THIS YEAR’S 16TH ANNUAL TURKISH FILM FESTIVAL

The American Turkish Society will present the 16^th Annual New York Turkish Film Festival from Thursday, November 30^th – Sunday, December 3^rd at the SVA Theatre in Chelsea.

The festival will kick off with multi-award winning film including Best Feature Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Cold of Kalandar. Sponsored by the Turkey-America Business Council (TAIK) and RAMERICA, the festival lineup will highlight seven other films including Sleep of Love, My Father's Wings, short films Little Bullets and The Exhibit, Frenzy and Blue. In addition, for the first time the festival will screen a movie in the horror category entitled Housewife, which recently received acclaim from its participation in the second annual Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. A selection of special post-screening Q&A's will be held after the screenings with some of films' actors and directors including Cold of Kalandar's Director Mustafa Kara and Producer Nermin Aytekin, Sleep of Love's Alican Yucesoy and Peyman Umay, The Exhibit's Director and Actor Pinar Ogun, Little Bullets' Director Alphan Eseli and Blue's Director Sertan Unver and Producer Suzan Guverte.

"This year we wanted our audience to not only enjoy the best of Turkish cinema, but also give them a taste of other aspects of the culture," said The American Turkish Society's Executive Director E. Janset Batibay. "As the premier Turkish film program in the United States, we are focused on bringing these brilliant and important films to the New York City audience."

The New York Turkish Film Festival will conclude on Sunday, December 3^rd with the screening of Blue, which will be followed by a special live musical performance by White Cheese with select songs that were written and produced by Kerim Capli and Yavuz Cetin.

Founded in 1949 by a group of visionaries, The American Turkish Society is the oldest American institution dedicated to building bridges between the United States and Turkey. Celebrating their 16th year, the New York Turkish Film Festival has become one of the leading film festivals in New York. Screening more than 300 films and reaching audiences of over 25,000, the New York Turkish Film Festival brings the best of Turkey's film industry to NYC.

Addressing the strong belief that film bridges cultures and illuminates the universality of the human experience, the festival strives to create a broad audience for programs that highlight Turkish arts and culture.

For further details and ticket information, please visit http://www.newyorkturkishfilmfestival.com.

New York Turkish Film Festival Screening Schedule

Thursday, November 30

Cold of Kalandar

5:30pm: Opening night reception

6:45pm: Screening of Cold of Kalandar

Post-screening Q&A with Mustafa Kara and Nermin Aytekin

Summary: Mehmet is a man living with his family in a mountain village in Black Sea. He earns his life breeding a few animals, while looking for a mineral reserve on the mountains but his pursuit is seen as useless by his family. Destroyed in search of a mineral reserve, his hope is renewed with the news of a competition.

Friday, December 1

Sleep of Love

5:30pm:  Pre-screening reception

6:45pm: Screening of Sleep of Love

Post-screening Q&A with Alican Yucesoy and Peyman Umay

Summary: Yonca and Serkan are college sweethearts who got married after graduation. Their decision to have a baby forces Yonca to quit her job and stay at home, and becoming a housewife affects Yonca's well-being. She becomes a distrustful, jealous woman who stalks her husband and doubts his acts. Meanwhile, Serkan acts like a workaholic and distances himself from her, triggering her  paranoid thoughts that he may be having an affair. Determined to get a confession, Yonca puts sleeping pills into Serkan's drink… Are Yonca's thoughts truly paranoid or is their love being shared?

Saturday, December 2

My Father's Wings

3:30pm: Screening of My Father's Wings

Summary: Ibrahim works as a construction worker in a luxury apartment construction site in Istanbul. During a visit to the doctor, he finds out that he has severe lung cancer. Later, a work accident leaves one of the workers dead in the construction site due to lack of safety precautions. To avoid a law suit, the construction company approaches the family of the worker to cover the incident, by offering illegal compensation. Hopeless and worried about the future of his family, this incident gives Ibrahim an idea.

The Exhibit

5:30pm: Reception

6:30pm: Screening of The Exhibit

Post-screening Q&A with Pinar Ogun

Summary: Two women come to see an installation and twalk around in pitch black with a lit candle. A spotlight comes on as they find each exhibit, naked men in Venetian masks standing behind baroque frames. They'll choose the man they like, but "these men do everything they can to avoid being chosen"…

Little Bullets

7:20pm: Screening of Little Bullets

Post-screening Q&A with Alphan Eseli

Summary: Forced to flee Syria for the border town of Southeast Anatolia, a mother and daughter struggle in accepting their newly won safety. After leaving everything dear to them behind, the two face the existential toll of their nefarious circumstance. As the two share the bitter intimacy of asylum, the young girl is overtaken by the brunt strain of her violent memories.

Housewife

9:00pm: Screening of Housewife

Summary: Holly's childhood was a nightmare—at age 7, she watched her mother kill her sister and father. Twenty years later, Holly's dreams remain plagued by that painful memory. An unexpected reunion with an old friend further complicates matters and introduces Holly to a strange cult-like group that follows a celebrity psychic, who takes a special liking to Holly. And because of him, her worst nightmares become shockingly real.

Sunday, December 3

Frenzy

2:00pm: Screening of Frenzy

Summary: Istanbul is in the grip of political violence. The state uses new underground techniques in the hunt for terrorists in shantytowns. Kadir works as a garbage collector to search for traces of bomb-making – the price he paid for a secret early parole. He is reunited with his younger brother Ahmet who works for the city as a stray dog exterminator. Despite Kadir's repeated efforts, Ahmet seems reluctant to develop a deep brotherly bond. Escalating pressure from the authorities creates suspicion and mistrust. Kadir's misplaced desires lead to irrational jealousy, and Ahmet becomes strangely attached to a wounded dog. As it becomes obvious that Ahmet is avoiding him, Kadir concocts conspiracy theories to explain his behavior. There's no escape from the suffocating atmosphere that can turn friends into enemies. Their frenzied paranoia can only lead to destruction…

Blue

5:30pm: Screening of Blue

7:10pm: Post-screening Q&A with Sertan Unver and Suzan Guverte

7:45pm: Live music performance of select songs written and produced by Kerim Capli and Yavuz Cetin

Summary: This is the story of Turkey's best stage band and its two members who faded away from that stage: Yavuz Çetin…before jumping off the Bosphorus Bridge at the age of 31 due to depression, he was called "The Golden Boy", and Kerim Çaplı… he could play the drums, guitar, bass and keyboards with virtuosity. After performing with The Monkees and Jimi Hendrix in the USA, Kerim returned to Turkey, only to die alone in a hotel room. Both had extraordinary talent. They left this world with lots of questions behind. But perhaps, the most interesting question was this: Should art be able to heal the wounds of a tormented soul? Or is it the wounds that really matter, bringing out the creative core? Blue attempts at exploring the lives of these two talents and their struggle with the society and their own minds.