SaturDox 2014

22 February – 17 May 2014

SATURDOX (February – May 2014)

Encardia – The Dancing Stone

22 February 2014, Saturday

Dir: Aggelos Kovotsos, Greece, 2012, 82′

Discussant: Burcu Yıldız (ITU Musicology)

The film follows the Greek band Encardia that is inspired by, creates and performs music and songs derived from the rich musical tradition of South Italy. They travel to South Italy searching and bringing to light basic elements of the folk culture that developed there. Mainly ‘Grigo,’ an ancient Greek dialect that also contains Italian words, which is spoken in the area of Grecia Salentina of South Italy and ‘tarantela pizzica’ a local variation of the well-known Italian dance which in the area took on magic, religious and therapeutic dimensions. Today, through their songs and poetry during celebrations, the local musicians, poets and researchers old and young alike, bring to life this powerful Mediterranean tradition.

Bahar

9 March 2014, Sunday, 19:00
Dir: Carin Goeijers, Netherlands, 2013, 84′
Discussant: Selime Büyükgöz (Mor Çatı)

After marrying her Turkish boyfriend despite her father’s disapproval, Bahar quickly realizes that she has made a huge mistake. Caught between the love for her father and the love for her husband, she decides to suffer in silence and not tell anyone about the abuse in her marriage. Instead she puts on a happy face to cover up the shame. Her life ends in a deadly tragedy. This gripping documentary tells the story of Bahar but also of her family, which stays behind devastated by this great loss. Each member of this loving family is full of heartache, each dealing with this immense pain in their own way, not able to share their feelings. But ultimately Bahar tells a story about love and how it can kill you.

Pure State of the Soul + The Guest
22 March 2014, Saturday
Pure State of the Soul: Dir. Uğur Egemen İres, Turkey, 2013, 19′
The Guest: Dir. Haydar Demirtaş, Turkey, 2013, 30′
Discussant: Ayşe Gül Altınay (Sabancı University Arts and Social Sciences)

Pure State of the Soul: Yusuf Ires is an Armenian from Dersim who lives as a Muslim. He decides to be baptized at the age of 71. Even though his wife Emine İres (72) has a hard time accepting this fact, she cannot help but reckon with the past.

The Guest: In 1920s an Assyrian woman who had to go to Syria with her three children had to leave her younger son Bahe in the Deyrulzafaran Monastery. Constantly remembering her mother and waiting for her to come for 75 years, Bahe only goes out of

the monastery on special days.

Blockade
5 April 2014, Saturday
Dir: Igor Bezinović, Croatia, 2012, 93′
Discussant: Fatma Gök (Boğaziçi University, Faculty of Education)

The Blockade is a unique view from within on the most massive, longest, and politically most significant student protest in Croatia since 1971, that started in April of 2009 at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. The struggle against the

commercialization of education and the blockade of teaching classes lasted for thirty four days. The rebellion spread onto more than 20 faculties across the country and the students became an active and relevant political subject. The director followed everything: from the exhilarating preparation meetings and blocking of classes to the

first signs of exhaustion, through personal situations and discussions late at night, from the initial support of most faculty members to the moment they turned their back to the movement and the attempt to reach the missing minister of education. This film shows that the blockade was not just physical and that it has a much broader meaning.

My Father, Revolution and Me
19 April 2014, Saturday
Dir: Ufuk Emiroğlu, Turkey – Switzerland, 2013, 80′
Discussants: Özlem Delikanlı – Eylem Delikanlı – (writers of Keşke Bir Öpüp Koklasaydım)

A documentary tragicomedy of a father-daughter relationship told by the subjective perspective of the director. She tries to understand how her father’s revolutionary dreams turned into exile, lies and criminality. Free juggling between documentary, fiction and animation, the director takes us on a journey around the world. The daughter of a former communist visits the ports of utopia and tries to deal with her heritage.

At Night I Fly
3 May 2014, Saturday
Dir: Michel Wenzer, Sweden, 2011, 88′
Discussant: Dilek Çelik (Yeditepe University Department of Psychology)

Images from New Folsom, men at one of California’s most maximum security prisons let us see their world. This world is less about dangerous drama and more, as one of them describes, “about isolation. About closure of both the mind and the heart. And the spirit.” This intimate documentary shows prisoners, most serving a life sentence, who refuse such closure and instead work to uncover and express themselves. Their primary tool is making art and the film takes us to prison poetry readings, gospel choirs, blues guitar on the yard, and to many more scenes of creation. “At Night I Fly” shows the artistic and human journey these men take, as well as the need that fuels it, and the beauty and pain encountered along the way.

The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear
17 May 2014, Saturday
Dir: Tinatin Gurchiani, Georgia – Germany, 2012, 97′
Discussion on story-telling in documentaries – Round table before Documentarist festival

Georgia 2011. A film director announces a casting for 15-23 year old youth. This search brings her to different locations: villages and cities. Here are many people who answer the call: some are interested in becoming part of a film, others are ready to share their sentimental stories or seek the strength to carry out their major resolutions… Those who prove to be interesting enough are followed through various dramatic situations. A film about how beautiful life can be and how difficult when you dream of being a hero.