Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism Oğlak Yayınları II come to my voice sesime gel turkey 2010, 35mm, 90’, colour director Hüseyin Karabey script Hüseyin Karabey production Emre Yeksan, Asi Film, Elmadağ Cad. 6/3 Şişli 34373 Istanbul T +90 212 225 3944 [email protected] In a snowy Kurdish mountain village in eastern Turkey, Berfé, an old woman, and Jiyan, her young granddaughter, are troubled when the only man of the household, Temo, the son of one and father of the other, is arrested and taken into custody by the local gendarmerie. The commanding officer has received word that the villagers are hiding guns. It is announced that all the men of the village will be kept in custody until their families submit and hand over the guns they are hiding. But the problem is there are no guns, at least to the knowledge of these two blameless women. Despairing and on their own, Berfé and Jiyan are faced with a long journey in search of a gun that they can exchange for their beloved Temo. But how can their innocence and naivety find a way out in a system that threatens, eventually, to drag them into the sullied world of an interminable conflict? Hüseyin Karabey (1970) has been making films since 1996. He graduated from the Film and Television Department of Marmara University in 2001. His involvement in the democracy movement in the 90s and his background as a documentarian have determined the style and the content of his subsequent film work. His first feature film My Marlon and Brando was selected for the Rotterdam Film Festival and had its North American premiere at Tribeca, where it won Hüseyin Karabey the Best Director award. To date, the film has been screened in 36 international film festivals and won numerous awards. Come to My Voice will be his second feature film. filmography 1996 Etruş Kampı Etruch Camp (documentary) 1997 Bekar Hanları Bachelors’ Inns (documentary) 1999 Boran (documentary) 2001 Sessiz Ölüm Silent Death (docu-drama) 2004 Pina Bausch Istanbul Buluşması Pina Bausch Istanbul “Breath” (documentary) 2005 Dialogues in the Dark (documentary) 2006 Ölümü Ektim Randevu Yerinde I Missed my Rendez-vous with Death (documentary) 2008 Gitmek My Marlon and Brando 1 7 courtyards 7 avlu turkey 2009, 35mm, 101’, colour director Semir Aslanyürek script Semir Aslanyürek cinematography Yusuf Aslanyürek editing Ramazan Yüksel music Samir Kwefati cast Evmorfia Anastasiou, Labina Mitevska, Varlam Nikoladze, Muhammed Cangören, Nursel Köse, Serra Yılmaz production-distribution Yusuf Aslanyürek, Aslanyürek Film, Nüzhet Efendi Sok. 47/5 Rasimpaşa Mah. Kadıköy Istanbul T +90 532 570 1721 [email protected] | www.aslanyurek.net In Antioch, courtyards are separated from the streets by high walls and their doors are always closed. In Antioch, every courtyard is a world in and of its own. Among its inhabitants are Turks, Arabs, Christians, Jews, Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Alawites, Sunni Muslims... And a different language is spoken in every courtyard. Eleni is a beautiful yet rather unkempt 27 year-old woman of Greek origin. She has three daughters aged nine, seven and five. Since her husband’s death she has been alienated by her neighbours. Men have stopped speaking to her to avoid gossip, while women do the same to keep her away from their husbands. Imprisoned in her courtyard with her daughters, Eleni contrives excuses to go to her neighbours every evening for some conversation… Semir Aslanyürek (Antakya, 1956) studied medicine at Damascus University until 1978. He then transferred to the Moscow State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) Faculty of Film Directing, where he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the department of acting, cinema and TV film between 1980-1986. In 1990, he started his academic career as a lecturer at the Marmara University Faculty of Fine Arts at the Department of Cinema & TV. He began shooting his debut feature Wagon in 1993, but the film’s post-production remained incomplete. He has written ten feature film screenplays, two of which are literary adaptations. filmography 1993 Vagon Wagon 2001 Şellale The Waterfall 2006 Eve Giden Yol The Road Home 2009 7 Avlu 7 Courtyards 2 7 husbands for hurmuz 7 kocalı hürmüz turkey 2009, 35mm, 122’, colour director Ezel Akay script Gürsel Korat cinematography Hayk Kirakosyan editing Mustafa Preşeva music Ender Akay, Sunay Özgür cast Nurgül Yeşilçay, Gülse Birsel, Haluk Bilginer, Mehmet Ali Alabora, Erkan Can, Öner Erkan production 5. Boyut Stüdyoları, Muhteşem Film distribution Sami Dündar, 5. Boyut Stüdyoları, Maslak Mah. AOS 52. Sok. 12/C Istanbul T +90 212 346 4343 [email protected] | www.5boyut.com A Brechtian look at an Ottoman Burlesque with songs and music, 7 Husbands for Hurmuz tells the story of an alluring woman, Hurmuz who lives in Taşkasap, Istanbul in 1900. She is unofficially married to six guys of different occupations, each of whom she hosts on different days of the week. While refusing them nuptial bliss in her bed, she lures them into giving her expensive presents in order to live on easy terms. One day, Hurmuz happens