Lincoln Center to Present Panorama of Turkish Cinema

The program is a joint effort between the Moon and Stars Project, the cultural affiliation of the American Turkish Society, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

“Despite being a country of rising importance on the world stage, the rich cinema tradition Turkey boasts is relatively little known by many American cinema buffs,” said Richard Peña, the program director of the Film Society, in a written statement issued last week by the Moon and Stars Project to announce the program.

A screening of Raşit Çelikezer’s Sundance award-winning 2011 writing and directing effort “Can” will kick start the program on Friday evening, followed by a question and answer session with the filmmaker. In the film, which Çelikezer calls an “ode to Yeşilçam movies,” concepts such as parenting, family, love, patience, pride and guilt are questioned through the story of a 7-year-old boy named Can, played by Yusuf Berkan Demirbağ.

Yeşim Ustaoğlu and Ali Özgentürk, two of the directors whose films will be featured in the first week of the program, will also be in attendance to present their efforts and also to answer questions from the audience following the screenings of their films, respectively. Ustaoğlu will present her award-winning 1999 effort “Güneşe Yolculuk” (Journey to the Sun), while Özgentürk will present his debut feature, the 1981 drama “Hazal,” starring Türkan Şoray.

Şoray will also make another appearance on the silver screen at the Lincoln Center when the 1977 Atıf Yılmaz classic “Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım” (The Girl with the Red Scarf), with a screenplay by Özgentürk, is screened as part of the program. Özgentürk will also speak in another Q&A session following the screening of this film on May 2.

Other classics on the bill include three films by the legendary Yılmaz Güney, 1970’s “Umut” (Hope), the 1971 drama “Ağıt” (Elegy) and his 1982 effort “Yol,” which he co-directed with Şerif Gören and which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Literary adaptations “Susuz Yaz” (Dry Summer) and “Yılanların Öcü” (Revenge of the Snakes), both by the master filmmaker Metin Erksan, are also on the lineup.

Other renowned filmmakers whose works will be featured include Derviş Zaim (“Somersault in a Coffin”), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (“Climates”), Zeki Demirkubuz (“Confession”) and Reha Erdem (“Kosmos”), among others.

A screening of Özcan Alper’s newest effort “Gelecek Uzun Sürer” (Future Lasts Forever) will wrap up the program on May 10.

The Moon and Stars Project is organizing the program under the sponsorship of the Shepherd’s Gift Foundation, Ramerica International and The Marmara-Manhattan, with support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Turkish Consulate General in New York. (Today's Zaman)