By N. Buket Cengiz. “It was a mission that felt almost impossible, which is a good thing for a documentary filmmaker.” Once, Nelly Mousset-Vos is a successful classical singer, and Nadine Hwang, the daughter of the Chinese ambassador to Spain, lives in the bohemian circles in Paris. On the Christmas […]
Nature and Individuation: the 41st Istanbul Film Festival
By N. Buket Cengiz. The programs at 41st Istanbul offer an ideal occasion for cinephiles, local and abroad, to return to movie theatres.” Istanbul Film Festival, organized by Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), returned to theatres, after two years of the pandemic exile, to the great enthusiasm of […]
Two Women’s Poetic Love, on an Island Frozen in Time: Ümit Ünal on Love, Spells and All That
By N. Buket Cengiz. I always despised nostalgia and joked about overly nostalgic people. But lately our whole country is inevitably trapped in a deep nostalgia.” Love, Spells and All That (2019), the latest film of Ümit Ünal, an acclaimed director from Turkey who moved to Glasgow in 2020, has […]
The Face of the Female Guestworker Experience: Pınar Öğrenci on Gurbet is a Home Now
By N. Buket Cengiz. I began to explore how the guestworker phenomenon was represented in literature, cinema, and music…. As one of the latest representatives of the new generation migrant artists, I wanted to follow the footsteps of the artists before me and join them by including this kind of […]
The Arab Comrades in the Spanish Civil War: Amal Ramsis on You Come from Far Away
July 23, 2019
N. Buket Cengiz
By N. Buket Cengiz. The 12th edition of Documentarist, the sole independent documentary festival in Turkey, was held on 15-20 June 2019 in Istanbul with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy, consulates of Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Check Republic, Denmark and other institutions such as the Goethe Institute. Among the […]
Dreaming on, Despite Brexit: A Conversation with Sean McAllister
July 3, 2019
N. Buket Cengiz
By N. Buket Cengiz. Documentarist, an independent documentary film festival held in Istanbul since 2007, had the acclaimed British documentary filmmaker Sean McAllister as its honorary guest this year. The festival audience found the opportunity to watch five feature films of the director: A Northern Soul (2018), shot in Hull […]
Violent Urban Transformation: Ali Vatansever on Saf
May 7, 2019
N. Buket Cengiz
By N. Buket Cengiz. Ali Vatansever’s Saf (2018) was one of the outstanding films at the Human Rights in Cinema Competition at the 38th Istanbul Film Festival (2019). The film, which made its premiere at the 43rd Toronto Film Festival (2018), has received the Honorable Mention at the New Voices New Visions […]
Documenting the Past and Gender: Istanbul Film Festival, 38th Edition
May 1, 2019
By N. Buket Cengiz. Held only a couple of days after a social democrat mayor has won the elections in the city after long years, Istanbul Film Festival, organized by Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) for the 38th time on 5-16 April 2019, has been attended by over […]
37th Istanbul Film Festival: Colours of the World on the Silver Screen
By N. Buket Cengiz. The Istanbul Film Festival, organised by Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) for the 37th time on 6-17 April 2018, was introduced back in February with a poster in miniature style with characters from cult films such as A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971), Arabesque (Arabesk, […]
The 36th Istanbul Film Festival: Golden Tulip Scents in Istanbul
May 20, 2017
By N. Buket Cengiz. No matter how much face Turkey loses on the international stage particularly with its friction with European countries, Istanbul Film Festival is a phenomenon in Turkey that has always been and will always be a symbol of international communication and collaboration. The 36th edition held on […]