Festival hakkında ayrıntılı bilgi için
http://www.bostonturkishfilmfestival.org/
info @ bostonturkishfestival.org
AWARD WINNING FILMS OF 2020
BEST DOCUMENTARY
A FEW ORDINARY DAYS / Sıradan Birkaç Gün
by Pınar Okan
BEST SHORT FILM
HEAVY BURDEN / Barê Giran / Ağır Yük
by Yılmaz Özdil
BEST DOCUMENTARY AUDIENCE AWARD
FAR AWAY / Uzaklarda
by Arjin Civan Şahin
BEST SHORT FILM AUDIENCE AWARD
HURT / Yara
by Onur Güler
SPECIAL MENTIONS / Documentaries
ADA'M
by Turgay Kural
DO YOU THINK GOD LOVES IMMIGRANT KIDS, MOM? / Tanrı Göçmen Çoçukları Sever mi
Anne?
by Rena Lusin Bitmez
THE STONE IN THE WELL / Kuyudaki Taş
by Gökçin Dokumacı
TRANSHUMANT / Memtevri/Yaylacı
Directed by Fatih Ertekin
UNDER THE ROAD, THE RIVER! / Asfaltın Altında Dereler Var
by Yasin Semiz
SPECIAL MENTIONS / Short Films
8 POEMS OF EMIGRATION / Göçün 8 Şiiri
by Kurtuluş Özgen
I AM RAINING DOWN INTO THE CITY / Yağmur Olup Şehre Düşüyorum
by Kasım Ördek
I DON'T WANT TO DIE, TODAY / Bugün Ölmek İstemiyorum
by Onur Sefer
MY SISTER / Ablam
by Burcu Aykar
RONALDO
by Raşit Algül
TRUTH / Tanışma
by Öykü Aytulun
BOSTON TURKISH FESTIVAL'S
15th ANNUAL DOCUMENTARY AND SHORT FILM COMPETITION
November 12 - December 15, 2020
Due to the circumstances caused by COVID-19 pandemic this year all competition
screenings will take place online.
All finalist films will be available on view between November 12 - December 15,
2020.
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE FILM FOR THE AUDIENCE AWARD!
PRE-ORDER TICKETS FOR ONLINE SCREENINGS WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON.
FINALIST FILMS & SCREENINGS SCHEDULE
DOCUMENTARIES
Ashes in My Heart | İçimdeki Küller
Directed by Ayten Başer Yetimoğlu
Documentary, 2019, 45 min.
In 2008, an explosion in a fireworks factory in Istanbul killed 21 workers and
injured more than one hundred others. The workers’ families refused to accept
that the explosion was a tragic accident, instead insisting that the factory’s
owners, who had been operating the facility illegally, were criminally liable.
This stunning documentary follows the families’ eight-year battle for justice as
they try to make their voices heard and heal their wounds.
The Stone in the Wall | Kuyudaki Taş
Directed by Gökçin Dokumacı
Documentary, 2019, 77 min.
Featuring Alican Yücesoy, Batuhan Aydar, Hatice Aslan, Tülin Özen
The ones who see all the colors that are refracted within the light, this is the
effort to show the way for the ones who has lost their light. It’s the
reflection of the truth of freed minds through reasoning. This is the helping
voice for the ones who do not see the sun, do not hear the music, and who do not
know how to swim or fly. Crowded minds behind the forty locked door... A
delicate conversation in consciousness and below bridges. Either listen to these
words or close your ears. Either believe the truth or shoot your mind. Sometimes
the truth will show, sometimes it won’t.
Ovacık
Directed by Ayşegül Selenga Taşkent
Documentary, 2019, 92 min.
Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu is the first mayor ever in Turkey elected from the Turkish
Communist Party. At the time of the filming of this documentary, he was the
mayor of Ovacık, Tunceli, a small Kurdish-Alevi town in the heart of Eastern
Turkey. (Currently he is the mayor of the city of Tunceli) Unknown to the rest
of the world, it is an area where cultural and humanistic values, peace, love
and community work are cherished, and where production and education are pursued
with almost no budget. The film follows the daily life in Ovacık and Mr.
Maçoğlu's efforts to strengthen a sustainable economy by promoting community-based
agriculture. Both the mayor’s and the residents’ remarkable efforts set an
example for agricultural towns around Turkey. The honest and heartfelt example
of Ovacik starts building a very important communication bridge between the East
and the West of the country.
Children of the Same Home | Aynı Evin Çocukları
Directed by Hasan Özgen and Kurtuluş Özgen
Documentary, 2019, 59 min.
