Five days of documentary heaven

But, of course, there are other supporters, some of which include foreign cultural representatives; the opening films were exhibited in the Dutch Chapel right next to the Dutch Consulate General’s garden, where a reception was subsequently held. The Dutch consul made an interesting speech, stating that the choice of using the Dutch Chapel as a screening room, in addition to its main religious functions, could only be considered a positive symbol of multiculturalism. Indeed it was interesting to watch a film in a church, something I’ve never had the opportunity of experiencing before. The choice of the opening film was also an interesting and quite daring one: Golden Palm Short Film winner Serge Avedikian’s “Le Chienne d’Histoire,” an animation film depicting the deportation of thousands of İstanbul’s stray dogs to an isolated island in the Marmara Sea, pretty much left to starvation. Not surprisingly, the film is in itself a weighty metaphor for the events of 1915.

The sections of the festival clearly indicate meticulous programming; the “City and Cinema” strand offers new and old docs, including Alain Resnais’ 1950 “Guernica” about Picasso’s famous painting of the same title but also the effects of World War II on the town of Guernica; Federica di Giacomo’s “Housing” depicts the dire situation of social housing in the city of Bari; and Eva Weber’s “The Solitary Life of Cranes” is a novel approach in studying the city of London.

The Thin Red Line of the Middle East: Palestine-Israel is a section to keep an eye on, especially that of Eyal Sivan’s film “Jaffa: The Orange’s Clockwork,” which illustrates the complex history of Israel and Palestine through their national product of oranges. Sivan will be in İstanbul throughout the festival and will also hold a workshop on Saturday.

The Turkish Film Critics Association (SİYAD) picks out an assortment of Turkish documentaries for the festival this year along with the additional Turkish Panorama section, that which includes Zeynep Devrim Gürsel’s “Coffee Futures,” a wonderfully humorous take on Turkey’s ever mystical EU accession told through the backdrop of Turkish coffee fortune-telling; Elif Ergezen’s “Mükellef” is a social documentary focusing on the difficult conditions of mining workers in Zonguldak; Melisa Önel’s “Me and Nuri Bala” focuses on gender issues through the idiosyncratic character of Esmeray; Hatice Kamer’s “I’m Not Sick Mama!” focuses on issues of sexuality; Berke Baş’s “Concrete Park” is a study on masculinity that examines the trials and tribulations of four young men in Ordu; and Emre Karadaş and Deniz Oğuzsoy’s “The Wall” is a wonderful depiction of the individual lives of ethnic minorities in Turkey.

Other sections of the festival include Womanhood, The Dead End of Capitalism, The Fertile Land of Polish Documentaries, which included non-fictional works from masters such as Andre Wajda and Kieslowski, International Panorama and In Focus: Balkans, which includes an ample amount of works from Romania and Greece, along with Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia focusing on the contemporary issues of the region.

Another section to follow is Spotlight, featuring Mazhar Şevket İpşiroğlu, a relatively unknown but highly significant Turkish filmmaker whose works will be unearthed almost 50 years after their completion. “The Hittite Sun” and “Black Pen” are must-sees.