Discoveries from Turkey World Cinema

This documentary describes one of the greatest monuments in the history of world architecture, the historical, cultural and political past of a magnificent building whose history stretches right back to the 4th century.

Ali hasn't seen his uncle in a long time. Their first conversation echoes the sentences children memorize in school, revealing the tragic inadequacies of the education system.

Brothers listens in on the bed talk of a couple and plays with the idea of lovers becoming brothers.

The film shows us the unknown face of TV world through a very popular show in Turkey called "Marriage with Esra Erol" aiming to marry people in front of the camera.

A film about a land dispute, it tells the story of Eşref's revenge after losing his brother and father.

People's memories are periodically erased and replaced with new ones...

Harika is a child whose family was set refuge from Siirt to Manisa. With his own words, he is a transsexual feeling female spirit in his own body since early childhood. He lives in Izmir since 2000 and makes a living by prostitution.

Story of Baris coming to the UK and drawn into the underworld where there is no return.

Through the prism of a traditional Turkish rakı table, ERKEKLER (“Men” in Turkish) takes a look at gender identity and what it means to be and act the masculine gender. Two old friends, Ali and Haydar; meet after a long period of separation and catch up with each other’s lives. As is traditional with Turkish rakı tables, the conversation quickly turns towards heavy subjects like love and loss.

Old friends Can and Gizem reunite at a bar. Can complain to Gizem about his failed attempts at intimacy. That night, he meets Atlas and takes him home and they spend the night together. The next morning, as intimacy grows, Can’s emotional distance creates tension. Atlas eventually leaves, confused by Can’s mixed signals. Alone, Can is left in silence, reflecting on his emotional barriers. He takes a walk while coming to terms with his feelings through an inner monologue.

The sequel to the film Yalnız Degilsiniz.

Song Lee (28), an extra actor, hoping not only for the opportunity to be an actor but also for respect. In a restaurant set of a film shooting, Song is kicked off the stage by the director. When Song is about to leave, the crew finds that Song is an indispensable "background" in every shot because of the continuity. The director has to bring Song back.

Pınar Öğrenci’s first documentary film examines the effects of discriminatory urban policies implemented in the 1980s in Berlin on “guest workers.” The starting point of the film is IBA (International Bau Austellung), the post-war urban renewal project carried out in the district of Kreuzberg between 1984 and 87. The photographs taken by the architect Heide Moldenhauer, who worked for IBA, and various archival materials form the basis of the film. Nearly forty years after they were taken, Öğrenci finds the people in the photographs to hold interviews with them and displays the hidden history of Kreuzberg through the experiences and solidarity stories of women immigrants.

A woman tries to remember her forgotten memories by going through old photographs. As she goes deep into her memories, she gets even more confused about her past.

A group of friends try to help their friends, but end up getting themselves into a mess. In an attempt to save their friends who have been subjected to a spell, the young group burns the spells and jinn writings they downloaded from the internet, thereby becoming the target of the Daktylos jinn, a highly dangerous tribe. No one has ever escaped the wrath of Damanaus, the most ruthless of the Daktylos jinn living on Mount Ida, and Damanaus's new target is none other than the young group of friends.

The documentary is titled after Arkadaş Z. Özger’s poem “Hello My Dear” which had caused much controversy in the period it was first published. Considered to be in defiance of heteronormativity, the said poem includes references to the poet’s personality, his family, his relationship to the society, and his “unexpected” death, which came three years after its publication. Today, 50 years after it was written, the documentary follows these same lines in the poem utilising cinematic elements. The documentary also rediscovers the poetics; reaches out to the family, the comrades, the friendships, departing from the official historical accounts, cognizant of his experience of otherness, in pursuit of the “lost” portrait of Arkadaş Z. Özger.

"Strange" has been written and directed by Can Dundar and it has three sections, "A Separation", "A Destitution", "A Death", documenting Neset Ertas' musical journey. Shootings of locations where Ertas lived, footage of the musical master Muharrem Ertas and various other rich visual material enrich the value of the documentary. This is a considerably valuable work to document and archive the life of one of the most important bards of the Turkish cultural history and folk music.

A timid, henpecked husband, dominated by his domineering mother-in-law (“kaynanatör”), finds himself in a chaotic mix of misunderstandings and slapstick as he navigates between his controlling wife’s family and his hopeful son-in-law.

Thousands of Trans*Women live in the big cities of Turkey. There has been an increase in the murder of Trans*. Crimes against Trans*Women are mostly not investigated. The perpetrators can usually rely on being exempted from prosecution. Ebru, a Trans*Woman from Istanbul, fights against the displacement and murder of her companions. She has experienced exclusion from state, society and family in her own life. For 25 years she has been active for LGBTQI rights. She wants to change Turkish society with humor, self-irony and political acumen. She meets Margarethe, a 85-year-old German retired nurse and mother of the film-maker, and establishes with her an old age home for Trans*. Urban transformation of Istanbul and the protests around the Gezi Park resonate throughout the film.

A series of short scenes gives us a glimpse into a couple's complex relationship. Beautiful and frail about the little things that make up the whole.

A young girl working in a textile workshop is desperately trying to save money to make her father quit his job and find an apartment together with her. But her father does not seem to be the person she wants him to be.

It’s Saturday night in Istanbul and the storm suppresses the sound of music around the city. Özge and Tarık, who have had too much to drink, decide to end the night and jump in a cab. However, the journey back home doesn’t go as they expect.

A young girl gets into a taxi to go home in the evening; from the first minute, she doesn't get along with the taxi driver, who, citing heavy traffic, takes a route the girl doesn't know but which the driver claims to know very well. This journey through the back streets of the city holds surprises for both of them.

Seeking justice of a man who went to jail after his friends blamed him.

Fifteen-year old Cihan accompanies his grandmother on a journey to Turkey, to attend a wedding. They have not much in common and have to spend a whole day together in Istanbul.

The American Dream

A Turkish horror/thriller about a group of friends whose fun night turns into a nightmare as hidden truths surface.

A police team on night patrol is dispatched to investigate a long-abandoned hotel following a tip-off. Upon hearing screams coming from the hotel, the team rushes to the scene and, upon entering the building, realizes that this is no ordinary incident. From that moment on, everything that happens will be recorded continuously by the police camera.

One of the greatest tragedies of the modern era happened in 2020. As a result of the global measures taken against the Covid-19 pandemic, the Olympic Games, which was to be held in Tokyo, was delayed for the first time in its history. In one hundred years, only three gymnasts had been able to represent Turkey in gymnastics, however, this is about to change; İbrahim, Ahmet, Ferhat and Nazlı qualify for Tokyo Olympics but find themselves in a challenging uncertainty. They are stuck at home for 3 months and Ahmet feels devastated, Ferhat is more concentrated on his goal, İbrahim tries to find the power to fight his injury, Nazlı is out of shape and Adem is ambitious to get qualified. They find motivation once again and go through the leap year with victories, losses, injuries, natural disasters and quarantine to get one step closer to the highest success attainable by an athlete.

Story of a girl who slips inside herself while meditating.

Freedom dream of a bored woman because of marriage and chores with riding sewing machine as a bike.

Yunus Emre Gündüz, who previously garnered a large audience with his performance "Kemikleşmiş Travma," now presents "Başka Biri Var," a show that explores the events that unfolded in his life afterward and features stories that build in intensity.