5th Annual Turkish Film Festival

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents the 5th Annual MFAH Turkish Film Festival October 13-15.

This year’s program includes The Turkish Way, a documentary about the rising popularity of Turkish cuisine; Blue Bicycle, a family drama about a 12-year-old’s dream to buy a new bike; and the dramas My Mother’s Wound and My Father’s Wings.

Centerpiece Reception
Saturday, October 14, 6:30 p.m.
Join special guests of the festival in the North Foyer of the Caroline Wiess Law Building.

SCHEDULED FILMS:

61 Days (Iftarlik Gazoz)
2016, Turkish with English subtitles
Digital
Director: Yüksel Aksu

Children are not allowed to fast during the holy month of Ramadan, but young Adem, who gets a job selling soda on his summer vacation, breaks tradition in this charming comedy/drama.

Ambitious Adem (Berat Efe Parlar) is a young boy living with his family in Ula, Turkey, in the 1970s. With school finished, Adem wants to work on his summer vacation and ends up getting a job selling soda pop with a vendor (Cem Yilmaz) during Ramadan. Even though children are not allowed to fast during the holy holiday, Adem secretly takes on the practice while working on the job. Consequently, he experiences moments of delirium (with animation) as he pedals the soda cart in the scorching summer.

This charming comedy/drama, featuring a variety of ethnic music, richly portrays the cultural habits of rural villagers in southwestern Turkey in the 1970s. Winner of the Audience Award at the 2016 Adana Film Festival.

My Father’s Wings (Babamin Kanatlari)
2016, Turkish and Kurdish with English subtitles
Digital
Director: Kivanç Sezer

Unsafe working conditions for a group of construction workers in Istanbul affect each in different ways in filmmaker Kivanç Sezer’s debut feature.

All ticketholders are invited to a Centerpiece Reception on Saturday, October 14 from 6:00-7:25 p.m. in the North Foyer of the Caroline Wiess Law Building.

Kivanç Sezer’s self-assured debut tackles the dire fate of workers on a construction site, weighing the price of human life and dignity. Set against the frenzy of Istanbul’s urban residential building boom, workers constructing luxury apartments are not rewarded monetarily – irregular wages and life-threatening working conditions make the job dangerous.

Aging Ibrahim (Menderes Samancilar) labors to support his family, in spite of his deteriorating health. After learning Ibrahim has lung cancer, the film branches off in other storylines following ambitious Yusuf (Musab Ekici) , who has a clear vision for his future, and a foreman (Tansel Öngel) who just wants to complete the job early so he can seize another profitable opportunity. The parallel psychological and social issues are carefully paced, while the increasing tension foreshadows imminent tragedy.

Winner Golden Boll for Best Actor and Best Film Editing at 2016 Adana Film Festival; Winner Yilmaz Guney Award for Best Director at 2016 Adana Film Festival; Nominated for Best Film at 2016 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival and Kralovy Vary International Film Festival; Nominated for Best Director at the 2017 Tromsø International Film Festival (Norway).

Blue Bicycle (Mavi Bisiklet)
2016, Turkish with English subtitles
Digital
Director: Ümit Köreken

In this acclaimed debut feature from filmmaker Ümit Köreken, a Turkish boy puts off his dream of buying a bicycle to help a fellow student.

All ticketholders are invited to a Centerpiece Reception on Saturday, October 14 from 6:00-7:25 p.m. in the North Foyer of the Caroline Wiess Law Building.

Sweeping up the top awards of 2016 at Turkey’s largest film festival in Antalya—winning best film, director, and script—this acclaimed feature debut concentrates on 12-year-old Ali (Selim Kaya), who recognizes injustice when he sees it.

When his father is killed in a work accident, the farm blames the father. But Ali and his mother know otherwise and they have sued in court, determined to see justice done. Meanwhile, to help her make ends meet, Ali works in a village repair shop, putting the tips aside to buy his dream bicycle. His school flame, Elif (Bahriye Arin), is president of student council and is supposed to represent the group at an event in the city, but she is passed over by the principal in favor of a boy from a more prominent family. Together with his best friend Yusuf (Eray Kilicarslan), Ali starts a campaign to support Elif because he always fights for what is right—and his blue bike will have to wait.

Nominated for Best Film at the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival (Germany), Bogota Film Festival (Colombia), Giffoni Children’s Film Festival (Italy), and the Istanbul International Film Festival

The Turkish Way
2016, Catalan, Spanish, French, English, and Turkish with English subtitles
Digital
Director: Luis González

This documentary explores the culinary delights of ancient Turkey as the Roca Brothers tour the country, diving into the rich, diverse culinary cultures of one of the world’s major crossroads.

“The Roca Brothers—Joan, Josep, and Jordi, owners of Catalonia’s Celler de Can Roca, current holder of Restaurant Magazine’s ‘Best Restaurant in the World’ honor—take a five-week tour across Turkey, diving into the rich, diverse culinary cultures of one of the world’s major crossroads. Setting out to honor the influences on Turkish cuisine by developing a new menu using locally produced ingredients, and to invigorate Can Roca’s own menu with new energies, the three brothers cross the nation seeking new ideas in the bustling streets and marketplaces of Istanbul, and the vineyards of Cappadocia.

From disparate Arabic, Asian, and European influences to the exciting recent development of New Anatolian Cuisine, the brothers Roca embrace an ancient nation on the cusp of a food revolution, their restless creativity in turn making their own Can Roca not only one of the world’s greatest restaurants, but a restaurant truly of the world.” —Seattle International Film Festival

My Mother’s Wound (Annemin Yarasi)
2016, in various languages with English subtitles
Digital
Director: Ozan Açiktan

In a new drama based on a true story, an 18-year-old boy searches for the truth about his family—and discovers a dark past he wasn’t prepared to find.

Based on a true story, this gripping tale of family, love, and identity follows Salih—born during the Bosnian war—as he sets out to find hope amongst wartorn lives. Upon turning 18, Salih (Bora Akkaş) leaves the orphanage where he has grown up after being left during the Bosnian war.

He begins a journey to learn about what really happened to his family. Salih starts working on a Serbian farm, where his quest for the truth uncovers a dark past that leads to an ultimate betrayal. Can he let go of the ghosts of his past and be happy in this new life?

The film explores what it means to have memories of war, and what it means to be the direct result of conflict. Winner of the Audience Award at the 2016 Austin Film Festival.

Generous funding is provided by the American Turkish Association of Houston; and Catherine and Cenk Ozdogan. Special thanks to the Consulate General of Turkey in Houston.