Project Credits

Turkish Migrant Cinema research network is supported by the British Academy.

Workshops and Events Credits

The Second Migrant Cinema Workshop in Ankara is supported by the British Academy, Ankara Film Festival, Middle East Technical University, the Goethe Institute, Ankara and the British Council, Ankara.

Turkish Cinema and Transnational Imaginations Workshop is supported by the British Academy, The British Film Institute and the Goldsmiths College.

Thinking Across Spaces: New Turkish Cinema in Europe event is organised by the British Film Institute and the National Film Theatre.

Web Site Credits

Web Design by
Arnold Borgerth
borgerth@lineone.net
Kerem Karaosmanoglu
keremk@mac.com

Texts and coordination by

Asu Aksoy (Dr.)
a.aksoy@gold.ac.uk

Film Stills

"Berlin in Berlin" and "Propaganda"
Courtesy of Platofilm
"April Children"
Courtesy of Zero Film Gmbh
“Ara Güler”
Courtesy of Produktionsburo l'image
“The Dealer”
Courtesy of Trans-Film GmbH
“40m2 Deutchland”
Courtesy of Tevfik Baser
“Hamam: The Turkish Bath”
Courtesy of Sorpasso Film
“Harem Suare”
Courtesy of APS Film
“Ignorant Fairies”
Courtesy of Medusa Film
“In July”
Courtesy of Ralph Schwingel, Stefan Schubert,
Wüste Filmproduktion, Hamburg
"Journey to the Sun"
Courtesy of Celluloid Dreams
Pascale Raminde
"Lola and Bilidikid"
Courtesy of Millivres Multimedia & Zero Film
“Me Boss You Sneakers”
Courtesy of Margarita Woskanjan Filmproduktion, Berlin
“The Only Journey of His Life”
Courtesy of Greek Film Centre, Cinevision Film,
Borough Film Ltd./Cinetic O.E./NET
“People on the Staircase”
Courtesy of INTERARTES GmbH
“Short Sharp Shock”
Courtesy of Wüste Filmproduktion, Hamburg
"The Wound"
Courtesy of Yilmaz Arslan

Texts

“Synopsis of The Dealer”
Courtesy of 6Degrees 2000 website
“Synopsis of Hamam: The Turkish Bath”
Courtesy of David Hall
“Interview with Yesim Ustaoglu” by Bircan Unver
Courtesy of Bircan Unver @ http://www.lightmillennium.org

Various other texts

Courtesy of

The German Embassy, Washington DC
Kino Magazine
Turkish Cinema Newsletter, Washington D.C,
Istanbul Film Festival, Istanbul
German Film Festival (www.german-cinema.de)
Rio Cinema, London
Kurdish Film Festival, London

This web site is a product of a research initiative looking at some of the interesting questions emerging from the new dynamism among the Turkish migrant filmmakers in Europe. In the 1990s, the films and videos made by a growing number of young Turkish directors in Germany have been achieving popularity and finding their way into major film festivals and onto cinema screens across Europe.

These film directors are second- and third-generation Turkish and Kurdish migrants, for whom the film medium provides a new and complex avenue to articulate their experience of living in contemporary German society. In Germany, where the size of the migrant community from Turkey is the largest - approximately two million - these films are now regarded as being at the core of the 'new German cinema'. On the other hand, the cultural appeal of these films is not limited to Germany. There is now a growing interest in Turkey, and elsewhere for these films, and what they might be saying about cultural identity and belonging.

How do these film-makers approach issues around migration, belonging, and identity? What are the new representational styles of these new film directors? What is the nature of the newly emerging cross-cultural fertilisation that is taking place between the Turkish migrant culture in Europe, the popular culture in Turkey, and in the European countries? How are these films received in countries other than Germany and Turkey?

This web site aims to function as a platform where information and research related to these questions can be shared publicly. There is information about ongoing research projects, publications, workshops and film screening events.

Another aim of this web site is to develop a database of Transnational Turkish films and filmmakers. We are interested to pursue discussions on those films which question boundaries, borders and national identities. The concept of transnational cinema poses interesting questions around the notion of national and diasporic cinema(s). Migrant sensibility, in this context, is an integral aspect of transnational cinema, which provides a possibility to have a critical approach to national imagination.

As you will see these sections (and some others) still need more information. Your input is most welcome. Please use the contact address to post your comments, your relevant link addresses, research initiatives, publications and announcements.