Turkish Film Festival
Responding to the enthusiastic reception for Turkish films screened at the MFAH in recent years (including Once Upon a Time in Anatolia and Three Monkeys), the Museum presents this inaugural festival showcasing the talent and diversity that characterizes Turkey’s contemporary cinema. The programming includes a special appearance by renowned actor Tamer Karadagli, two acclaimed first features, an acclaimed documentary about Turkish music, and other selections. All films are in Turkish with English subtitles.
General admission is $10. MFAH members, senior adults, and students with ID receive a $2 discount. The MFAH Films box office accepts payment by cash, check, and credit card. Purchase tickets in advance online, in the museum lobbies, or at the box office.
Houston Turkish Film Festival Committee: The Honorable Cemalettin Aydin, for the consul of Turkey in Houston; Cenk Ozdogan; Jaleh Sallee; Tayfun Karakoc; Derya Baysal; Dilsat Baysal; Ayse McCracken; Franci Crane; and Hande Castiglione. Special thanks to Mehmet Altioklar, Erkut Gomulu, and Ayca User for their programming assistance.
Past Films in This Series
BEYZA'NIN KADINLARI
2006, in Turkish with English subtitles
Directed by Mustafa Altioklar
In person: actor Tamer Karadağlı The psychological thriller Shattered Soul is an absorbing murder mystery. Beyza’s (Demet Evgar) normal life is thrown off balance with strange, occasional memory blackouts. Meanwhile, a series of murders prompts the entire city of Istanbul to suspect a serial killer. The Police Lieutenant Fatih (Tamar Karadagli) investigates the gruesome murders with his new expert partner, Beyza’s husband Doruk (Levent Uzumcu), a psychiatrist. As the police follow the trail of the murderer, it becomes clear that ...
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GISE MEMURU
2010, in Turkish with English subtitles
Directed by Tolga Karaçelik
Kenan (Serkan Ercan) is a middle-aged toll booth attendant working at one of Turkey’s busiest highways. Isolated and lonely, he goes from the routine of his job to a home life consumed by caring for his demanding, elderly father. Increasingly preoccupied by memories of a happier time, he has a confrontation with his boss that leads to reassignment to a remote tollbooth in the middle of a poppy field. Among the occasional nomads who pass by is a beautiful woman ...
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ANADOLU'NUN KAYIP SARKILARI
2010, in Turkish with English subtitles
Directed by Nezih Unen
Enjoy a musical voyage among the exotic places and people of Anatolia, host of ancient civilizations, empires, and mythologies over 10 millennia. The result of 350 hours of footage over 8 years, Lost Songs of Anatolia may be the first example of an experimental musical-documentary film. The cultural riches of Anatolia are sung in authentic performances recorded live on location. General admission is $10. MFAH members, senior adults, and students with ID receive a $2 discount.
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CELAL TAN VE AILESININ AŞIRI ACIKLI HIKAYESI
2011, in Turkish with English subtitles
Directed by Onur Ünlü
Don’t be fooled by the title! Part comedy and part political satire, The Extremely Tragic Story of Celal Tan and His Family concerns a series of unfortunate events that befall Celal Tan, a widowed, well-respected law professor who lives in a provincial city and has two children. He marries a much younger university student, but on the eve of a surprise 65th birthday party his family has organized, everything spins out of control. The film won awards for best film and best ...
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DER MÜLL IM GARTEN EDEN
2012, in Turkish with English subtitles
Directed by Fatih Akin
German-Turkish auteur Akin (Head-On; The Edge of Heaven), one of the most successful practitioners of transnational cinema, brings his considerable storytelling skills to this documentary account of environmental devastation inflicted on the once-lovely seaside town of Çamburnu. The issue is personal to Akin, whose father’s family hails from the town which in 2007 became the site of a massive garbage landfill that polluted the soil, turned water black, filled the air with an overpowering stench, and triggered a general exodus ...
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GOZETLEME KULESI
2012, in Turkish with English subtitles
Directed by Pelin Esmer
Documentary filmmaker Pelin Esmer makes her feature debut with Watchtower, a compelling character study of two people who are drawn to each other while seeking refuge from their private demons. Nihat (Olgun Simsek) has taken a position as a fire warden in a remote tower far out in the wilderness. Seher (Nilay Erdonmez) lives in a makeshift room at a rural bus station where she works as a coach hostess. Destined to come to a crossroads, they go about their solitary ...
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ASK TESADUFLERI SEVER
2011, in Turkish with English subtitles
Directed by Ömer Faruk Sorak
The second-highest grossing Turkish film of 2011, Love Likes Coincidences is a full-throttle romance in the grand tradition of An Affair to Remember and And Now, My Love. Aspiring actress Deniz (Bilgin) attends an Istanbul exhibition curated by successful photographer Ozgür and recognizes herself as a child in one of the photos. The pair discovers that their destinies have been linked since the time they were born: on the same day, at the same hospital in Ankara. They pursue a romance in ...
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