29 October / Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow at the Festival

Realized with the contributions of TürkMedya, Sergei Loznitsa Master Class was held at Soho House Istanbul!

29 October / Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow at the Festival

YESTERDAY AT THE FESTIVAL OCTOBER 28, 2018, SUNDAY

 

SERGEI LOZNITSA: MY HEROES ARE NOT PEOPLE, BUT SITUATIONS  

 

Realized with the contributions of TürkMedya, Sergei Loznitsa Master Class was held at Soho House Istanbul!

 

Answering the questions of the film critic Murat Tırpan, the Ukrainian director told us that after being rejected by film schools, he went on to study mathematics and started filmmaking using his intuition and continued: “The most essential aspect of being a director is will-power and employing it. Creating is a matter of will-power, which is also a part of the talent. Did I have any talent? I didn’t know. You can study cinema and talk about films, but nobody may know that you have the talent. With my third film I realized I had it. Until then, I did everything with my intuition. I made the action, and then thought about it. Like regular, and unlike sophisticated people.”  

 

Emphasizing the contributions his knowledge regarding mathematics made on his filmmaking process, Sergei Loznitsa said: “Science and arts share something essential, as both are based on abstractions. Whatever we see at the screen is an abstraction. Yesterday, I visited Archeological Museum, where I saw the Sumerian alphabet inscribed on a stone. What we see on the screen and what we see on that stone are both definitions from scratch; that is abstractions.”

 

Sharing his directing experiences based on his films, Loznitsa showed various scenes from his short doc “Today We Are Going to Build a House” (1996) and said the following: “I started filmmaking with documentaries. I had already known what to shoot with my first film. The entire film is about the human communities and situations. Therefore, there is no hero. All I had done was to identify the situations and film the heroes, that is, the people. Then, I recognized fiction. For a director, fiction is not  obligatory, but one of the alternatives. The semi-documentary nature of ‘Donbass’ was not a result of the true story it conveyed; I just wanted to merge the fiction with documentary style and create a content together with the actors. When making a fiction, I approach it like a documentary, and I never forget about fiction when making a documentary either.”

 

MERT FIRAT: THE MOMENT YOU STOP CONTROLLING YOURSELF IS THE MOMENT YOU REACH YOUR MOST COMFORTABLE SELF
 

The panel talk “Directing Actors” was held at Yapi Kredi Kültür Sanat hosting director Ömer Faruk Sorak and film & theatre actors Belçim Bilgin and Mert Firat. Sharing their own experiences, Ömer Faruk Sorak said: “What makes a film better is not what you film, but what you pick or cut.” And Belçim Bilgin commented: “A director should spend most of his/her time on directing actors.” Mert Fırat added: “The moment you stop controlling yourself is the moment you reach your most comfortable self. And I am much more comfortable when my sole responsibility is acting in a film.”

 

BANU SIVACI: REPLACE THE PIGEONS WITH CINEMA AND THAT IS MY STORY!

 

Today, the National Feature Film Jury judged Burak Çevik’s “The Pillar of Salt”, Banu Sıvacı’s “The Pigeon” and Semir Aslanyürek’s “Chaos” and they all answered the questions of the audiences after the screenings. Burak Çevik said: “It was my intention to establish the sense that the film world was a constructed one. ‘The Pillar of Salt” was a different film that carried its own reality. Banu Sıvacı said: “We never considered festivals when shooting our film, we just wanted to make a film together. This is the story of a youngster who wants to be himself and constantly prevented by others in this endeavor –which is one of the most important problems of the contemporary youth. Replace the pigeons with cinema, and that is my story. More than focusing on the pigeons, my aim was to tell the story of a youngster who wants to be himself.” And after having the Istanbul premiere of his film “Chaos” at our festival, Semir Aslanyürek said “It is very difficult to comment on your own film. I think I might have made a better movie, but I could come up with this version. You keep on learning at every age, I do. If I had the opportunity, I would make this film much better. Every film should be made several times.”


 

TODAY AT THE FESTIVAL OCTOBER 29, 2018, MONDAY

 

  • Starting with the basic principles of screenwriting, we will have a conversation with Massimiliano Nardulli, Giovanni Robbiano and Suzanne Pradel on the topics such as “What is screenwriting and what is not?”, “Who is a screenwriter”, and “What are the techniques of screenwriting?” will be realized at Cezayir at 13:00.

 

  • “Genesis 2.0”, co-directed by Christian Frei and Maxim Arbugaev, that won the Best Cinematography Award from the documentary category of Sundance’s World Cinema section, and the Audience Award from Moscow will be screened at Atlas Movie Theatre at 12:00.

 

  • Bent Hamer’s “O’Horten” (2007), a dark comedy that competed at the Directors’ Fortnight section of Cannes and brought the acting dog the Dog Palm Award, will be screened at Atlas Movie Theatre at 16:00.

 

  • Swiss director Germinal Roaux’s “Fortuna”, a story about an Ethiopian girl’s embracing hope; winner of the Best Film Award from Generation 14plus section of Berlinale, where it premiered, will be screened at Beyoglu Movie Theatre at 19:00.

 

  • “Trust”, a national competition film directed by Sefa Öztürk, will be screened at Atlas Movie Theatre at 19:00 with the participation of the director and cast.

 

  • A Zhang Ming film “The Pluto Moment”, with the Zen effect it creates at the audience with its gripping images, that was acknowledged as “the festival’s hidden treasure” by Hollywood Reporter after it vied for Directors’ Fortnight section of Cannes will be screened at Beyoglu Movie Theatre at 21:30.

 

  • “The Queen Of Fear”, co-directed by Fabiana Tiscornia and one of the most influential actresses of Argentinean cinema, Valeria Bertuccelli, who also starred as the lead role, that won Special Jury Award from the World Competition section of Sundance will be screened Kadikoy Movie Theatre at 21:30.

 

TOMORROW AT THE FESTIVAL OCTOBER 30, 2018, TUESDAY

 

  • “What are essentially the project development platforms and what are their purposes?”, “To whom, where and how can you present your project in an effective manner?” Hosting Matthieu Darras, Hanna Atallah and Hayet Benkara, “Project Development Platforms: Pack & Pitch” panel talk will be realized at Cezayir at 13:00.

  • “Halef”, a national competition film directed by Murat Düzgünoğlu, will be screened at Beyoglu Movie Theatre at 12:00 with the participation of the director and cast.

 

  • “My Father’s Bones”, a national competition film directed by Özkan Çelik, will be screened at Atlas Movie Theatre at 16:00 with the participation of the director and cast.

 

  • Swiss director Germinal Roaux’s “Fortuna”, a story about an Ethiopian girl’s embracing hope; winner of the Best Film Award from Generation 14plus section of Berlinale, where it premiered, will be screened at Kadikoy Movie Theatre at 19:00.

 

  • One of the prominent directors of Romanian cinema, Radu Jude’s latest film “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians”, winner of the Best Film at Karlovy Vary will be screened at Atlas Movie Theatre at 21:30.


“The Old Man & The Gun”, a popular title among the lobbies as a prominent Oscar nominee, with its lead role as the Oscar-winner actor Robert Redford will be screened at Kadikoy Movie Theatre at 21:30.