.

• AN OSCAR NOMINATED PRODUCTION IN “DOCUMENTARY TIME WITH NTV” Terraferma awarded in festival was nominated to Academy Awards by Italy this year. The film focuses on moral choices as well as standing upright in traditional societies. The documentary will be screened at Fitaş 4 at 19.00 with the participation of director Emanuele Crialese.

• YOUNG SAVAGES FROM SCANDINAVIA Based on real events Savage looks for an answer to the question “Why?” but goes deeper: Why do we try to understand the evil? We will see Kim’s effort to run away from the evil in his blood. The screening will be at 19.00 at Fitaş 1 with the participation of Martin Jern and Emil Larsson.

• SOTIRIS AND DORA AGAINST THE WORLD Interrogation officer Sotiris decides to forgive the entire wretch who suffers from the blows of misfortune. He even takes the risk and commits a murder. Dora learns about the murder and their ways cross after this incident... Unfair World will be screened at Beyoğlu Sineması at 19.00. Antonis Kafetzopoulos, one of the lead actors, will participate to the screening for Q&A.

• UNEASINESS AT CAUCASIAN MOUNTAINS Premiered in Locarno Film Festival, The Loneliest Planet with Gael Garcia Bernal as the leading actor will strike the audience with significant use of space and striking performances. Director Julia Loktev will participate to the screening at Atlas Sineması at 21.30. The film is competing for Golden Tulip in the International Competition category.

• FIVE PEOPLE IN A BARN In his first feature film on “xenophobia,” director Oğuz Çiçek tells the story of Orhan who lives his life on high plateau of Trabzon after his wife has been murdered. The Other Way will be screened at Beyoğlu Sineması at 21.30 with the participation of the director.

• SECOND TIME, AT NİŞANTAŞI Cut competing in the “International Competition” category focuses on a young filmmaker who aims to change the world through cinema. Director Amir Naderi adapts a cinema manifest to the silver screenwith the actor Hidetoshi Nishijama playing the young filmmaker who resists to the physical pain. The film will be screened at Nişantaşı Citylife City’s at 21.30 with the participation of the director and the actor.

• A VIRTUOSO AT FESTIVAL THEATRES Director Bertan Başaran carries Barbaras Erköse, who worked with significant names of Turkish Classical Music, to the silver screen. Erköse turned his clarinet into a means of self expression while performing his music... The rest of the story, Can’t Live Without You, can be watched at Pera Museum at 21.30 with the participation of Bertan Başaran.

• TODAY AT “MEETINGS ON THE BRIDGE” Do you have a project on children films or scripts? Don’t miss the panel discussion with the participation of Fleur Winters, professionals and TV planning director of Cinekid Children’s Film Festival with awarded Holland children films, producers, directors, and scriptwriters, organised with the cooperation of Eye Film Institute Netherlands. Panel Discussion: Children’s Films? Why Not! will be at Akbank Sanat between 14.30 and 16.30!

• BitamBiöğrenci MEETS WITH MAGIC Multi-awarded The Magicians by Joram Lürsen will meet with the students within social responsibility project BitamBiöğrenci by İKSV. The film screening will be at Akbank Sanat at 11.00 for those who want to see the film with the students.