“Children of the Same Home” documentary deals with the deep traumas of silent
witnesses who suffered during Balkan exiles and Asia Minor catastrophe. If we
have to (are forced to) leave a home and a language behind, what are we really
leaving behind indeed? Is it just a physical space that we have to abandon? This
phenomenon has deeply affected at least two generations of people who had to
give up their identity, belonging and common culture. This documentary’s focus
is to search for answers…
Sunflowers | Güneş Çiçekleri
Directed by Ayla Torun
Documentary, 2018, 50 min.
In 1924 during the population exchange between Turkey and Greece, the population
of Sinasos who had to abandon the towns they were settled in for years prepared
a photo album to remember their homes they had left behind and to find them back
when they would return. While the townspeople were preparing for the migration,
the process of photography started with the idea of Serafim Rizos was going on.
The houses of Sinasos should be photographed, because they were places of high
culture artifacts that were quite resplendent for their period. Allocating a
budget was not something easy at these times but Sinasos people managed to
create a common budget for this job. To print the archive footage they obtained,
they went to the port of İzmir where they submitted the file to a typographer.
They were delivered archive images for duplicate and migrated to their new
countries, Greece. A year later the album was published in Greece. Following the
population exchange and after the Turks who emigrated from the Balkans left the
estates of Sinasos where they were living for many years. Those estates have
been renovated and made alive again.
Culture Park | Kültürpark: İzmir’de Bir Vaha
Directed by Fatih Bilgin, Hande Zerkin
Documentary, 2020, 66 min.
Culture Park is the most important public green space in İzmir. It was founded
on the wreckage of the Izmir fire, to be a ‘public university’ as a dream of the
republic and is an ecologically sensitive region. Today, it attracts the
attention of capital due to its central location. The number of plants is
gradually decreasing due to concreting. Film tells the unknown story of Culture
Park, it aims to raise awareness for its protection and development.
Only One World Left
Directed by Alican Abacı
Short Documentary, 2019, 3 min.
A social awareness underwater short film of single-use plastic effects to the
oceans.
Under the Road, The River! | Asfaltın Altında Dereler Var
Directed by Yasin Semiz
Documentary, 2019, 52 min.
Kavaklıdere, Hoşdere, Bentderesi, Cevizlidere, İncesu Avenue... Ankara residents
are not aware, but every day while walking on the streets and avenues of Ankara,
they are actually passing over the underground streams. “Under the road, the
river!” documentary traces the lost streams of Ankara and sheds light on the
struggle to bring these streams back to the daylight. “dere” means “stream” in
Turkish.
Far Away | Uzaklarda
Directed by Arjin Civan Şahin
Documentary, 2020, 17 min.
What is life like in the places “far away” from the lives that we know? Mehmet
Günay Eser is a young music teacher who chose to live a life in far away town,
focusing on music, nature and the people. He uses music as his instrument to
unite people.
Butterfly Man | Kelebek Adam
Directed by Enis Manaz
Documentary, 2019, 6 min.
Abdurrahim Korkmaz was born in Mardin in 1984. In his village water, and
electricity arrived very late. The butterflies that he saw on the TV of his
neighbor have changed his life.
Never Mind Diyarbakir | Boşver Diyarbakır
Directed by Bekir Eta and Adnan Yaşar
Documentary, 2020, 25 min.
Since its history, Diyarbakır has a belief that ethnic music has been dominant.
In the public, listening to some music styles such as Dengbej culture, arabesque,
Kurdish music etc. intensely, has led to the prejudice of other music styles.
Group Kumlu is a rock music group that has been existed for more than ten years,
created by five friends coming together in Diyarbakır. Group Kumlu destroyed the
prejudice by creating an alternative style against to the dominant understanding
of music.
Keepers of the Magical Lantern | Büyülü Fener Bekçileri
Directed by Bahadır Kapır and Ferhat Zengin
Documentary, 2020, 48 min.
Yeşilçam is the name of passionate love, hopes, dreams, warm friendships, unity
and solidarity. Yeşilçam is the name of the movies that we sometimes love and
laugh…There are also people in Yeşilçam cinema whose names we do not know, we
cannot remember their faces or even we do not know about them… They are the
secret heroes of our cinema, which energize the big screen with the light of the
magic lantern in their dream castles. They were storytellers of Turkish movie
theaters. But now neither the light of that magic lantern is left, nor the
machinists who are the keepers of that magic lantern…
Dede
Directed by Ahmet Keçili
Documentary, 2019, 17 min.
