Almanya (Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland)
Germany, 2010, 101 min., DVD, Director: Yasemin Samdereli, Cast: Demet Gül, Vedat Erincin, Lilay Huser, Denis Moschitto, Petra Schmidt-Schaller, and Aykut Kayacik
“Who or what am I really: German or Turkish?” This is what six-year-old Cenk Yilmaz asks himself when neither his Turkish nor his German schoolmates choose him for their football team. To cheer him up a little, his 22-year-old cousin Canan tells him the story of their grandfather Hüseyin, who came to Germany in the early 1960s as a “guest worker” and later fetched his wife and children so they could be in “Almanya” with him. Much time has elapsed since then, and Germany has long since become the family’s home.
One evening, during a big family gathering, his grandfather Hüseyin surprises his loved ones with the news that he has bought a house in Turkey and wants to take everyone back “home” with him. But what is home? Where is it really? Although all family members struggle with this question their own way, Hüseyin refuses to take no for an answer, and so they have no choice but to set off for Turkey. It’s the beginning of a journey full of memories, arguments and reconciliations – until the family outing takes an unexpected turn...
Yasemin Samdereli was born in 1973 in Dortmund. She studied at the University of Television & Film in Munich, and currently works as a screenwriter and director.
Almanya, her feature film debut, received the 2011 German Film Award for best film and best screenplay.
7:30 pm
(c) Ekim Medya & Rainmaker Production
The Eye of Istanbul - The Life and Photographs of Ara Güler
Turkey, 2015, 61 min., DVD, Director: Bİinnur Karaevl
The Eye of Istanbul tells the story of Ara Guler, the legendary Armenian-Turkish photographer, through the culmination of his retrospective exhibition in Istanbul. The documentary follows a non-linear narrative which explores the artistic process and impulses of this great master. Ara’s curiosity, resourcefulness and fearlessness are revealed through a series of stories in the film.
Binnur Karaevli was born and raised in Istanbul and earned her BFA in Drama from Carnegie-Mellon University and her MFA in Film Production from the University of Southern California. Her short narrative films “Dance of the Whirling Dervish” and “Evelyn of the Desert” received top prizes from festivals including the Nürnberg, New Orleans, and Istanbul international film festivals.
Josef Koudelka, photographer: “Nobody did the black and white photos of Istanbul better than Ara.”
Bruno Barbey, photographer: “Ara’s photographs are a part of the national heritage of Turkey.”
In conjunction with Turkish Heritage Month Washington, DC, organized by the American Turkish Association of Washington, DC throughout September 2016.
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