Discoveries from Turkey World Cinema

Scared and courageous, at home but not feeling safe at the same time... A woman, a journalist, having served prison time because of her book, wins her freedom back and comes back to life she left behind. A chaotic Istanbul combined with the traumas of dark days past, she spends a day full of fear and paranoia. Is it possible to get used to live in constant fear?

Esra Tanrıverdi’s Memory Labyrinths, shot on 16mm film, questions the limits of forgetting and remembering. The film attempts to capture how one is exposed to repressed and fragmented memories after the loss of someone.

İstanbul’s religious music scene has always been tremendously assorted and colourful since the city was not only the capital of empires, but also the heart of main monotheistic religions. On this scene, Hellenes, Jews, Armenians, Syriacs, and Muslims contributed to and significantly nourished each other. Regardless of whoever influenced or affected whom, followers of different religions have had a convergence, a common art and style of expression throughout history. Music that brings humans together and connects them with the divine, despite different languages and religions, has been the most essential, effective, and dominant expression throughout history. Art, in that respect, happens to be our common cultural heritage as the most virtual product that humanity has brought forth.

The theater of cruelty in third wheeling.

Lives that pass by without loving themselves or anyone, without meeting pleasures... The experiences we have or have not experienced turn into traumas that manifest themselves in different parts of our body. Is it possible to make peace with traumas?

Tuzla cemetery overlooks the Tuzla shipyards. Now start walking down the cemetery slope. On your left is the military zone, green and devoid of humans. Then all of a sudden you see nothing but concrete blocks of flats. The workers leave their homes around seven in the morning to work "outside".

As he spends the 21 day lockdown period in his village that he has never seen before, the director tracks the traces of his sister, who died as a baby, with his camera.

During the longest night, the woman gives birth upstairs while the man cooks dinner.

Gender roles, which are determined since childhood, form the idea of the film. The patriarchal structure, which processes gender into objects, continues to occupy the borders of women.

Trans individuals, who are deprived of their right to work due to their gender identity, become a more vulnerable group in Turkey, especially in cases involving illness and old age. In 2012, following the initiative of the Istanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association, the Trans Guest House was opened for trans individuals who are in distress, have no place to stay, and are exposed to violence. The short documentary film “Guest*House”, together with the photographs Ömer Tevfik Erten took in the guesthouse in 2014, is the gateway to the trans solidarity organized for the sustainability of the Trans Guesthouse and the search for a “safe space” for the people who temporarily host the guest house.

Our hero takes a journey through the great forest on a beautiful sunny day, and never realized that this journey is a very old and familiar one.

The documentary explores one of Istanbul’s most significant art monuments, tracing nearly 700 years of cultural and artistic history through the mosaics and frescoes of the Kariye Mosque (Chora Church). By combining visual analysis with a distinctive soundscape—from Byzantine hymns and Orthodox prayers to the Islamic call to prayer and Ottoman takbirs—the documentary emphasizes Istanbul’s layered cultural continuity and enduring intercultural dialogue.

The story of two women crossing the frame of love and death after a man that puts an end to his life left a suicide note video

We can hide or ignore the truth in some way. However, when it finds a way to come out, it may be too late for everything.

Set in Ankara in 1999 and 1980, the story tells of how the main character, Metin Kılıç, is transformed by a song.

An old and experienced detective starts to suspect his younger and smarter partner after learning about his troubling and traumatic past. The rising tension gets worse as the two are stuck in an interrogation room with a murder case filled with twists and turns.

“Farewell Shakespeare!” is an exciting breakup symphony, which sets in a theatre stage. Two eccentric lovers deals with a romance conflict, while going with the flow of non-diegetical music.

The movie focuses on a potential long curfew and its effects on people and on the earth. It aims to deliver a message that will enhance awareness.

A woman patient transports drugs to cure her grandchild. The man who is supposed to receive the delivery is arrested, and the drug packages remain with the woman. When we humans get into trouble, we can do anything. This film's perspective is based on this point. The film begins as a routine shopping trip, and in the story, an elderly woman is forced to take risks to heal her granddaughter. At the end of this story, the drug packages remain inside the stuffed peppers. It seems that this is not an ordinary shopping trip, and those who watch the film notice this and learn about the grandmother's difficult situation.

Houses have arms too / Cypress trees reaching towards the sky / Minarets reaching towards the sky / There is no answer from the sky.

Istanbul Ataturk Airport, which has hosted Turkish Airlines for decades, is about to close... They only have 12 hours to move to their new home due to the intense workload at the new airport that will be opened 40 kilometers away from Ataturk Airport. This move is on an unprecedented scale and when completed, Turkish Airlines' new home will be on its way to becoming the busiest airport in the world.

To spite fake Instagram accounts, İdil and Şevval conduct the most unnecessary investigation of the century. Things change, however, when their findings reveal discrepancies beyond their expectations.

A region in Guvercintepe (Bayramtepe) Neighborhood of Basaksehir, Istanbul was named as Palestine by the people. Guvercintepe Neighborhood, which was formed in the 90s with the migrations from Anatolia, has been wanted to be demolished many times after being formed. The last destruction which was wanted to take place in 2009 was prevented by the local people’s resistance. A few years later, deeds were given to the majority of the neighborhood people. Palestine Neighborhood, which got its name from the resistances against destructions, was left out of this process and destruction agenda in Palestine has continued after 2009. In 2012, expropriation lawsuits were brought for a road project of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. And in the last quarter of 2020, as a part of “Road Project No.3” of Basaksehir Municipality, notifications were sent to 5 houses in the lower part of Palestine Neighborhood. In the notifications sent, it was demanded that they vacate their houses in 7 days…

Multidisciplinary artist Ali Emir Tapan explores the dominant-submissive dynamics of an unnamed couple with his first short film Delikler.

A family that keeps secrets from each other finds their secrets hidden in the toilet bowl of their home. During a dinner party with relatives, all secrets are revealed when the youngest member of the family has trouble using the toilet.

Three theater students who are self-isolating at home during the COVID-19 pandemic record their daily lives on their cellphones. Students having an online meeting with their professor are rehearsing a play adapted for the stage from Decameron, which tells the story of a medieval plague. When a student's home becomes a stage, their lives become a play. The distinction between fiction and reality is becoming increasingly blurred. Life and drama merge in a new reality.

The paths of three characters, whose common point is to go to Europe, intersect, in Istanbul, where two older Muslim and Christian women are died all at once and their bodies are mixed and buried wrong. Although they have different worlds, the agreement they have made in line wit their common interests leads them to embark an illegal refugee boat from the Aegean Sea to Italy.

One day Michal decides to sing. Before she figures out that, she bumps into Julien who quits his day job in France. They find Metehan playing santour at Istiklal street in Istanbul. Together they form the famous street band 'Light In Babylon' that truly illustrates that music has no boundaries.

Bodies merge and intertwine in this vibrant vision of sexuality.

Wind Horse, a poetic observational documentary, follows two characters with deep connections to horses: Osman, a local horse racer turned shepherd in Ardahan and Selim, a young shepherd turned a famous jockey in Istanbul.

The film tells the story of Hakkarigücü Women’s Football Team. The team is composed of footballers coming from different provinces of Turkey's eastern region with tough geographical conditions, tense political climate and limited educational opportunities. Football means a gate to the outside world for these young footballers ranging from 14 to 21 years old. They transform where they live, achieve to be happy, and enjoy every moment of life despite of all the difficulties. Game means to them more than being the winner of a rivalry, and it is simply a means of making life better.