to see the local doctor Hüsrev while at the barbershop of one of her husbands. She then feigns illness and asks for the doctor. When the doctor falls in love with her too, he requisitions her best friend and matchmaker Safinaz to ask for Hurmuz’s hand. On a night when all the husbands will get together by chance, Hurmuz and her confidante Safinaz find themselves in trouble. Ezel Akay (1961) studied engineering at Boğaziçi University and theatre arts at Villanova University, Philadelphia. He was part of many theatre productions as an actor and director before entering the film production business. As a founding partner of IFR-Istisnai Films (1990), he directed more than 500 commercials. With IFR, he produced Derviş Zaim’s feature film debut Somersault in a Coffin and Yeşim Ustaoğlu’s Journey to the Sun, both of which won many awards at international festivals. He is currently preparing for his next feature as director / producer. filmography 2004 Neredesin Firuze Where’s Firuze? 2006 Hacivat Karagöz Neden Öldürüldü? Who Killed the Shadows? 2009 7 Kocalı Hürmüz 7 Husbands for Hurmuz 3 40 turkey 2010, 35mm, 87’, colour director Emre Şahin script Emre Şahin cinematography Clint Lealos editing Emre Şahin cast Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Deniz Çakır music Ceza, Sezen Aksu, Cem Adrian, Doublemoon Records production-distribution Sarah Wetherbee, 34 Productions, 201 N. Westmoreland #131 Los Angeles, CA 90002 USA T +213 944 3672 | [email protected] A bag full of money lands in front of you. Is it luck? The answer to your prayers? Part of a predetermined plan? Or all of the above? Set in the chaotic streets of Istanbul, 40 is the story of three strangers making their way in a city of 12 million, all searching…for one bag. Shot entirely on location, 40 combines intense storytelling with documentary-style cinematography, embarking on a synchronistic journey that deals with faith, love, luck, destiny, human trafficking…and a bag of cash that falls from the sky. Emre Şahin (Istanbul) moved to the United States to study film at Boston’s Emerson College. His student film Fetish was awarded two acclaimed Evvy Awards (Best Film, Best Editing). Upon moving to Los Angeles after graduation, Şahin won the coveted Panavision scholarship and trained with some of the world’s leading directors of photography. Şahin has since directed and edited documentary and television shows for networks such as ABC, MTV, VH1, History Channel, TLC, and Discovery Channel. 4 ask your heart yüreğine sor turkey 2010, 35mm, 113’, colour director Yusuf Kurçenli script Yusuf Kurçenli cinematography Colin Mounier editing Oykun Asyalıoğlu cast Tuba Büyüküstün, Kenan Ece, Hakan Eratik, Ayla Algan, Civan Canova, Hakan Karahan production-distribution Nesteren Davutoğlu T +90 212 286 0517 [email protected] www.askyourheartmovie.com A love affair threatened by a barrier as great as itself… Can differences of faith stand in the way of an innocent love affair? Two young people, Esma and Mustafa, fall in love. For them, the future only has meaning if they are together. Failing this, life is meaningless. However, overhanging their love is a barrier unique to the period and location: Mustafa is a clandestine Christian, when everyone including Esma thinks he is Muslim. In the meantime, the Ottoman Empire introduces a series of reforms giving Christians the same rights as Muslims. From this point on, the Church urges secret Christians to reveal their faith. This poses a dilemma for Mustafa: he is caught between his love and the Church. Yusuf Kurçenli (Rize, 1947) studied journalism. He worked as both a producer and a director for state broadcaster TRT from 1973 to 1980. Kurçenli, who has also directed numerous television series, is a director who stands out in Turkish cinema for his own distinctive narrative style. filmography 1983 Ve Recep ve Zehra ve Ayşe Thus were Recep, Zehra and Ayşe 1985 Ölmez Ağacı Eternal Tree 1986 Mertoğlu Ömer Bey 1987 Gramafon Avrat Gramophone Woman 1989 Gönül Garip Bir Kuştur The Heart is a Strange Bird 1990 Karartma Geceleri Blackout Nights 1992 Raziye 1994 Çözül- meler The Disintegration 1997 Antika Talanı The Plundering of Antiquities (documentary) 2003 Gönderilmemiş Mektuplar Letters Unsent 2010 Yüreğine Sor Ask Your Heart 5 black & white siyah beyaz turkey 2010, 35mm, 94’, colour director Ahmet Boyacıoğlu script Ahmet Boyacıoğlu cinematography Özgür Eken editing Selda Taşkın music Cem Anıl, Onur Yüce, Exit, Mşş cast Tuncel Kurtiz, Erkan Can, Nejat İşler, Taner Birsel, Şevval Sam, Derya Alabora, Rıza Sönmez, Serhat Tutumluer production Akman Film, Gezici Film, Abay Kunanbay Cad. 20/11 Kavaklıdere Ankara T +90 312 466 3484 [email protected] www.festivalonwheels.org A painter with a turbulent history, fiercely committed to his ideals and still averse to settling down despite his 70 years; a lawyer who packed in his job after suffering a heart attack and now pursues a quiet life looking after his pet snail; a doctor already disenchanted with his profession and now discarded by his wife; a career woman braving life on her own, who has made loneliness a lifestyle.