Dede (name, mean also “Grandfather” in Turkish) Çolak is a shepherd in Aladağ
district of Adana. Because of the high number of child deaths in the village,
the families went to shrine and sought different names for he children. Dede,
who takes the name of Koyun Dede Shrine, lives the name given to him as fate and
continues his daily life by tearing the difficulties of shepherd. His family and
villagers can not compromise with him about marriage, immigration to city and
work. Dede’s only dream is to get married.
Woman's Hand | Kadın Eli
Directed by Enes Yurtsever and Turgut Cığızoğlu
Documentary, 2020, 16 min.
Nurgül Özkan’s life struggle began with a marriage at a young age. After many
years away, she returned back to her village and revived the village’s deserted
stone mill.
There is Tea If You Drink | Çay var, içersen
Directed by Cihan Zengin
Documentary, 2020, 18 min.
After years of abuse by her husband and many personal losses, Belgin hanged on
to life with her favorite drink, Turkish tea. This is the story of a strong
woman of labor, known by many in Kadıköy, Istanbul.
Ada'm
Directed by Turgay Kural
Documentary, 2020, 27 min.
Ada'm: A tale of “how one man alone can dramatically change his environment’s
destiny”. It is the story of Ziya Abay’s difficult life who lost his wife 14
years ago and decided to move to an island in Keban Dam, located in the Pertek
county, Tunceli. He lived alone on the island for 14 years and had difficulties
not just because he was all alone, but he also planted and took care of 3500
trees on the island and the other trees on the Pertek mountains.
Aunt Ummu | Ümmü Teyze
Directed by Orhan Çalışır
Documentary, 2020, 32 min.
Ümmü Yerlikaya came with her four children from Turkey in 1990. She joined her
husband who had been living and working in Bremen for many years. Several years
later the couple got divorced. Yerlikaya was left alone with the four children
and had to provide for the whole family. As the only thing she had learned was
how to weave carpets, she found a job as a cleaning lady. At that time, at an
adult age, she learned to ride a bike and started going everywhere by bicycle.
One source of income for Aunt Ümmü are the fruit and vegetables she grows in her
allotment garden. Every Sunday she sells those at the flea market. Although she
retired when she was 66, now at the age of 68 she is still working as a cleaning
lady and in her garden because her pension barely covers her rent. Nevertheless,
she refuses to apply for social assistance because as she says, ‘It is the right
of the orphans, not mine’. An archaic and poor life in Bremen, the centre of
high technology industries like shipbuilding, automotive and aerospace industry.
But a satisfying and happy one.
Remaining in Derik | Derik'te Kalanlar
Directed by Onur Can Atlı
Documentary, 2020, 15 min.
In these lands, which have hosted many civilizations in history, Armenians are
one of the first nations arriving in Derik. They live in friendship, peace and
love with the people of the region without any language and race discrimination.
Armenians migrated abroad and westwards over time. The last three Armenians
staying in Derik district of Mardin; the life story of Zekeriya Sabuncu,
Yurşalin and Naif Demirci.
Mastara
Directed by Fatih Coşgun
Documentary, 2020, 19 min.
Mastara documentary tells the life and culture of the Syriac people living in
Mardin / Midyat Bethkustan Village and the story of Pastor Gabriel Aktaş, one of
the last few people who can write Syriac handwriting.
Transhumant | Memtevri | Yaylacı
Directed by Fatih Ertekin
Documentary, 2019, 22 min.
The documentary film about the highland culture of the Georgians, who have been
living in Imerhev region of Şavşat for ages. It tells us about transhumant
women’s lives through Heva’s story.
A Few Ordinary Days | Sıradan Birkaç Gün
Directed by Pınar Okan
Documentary, 2020, 76 min.
Agricultural and rural production in Turkey is getting less; villages empty and
get smaller. The last generation living in these villages grow up with small
dreams. The future of these children are unknown. On the one hand, lives in the
villages continuously become more difficult and poor; on the other hand, complex
big cities... These cities are far and scary places for those children who never
left their villages before. “A Few Ordinary Days” shows us the daily lives of 4
children from different corners of Anatolia, with their worries for the future,
their dreams and their questions...
Do You Think God Loves Immigrant Kids, Mom? | Tanrı Göçmen Çoçukları Sever mi
Anne?
Directed by Rena Lusin Bitmez
Documentary, 2019, 89 min.
