Doku-polis

The Netherlands is one of the leading countries in the field of documentary film production. Organizing IDFA, the most prestigious documentary film festival in the world, and having internationally acclaimed documentary professionals, the Dutch documentary sector would contribute to as well as benefit from the thriving documentary scene in Turkey. A collaboration of the two countries will join the experience and expertise of Dutch documentary sector with the dynamism of a recently flourishing Turkish documentary production.

            Workshops and seminars on developing documentary projects about urban issues in both countries will facilitate the making of and distributing documentary films as well as capturing and expressing the particularities and contradictions of the globalizing cities in the neoliberal world.

            Two-tiered project: one part will help develop urban visions and the other part involves documentary film developing.

            The program will host 10-12 selected projects about cities. The selected filmmakers will be invited to participate in workshops and seminars in which they develop a full international production file which will develop into creative documentary films on cities.

            For the first part, an urban visions seminar: Inviting urban planners, architects, urban anthropologists, professionals from municipalities to work with the filmmakers to analyze and improve the scenarios of the documentary films.

            For the second part, a documentary workshop: Inviting internationally acclaimed documentary filmmakers, commissioning editors, film funds directors, producers and distributors from the Dutch and Turkish documentary markets to work with Dutch and Turkish documentary filmmakers to develop their projects about urban issues into creative documentary films.

            The organization can be carried out with the collaboration of: Boğaziçi University, Fine Arts/Cinema Certificate Programme – Can Candan (documentary filmmaker); Boğaziçi Univeristy, Sociology Department, Asst.prof. Ayfer Bartu – (specializing on urban regeneration and gated communities), Ass. Prof. Biray Kırlı, Prof. Çağlar Keyder, Ass. Prof. Tuna Kuyucu; Boğazici University Mithat Alam Film Center, Yamaç Okur (head of the center, film producer).

• "Ekümenopolis" by İmre Balanlı (2010): www.ekumenopolis.net

  

• "Perfectly Suited for You" by Solmaz Shahbazi (2005):

In her video installation Iranian artist Solmaz Shahbazi addresses cultural stereotypes and the construction of a new identity by the emerging upper-middle class in the city of Istanbul documenting the growth of gated communities, areas of elegant comfort and security for an upwardly mobile class that emerged in the '90s.

• "Istanbul Kondu" by Murat Musulluoğlu (2003):

This video brings vivid imagery from various aspects of night landings – shantytowns of Istanbul such as demonstrations, demolitions, clashes with police, historical-early migration and others. Furthermore it tries to show some of the silent faces and lives behind these looses through video documentation. It is a non-linear narrative without characters or a story line.

• "34 Taxi" by Belmin Söylemez (2004):

"34 Taxi" is a panorama of today's Istanbul with its architecture, transportation, huge population and diverse culture.

• "KAPITAL-ISTanbul" by Aysim Türkmen and Erkin Peprek (2004):

In this experimental film we are in a capital city of “Kapital” with the post-1980’s youth, forced to succeed, to earn money... their unhappiness, their exhaustion, their disappointment with life, their wish to escape from their daily routine and from the pressure to be successful. The city looks like a powerful but an old beast. He is tired like his people who feed him and themselves with the Kapital.

• "Galata Kulesi Sokak", No: 23 by Aysim Türkmen (2007):

This film is about Sumbul Tuhafiye, all-you-can-find store, lying next to Galata Tower, which, has been the meeting point of three generations of boys of Galata neighborhood. As Istanbul is becoming a global city, Galata neighborhood becomes fancy. Most of the residents of the neighborhood are about to move out of the neighborhood. Sumbul, with the not-at-all rich customers starts to misfit the new glamour. Just like boys of the hood, the shopkeeper, Liezer Abravaya, Elyazar feels end is near.

• "Scavengers of Ankara, Fight for Garbage" by Alper Şen (2007):

In his documentary, Alper Şen brings to view the invisible citizens who struggle to earn their lives by collecting garbage which has become a very valuable asset for the private garbage companies and the municipalities.