Moon and Stars Project and The Middle East Institute of Columbia University Present a Panel Discussion on:

Turkish Cinema Today

October 10, 2008 (4 : 30 PM-6:00 PM)

The discussion will be followed by a one-hour cocktail reception.

Columbia University IAB Building, 15th Floor, Room #1501, 420 W 118th Street, New York, NY 10027

Limited seating, please RSVP to guestlist@moonandstarsproject.org

The panel will be free of charge. Screenings of ARA and Riza will be $5 for panel attendees.

Click here for festival schedule.

The expression “like a Turkish film” was once used as an insult to describe tacky, cheesy and over the top, dramatic situations. Today, after decades being in the dark and ridiculed by its own intelligentsia, Turkish cinema is evolving to a new level with films taking top prizes in international film festivals time and again and directors, working in Turkey as well as Europe, are gaining both critical acclaim and box office success. Istanbul's vibrant film industry has given a fresh voice to the country's breathtaking transition in the past decade, stemming from fast-paced urbanization, debate over secularism and varying cultural identities.

Please join us for an in-depth conversation moderated by Binnaz Saktanber on this startling transformation with writer-directors Ümit Ünal, Tayfun Pirselimoğlu, actress Selen Ucer and Dr. David Cuthell of Columbia University’s Turkish Studies’ program.

PANELISTS

One of the most original screenwriters of Turkish cinema and a novelist of his own right, Ümit Ünal’s first feature film as a director, 9, came in 2002. Turkey’s first DV-to-35mm feature film, 9 was also Turkey’s official entry for the 2003 Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film Category. Ümit Ünal wrote and co-directed his second feature film Anlat İstanbul (Istanbul Tales), a poignant tribute to the city of Istanbul, in 2004. Ara, whichreceived the Special Jury Prize in the International Istanbul Film Festival for “strikingly tackling subjects that are still considered taboo in today’s society…through masterful dialogues,” is his third film as a director.

Before starting his career as a filmmaker, Tayfun Pirselimoğlu was a critically acclaimed artist who holding many exhibitions in New York, Istanbul, Vienna and Budapest. Today, Pirselimoğlu uses his visual credentials to shoot award winning movies starting with his first short film Dayım (My Uncle) which won Best Film in Capalbio Cinema International Short Film Festival, and in Milan Street Film Festival and Special Mention in Girona Film Festival. He directed his first feature film Hiçbiryerde (Innowhereland), which won Special Grand Prize in Montreal Film Festival in 2002. In 2007, his second feature length film Rıza, which tells the tragic story of a truck driver working between Istanbul and Adana, was selected to Berlin International Film Festival Forum of New Cinema and received the Critics Award at the Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier Official Competition.

One of the rising young talents of Turkish cinema and theatre today, Selen Ucer received her MFA in acting and theater from Roosevelt University in 2000 and hit the New York City stage in various productions including Dream in New York which she wrote, before returning to Istanbul in 2004. Ucer was nominated for the prestigious Afife Jale/Sadri Alışık Best Supporting Comedy/Musical Actress award in 2005 for her role in Kantocu (Singer) musical in Istanbul City Theater. She started her film career in 2004 in Ümit Ünal's Anlat Istanbul (Istanbul Tales). She recently won the Best Actress award at the 2008 Adana Altın Koza Film Festival for her work in Ara.

Dr. David Cuthell is the Executive Director of the Institute of Turkish Studies in Washington D.C. He also is an Advisory Board member and a Visiting Adjunct Professor at the Middle East Institute at Columbia University and a Visiting Adjunct at Georgetown University. Throughout his career Cuthell taught extensively on Turkish studies. Most recently, he taught a course called I Lost it at a Turkish Movie at Georgetown University, which examined the contemporary Turkish politics and culture through the constructed lens of cinema.