This film tells the struggle of Armenian families migrated to Turkey/Istanbul
who try to provide education for their children despite all the circumstances.
In the core of this struggle, which started in 2003, there stands a dining hall
centered school, located in a basement of a church where migrant children
receive education from volunteer educators. During the film, the struggle of
children living in a foreign land, their daily lives, their former habits and
longings are told through the eyes of migrant children.
SHORT FILMS
APP
Directed by Hatice Aşkın
Short, 2019, 17 min.
Cast: Janset, Tilbe Saran, Ekin Koç, Murat Kılıç, Doğu Demirkol, Tülin Özen,
Gökmen Göçbeyli, Radio Voice: İpek Erdem
A software company develops a security app for the women who live alone to feel
more secure. A shadow man who be reflected onto the walls and windows of a home
makes that home like there is a real man wandering around the house talking and
doing some errands. Mine is a 35-year-old young woman who is dependent on her
mother.
My Sister | Ablam
Directed by Burcu Aykar
Short, 2019, 23 min.
Cast: Devrim Eylem Şeker, Defne Karagöz, Ayşe Ayça Yeniay, Çiğdem Aksüt, Gizem
Taştan
Elif is 10 years old, her sister Ayşe is 13. It’s a sticky summer in 1980’s
Istanbul. Elif freely plays on the street, finding still green areas left
between construction sites. While trying to see her newly emerging breasts in
the bathroom mirror, Ayşe falls, injures herself and spends the summer lying on
the couch. Elif drives her sister mad, for reasons she can’t quite grasp.
Irritated and depressed, Ayşe seems out of reach.
Sycamore | Çınar
Directed by Mehmet Tığlı
Short, 2019, 14 min.
Cast: Mahmut Gökgöz, Barış Aksavaş, Sefa Turan, Nur Cansu Çolak
An old man spends the day wandering the streets of Istanbul. He communicates
with the trees and seagulls rather than other people. All day, he checks the
ATMs to find change like a child, even though he does not own an ATM card. He
gets happy when he finds money and indignant when he doesn’t. For the old man,
life is like a game that has remained from his childhood. And the sycamore
leaves are a part of this innocent game.
Imperfect | Kusurlu
Directed by Meral Çelik
Short, 2019, 17 min.
Cast: Dilara Topuklular, Kübra Balcan, Arzu Okay, Ege Kökenli, Begüm Akkaya,
Nurseli İdiz, Banu Fotocan, Asiye Dinçsoy
Dilara decides to go out that night. Altough not having any issues with her
existence till the day, Dilara starts finding flaws in herself after she was
faced with a barrage of criticism from her friend Kübra about her apparel as she
was getting ready to go out. Questioning and comparing herself with any woman
she comes across or any woman embedded in her mind for any reason, continuously
drives Dilara towards a damaged self esteem. A surprise ending awaits Dilara who
gets back home late at night, exhausted with all these thoughts.
I am raining down into the city | Yağmur Olup Şehre Düşüyorum
Directed by Kasım Ördek
Short, 2019, 15 min.
Cast: Ramazan Ergin, Asuman Durmaz, Fatoş Yıldız, Eyüp Kan
Sait, while trying to get his old casette player fixed, going from store to
store in the streets of Diyarbakır, comes across some of his old decisions. He
can’t escape the same destiny as his old casette player.
I Don't Want To Die Today | Bugün Ölmek İstemiyorum
Directed by Onur Sefer
Short, 2019, 12 min.
Cast: Evren Duyal, Beyti Engin, Mustafa Dincir, Şafak Topal, Metin Demirci, Elif
Sıla Kaymak
S. who is a young man in mid-twenties thinks he has a heart attack and will die.
His mother and father take him to the hospital. However, they do not think that
S. has a heart attack and they do not care about his condition. In the hospital,
S. will try to explain to his parents and doctors how his condition is serious.
The Wasted Effort | Bir Liralık Emek
Directed by Muhammed Bozbey
Short, 2019, 5 min.
Cast: Ali Akar, Erdal Tekin, Muhammed Bozbey, İrfan Saygılı, Emrah Ercicek, Onur
Yıldırım
Attila lives alone in a small town and finds a lira while walking on the road.
Attila then uses a lira to buy a loaf of bread from the oven and returns to his
home. At his house, he starts to prepare lunch. He sits down with the lunch he
made and the bread he got from the bakery.
Stainless | Lekesiz
Directed by Mehmet Oğuz Yıldırım
Short, 2019, 13 min.
