Zeki Demirkubuz Retrospective

October 1 - May 31, 2008

For close to a decade now, a generation of Turkish auteur filmmakers has been cultivating an increasing audience of admirers and followers, both homegrown and across the world. Their cinema is distinctly original while deeply conversant with master-filmmakers as diverse as Bresson, Bergman and Kiarostami, not claiming lineage from any school or filmmaker per se. The constellation of names that have acquired renown includes Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Zeki Demirkubuz, Reha Erdem, Dervis Zaim and Yesim Ustaoglu. Their films are almost invariably produced in Turkey by independent Turkish production outfits, which they have set up themselves. Coupled with their prolific filmographies, this fact attests to a significant turn in contemporary Turkish cinema, one that runs against the current direction of film production in the region (Eastern Europe, the Arab world and Iran), where co-productions with western European funds have often allowed the possibility for auteur, individualistic, and experimental filmmaking to challenge the dominion of commercial productions.

Amongst this group of filmmakers, Zeki Demirkubuz has been the most prolific. Kader (Destiny), his seventh feature-length fiction, premiered in September of 2006 at the Antalya Film Festival in Turkey. His filmography is versatile; he has written and directed intimiste films such as Waiting Room (Bekleme Odasi, 2004) and big productions like Innocence (Masumiyet, 1997), yet there are salient themes and motifs that permeate his body of work—the most striking of which being the literary power of his scripts, often inspired from masterpieces of modern fiction.

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The Program Implementation & Terms

The Zeki Demirkubuz retrospective is organized by ArteEast and the Moon and Stars Project (MASP), in collaboration with the Istanbul-based film magazine, Altyazi. It includes English subtitled 35 mm prints of the filmmaker’s seven fiction features (see attached synopses), and will begin touring North America after opening at New York City’s Lincoln Center in September 2007.

ArteEast and Moon and Stars Project will be responsible for providing participating institutions with all 35mm prints, program notes, and publicity materials. A special exhibition catalogue dedicated to Demirkubuz’s work, produced in collaboration with Altyazi, will be made available to host institutions free of charge while supplies last. ArteEast and Moon and Stars Project will post information on their websites about screenings at participating institutions and provide links to screening schedules.

Participating institutions will be responsible for covering the cost of shipping and insurance as well as the applicable screening fees listed below. Institutions will also be responsible for any damage to the prints while in their possession and during shipping. Please consult your insurance carriers for details and requirements.

All publicity materials for this program must include the following acknowledgment: “A Touring Exhibition Organized by ArteEast and Moon and Stars Project (www.moonandstarsproject.org)”, as well as feature the logos of both institutions.

If you are interested in hosting the program, please contact Salima Semmar at filminfo@arteeast.org or 718 282 5938 at your earliest possible convenience to secure dates and coordinate print traffic.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Rasha Salti                                        Nur Emirgil
Program Director, ArteEast            Moon and Stars Project

Screening Fees:

Flat fee for all 7 films, single screening: $3500

Individual Screenings:
Block C  (C Blok, 1994):
500$ for one screening, 650$ for two screenings

Innocence (Masumiyet, 1997):
600$ for one screening, 850$ for two screenings

The Third Page (Üçüncü sayfa, 1999):
600$ for one screening, 850$ for two screenings

Fate (Yazgi, 2001):
600$ for one screening, 850$ for two screenings

The Confession (Itiraf, 2002):
600$ for one screening, 850$ for two screenings

The Waiting Room (Bekleme odasi, 2004):
600$ for one screening, 850$ for two screenings

Destiny (Kader, 2006):
850$ for one screening, 1,100$ for two screenings