Turkey

An obscure gem, a hidden treasure to international cinema lovers; “Sevmek Zamani” is one of the best movies in Turkish cinema history. This cult film still remains as a cinematic enigma for the new generation in Turkey. Praised for its B&W cinematograhpy and regarded as a masterpiece, film follows the aesthetic tradition of Antoninoni. Also resembles some of Bela Tarr’s works with its visual sensibility; “Sevmek Zamani” is an eclectic mixture of modernist themes (i.e. individual loneliness), metaphysics (the fight of good vs evil), and notions of Marxism like director’s some other works. Metin Erksan is one of the first Turkish filmmakers who saw cinema as an art form apart from a mass entertaining medium.
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As the year 1955 is moving towards autumn, Turkey’s increasingly tense political atmosphere starts to cast its dark shadow on the glittering beauty of Beyoglu. Behcet is the only son of a father in whom the government and the bureaucracy take a close interest due to his strong influence in Antakya. While working as a research assistant at the Faculty of Law in Istanbul, Behcet is falling under the sway of extreme nationalism as a result of his upbringing and the influential role model of his father. The only thing that causes Behcet to stumble on this road is the woman he secretly observes through the window of the apartment opposite his own. This woman, who is aware that she is being observed by Behcet, is Elena. She is one of those peerless beauties making up the cosmopolitan kaleidoscope of Beyoglu. A prostitute with a childlike spirit, she is sold off to high-level bureaucrats by her grandmother, who herself is a former prostitute.Read More »

Mist is uncertainty.
A mist which cannot be held with the hand, or even seen with the eye.
A mist which can comprehend our happiness, our pain, our fears, our contrainment and which encompasses human relationships.
A mist hanging over a family, a society and an era.
As stated by Victor Hugo “similar to the volcano’s discharge of stones, the discharge of people” in an era of uncertainty.
A mist which has taken the lives of 5 000 people within four years.
The effort of this film is to remember and understand something which is lost and gone in our country’s existence and in our own lives.
(Zülfü Livaneli)
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10 to 11 is the story of a passionate collector Mithat and the concierge of the building, Ali. For Mithat Istanbul is as vast as his collections and for Ali is nothing more than a few blocks around the building. When the neighbors decide to have the building rebuilt with the fear of earthquake and the wish for a more valuable house, Mithat’s most challenging struggle to save his collections begins. The building becomes the common destiny of these two men living alone. Their relationship that begins with the collaboration to save the continuity of the collections changes track with Mithat’s handing Istanbul over to Ali and ends when they involuntarily change each other’s fate. (IMDb)Read More »

Yaprak is just one of thousands of young women, who leave their quiet village lives behind them to seek their fortune in Istanbul. But the reality of life in a big city is harsh, and Yaprak is forced to take a job in one of the cities licensed brothels.Read More »

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A film about Kurdish students activism during ’90s in Turkey. After passing his university entrance exam, Cemal (Cahit Gok) a Kurdish boy from Tunceli (Dersim) goes to Istanbul. In time Cemal starts to involve in student activists who are mainly from Kurdish background.Read More »

Seni seviyorum Rosa is The first film of Turkish female novelist and screenwriter Isil Özgentürk is based on a highly praised novel, Tanta Rosa by another woman writer, Sevgi Soysal. The heroine comes from a non-Muslim family in the days when Istanbul used to be a melting pot of diverse cultures and religions. We follow Rosa from her childhood in her well-to-do family until her old age, her life changing with the destiny of Istanbul, which serves as a background to this story of life, love and disillusionment. Özgentürk lets the story unfold like a tale from the Arabian Nights, not forgetting to pass along a message or two for female audiences. The film received the Special Jury Prize of the Istanbul Film Festival in 1992 and travelled to major international film festivals. (~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide)Read More »

The Yellow Mercedes
A black comedy about the misadventures of a Turkish Gastarbeiter (guest worker) who returns to his village with the Mercedes Benz he buys with his hard-earned money.
Bayram comes to Germany from Turkey to work. He saves money and manages to buy a Mercedes. He tries to go to his home town by driving the Mercedes. On his way back, he faces various troubles. The film comically depicts a man who is obsessive about his Mercedes.Read More »

Ragip is a nuclear engineer who settled in the US with his mother when he was very young. After many years, he comes to Turkey to search for his father, which helps him to discover his country, but he would always remain a tourist. In the meanwhile, he begins an affair with her guide, who is a rock singer.Read More »