Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CINEMA
Turks have taken to cinema-going with alacrity over recent decades, and the local industry
has gone from strength to strength. Local directors, many of whom are based in İstanbul,
are now fixtures on the international festival circuit.
Local Stories
Oddly enough, few masterpieces of Turkish cinema have been set in İstanbul. Acclaimed
directors including Metin Erksan, Yılmaz Güney and Erdan Kıral tended to set the social-
realist films they made in the 1960s, '70s and '80s in the villages of central or eastern
Anatolia.
All this started to change in the 1990s, when many critical and popular hits were set in
the city. Notable among these were the films of Zeki Demirkubuz, Omer Kavur, Yeşim
Ustaoğlu, Mustafa Altıoklar and Yavuz Turgul.
Contemporary directors of note include Ferzan Özpetek, who has a growing number of
Turkish/Italian co-productions to his credit. His 1996 film
Hamam
, set in İstanbul, was a
big hit on the international festival circuit and is particularly noteworthy for addressing the
hitherto hidden issue of homosexuality in Turkish society.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's 2003 film
Distant
received a rapturous response from critics and
audiences alike when it was released, winning the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival
among other accolades. Set in İstanbul, this story of two cousins who are both alienated
from society is in the bleak but visually beautiful tradition of Yılmaz Güney's films.
Ceylan's 2006 film
Climates
and 2008 film
Three Monkeys
are also set in the city.
Yavuz Turgul's 2005 film
Lovelorn
is the story of idealist Nazim, who returns home to
İstanbul after teaching for 15 years in a remote village in eastern Turkey and starts a
doomed relationship with a single mother who works in a sleazy bar. It's particularly not-
able for the soundtrack by Tamer Çıray, which features the voice of Aynur Doğan.
Kutluğ Ataman's 2005 film
2 Girls
and Reha Erdem's 2008 film
My Only Sunshine
are
both dramas in which the city provides an evocative backdrop.
Turkish-German director Fatih Akın received rave reviews and a screenwriting prize at
Cannes for his 2007 film
The Edge of Heaven
, parts of which are set in İstanbul. His 2005
documentary about the Istanbul music scene -
Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul
- was instrumental in raising the Turkish music industry's profile internationally.