Cast: Aysan Sümercan, Özlem Durmaz
Mrs. Selma decides to give one of her deceased husband's suits to the
apartment’s janitor who needs it for her son’s marriage. Noticing a spot on the
jacket, Selma Hanım tries to keep her memory "spotless" while struggling with
her loneliness among the memories of her husband.
The Hurt | Yara
Directed by Onur Güler
Short, 2020, 16 min.
Cast: Tülin Özen, Nihal Yalçın, Yıldız Nurhan Özenen, Fesih Özalhas, Emre Rüzgar
Atuğ
MD Bahar receives a phone call to issue a death certificate on the day of her
son Mert’s birthday celebration. At first it seems like a routine duty for
Bahar, but it takes an unexpected turn which forces her to make a choice with
her conscious or as a professional.
8 Poems of Emigration | Göçün 8 Şiiri
Directed by Kurtuluş Özgen
Short Documentary, 2019, 11 min.
"8 Poems of Emigration" is a found footage film that focuses on the migration
crisis. The film, while focusing on the immigration and immigration issue caused
by the wild global capitalism, consists of the images and the found footage from
the recording of the work named "8 Poetry of Immigration" that John Berger read
to the audience in 2007 at the Fine Arts Center in Madrid. The narrative of the
movie is revealed by the conflict between image and sound order. With the
out-of-context (misuse) use of commercial images and music, the film creates a
critical structure that opposes capitalism.
Ronaldo
Directed by Raşit Algül
Short, 2020, 14 min.
Cast: Baran Yağmur, Miray Beşli Çapa, Yusuf Akgün, Can Köker
Azad is a child nobody notices, to be more precise, everyone ignores him. His
father had died during an air raid at the beginning of the war. The only thing
left from his father is a football which Azad kept close.They settled next to a
shipyard with his mother. Their aim is to move to another country through the
sea.
Dragon | Ejderha
Directed by Can Paçacıoğlu
Short, 2019, 11 min.
Cast: Hüseyin Urçuk
The tale of the call of the wild soul is explored in this story of a mountain
climber’s venture to ascend a challenging summit. After numerous unsuccessful
attempts to scale a snowy peak, a frustrated mountaineer is plagued by
nightmares. Recognizing his discomfort as the call to continue his pursuit of
the summit, he determines to make one more attempt.
Best Actress | En İyi Kadın Oyuncu
Directed by Umut Alaz Kökçü
Short, 2020, 30 min.
Cast: Eylül Su Sapan, Suna Yıldızoğlu, Umut Orkun Eskibatman, Turhan Kaya
Melis, a PhD students meets with a 70's erotic movie star, Alev Hanzade, to
write a thesis on her career and about the period. As Melis keeps interviewing
her, she realizes this former star has a blurry past and dark secrets.
Da Capo
Directed by İpek Efe
Short, 2019, 14 min.
Cast: Roza Erdem, Deniz Onur
Years later, Zeynep goes to the summer house where she spent her childhood in
search of something she has lost, and meets a little girl on the beach. Zeynep
snaps at the child’s every attempt to play with her, unaware that she is the
only person who can help her find what she is looking for...
Truth | Tanışma
Directed by Öykü Aytulun
Short, 2019, 13 min.
Cast: Zuhal Gencer Erkaya, Çağdaş Ekin Şişman, Semra Morgil, Eren Yağcıoğlu,
Ceren Ülgen
Derya has to face and come to terms with her daughter’s way of life.
The Sugar Grocer | Şeker Gıda
Directed by Ferman Narin
Short, 2020, 20 min.
Cast: Tolga Manyer, Salih Yıldırım, Bülent Kızıldağ, Ayfer Şen, Mehmet
Leblebici, Aynur Saçkesen, Pelin Gören
Salih owns a neighborhood grocery, living alone a monotonous life. One day an
order comes in while Salih is sitting at the grocery store, and he experiences
the most traumatic day of his life.
The Heavy Burden | Bare Giran | Ağır Yük
Directed by Yılmaz Özdil
Short, 2019, 17 min.
Cast: Adil Abdurrahman, Saman Mustafa, M. Ali Arpa, Nazmi Kırık
Avdel feeds his family with the salary of the donkey Bozo who works in the
sanitation services of the city of Mardin in Turkey. When "old Bozo" is retired
by the municipality, Avdel must find a younger donkey to keep his job. To help
his uncle, Salih crosses the Syrian border to bring back his own donkey, which
he had to leave there when fleeing because of the war. But to accomplish this
mission, he must cross the minefields.
