James Baldwin Abroad

Showcasing three short films by American writer James Baldwin, wherein he muses about race, sexuality and civil rights, among other topics, in Istanbul, Paris and Great Britain.

Fatih Sultan Mehmed: Yeni Çağ

The film depicts the conquest of Istanbul on a chessboard. Aşık Paşazade recounts the conquest to Fatih's grandchildren, and the story is visualized.

Beautiful Men

Three balding brothers travel to Istanbul to get a hair transplant. Stuck with each other in a hotel far from home, their insecurities grow faster than their hair.

Hezarfen

Hezarfen is a historical Turkish character. The story takes place in 1632 in Istanbul, where he will attempt the first flight of the human being.

The Emperor's Lost Harbour

In the heart of a metropolitan city of 15 million people and among the construction of a new billion-dollar transportation network, an archaeological sensation has been discovered: the ancient harbour of Theodosious, lost from the history books for over 1000 years.

A Bridge at the Edge of the World

Year 1969 - in Turkey. 60s youth were living the most excited days. There was a great effort to make a bridge in Istanbul, on the Bosphorus. Meanwhile, on the eastern border of Turkey, in a Kurdish city between the borders of Iran and Iraq that is left to its destiny, in Hakkari, Zap River was taking lives since there were no passage on it.

Steam: The Turkish Bath

Francesco and Marta run a husband-and-wife design company in Rome. When Francesco's aunt dies in Istanbul he travels there to sort out the hamam Turkish steam bath that she left him. He finds a love and warmth in his relatives' Istanbul home that is missing from his life in Italy.

Trans*BUT — Fragments of Identity

Fragmentary perspectives on Human Rights and transgender (trans*) People in Turkey. What remains at the place where a murder happened? What constitutes trans* life? How to cope with daily violence and hatred? We begin to search for traces. We follow the tracks of resistance and survival. We are collectors of the expelled. We gather fragments of trans* lives inspired by texts of Nazim Hikmet, Foucault, Benjamin and Zeki Müren. Trans*BUT is a documental research study driven by the question: “What keeps you going when all else falls away?”

Midnight Express

Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".

Istanbul Give Me Your Hand

Kemal and Cebbar, who dream of going to Istanbul, sell their shops in Adana. Kemal comes to Istanbul to get the shop money. Here she meets A Decel and there is a rapprochement between them. Meanwhile, he finds out that Cebbar has to come to get the money. Arriving in Istanbul the next day, Cebbar admits that the money is not for the shop, but because he is an informant. Kemal, who understands that they are in trouble, will try to get out of this situation while taking care of Aysel on the one hand.

Love Likes Coincidences

Year 1977, a September morning in Ankara... Yilmaz tries to rush his pregnant wife Neriman to the hospital and he crushes into Omer's car. This accident causes Omer's pregnant wife Inci, who was in the back seat, to have a pre-term labor. The babies are born on the same day. They see each other for the first time... This accident is the threshold of the coincidences that bring Ozgur and Deniz together.

Secretary

A womanizer office boss blackmails his assistant by requesting her to please him, a young ingenue whom he hired as his own private secretary. She then decides to fascinate him by collecting enough proof to get him caught red-handed.

Ghosts

In Istanbul, on the verge of a country-wide power surge, four characters come across in a neighborhood undergoing the process of gentrification for the “New Turkey”: a mother whose son is in prison, a young female dancer, a feminist artist, and a cunning middle man. Their stories intertwine during a drug deal, offering a roaring tale of the contemporary generation.

The Embroidered Dress

Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece

After the death of Captain Thémistocle Paparanic, Captain Haddock's old friend, he inherits a ship called the Golden Fleece. Once Tintin and the captain arrive in Istanbul, where the ship is anchored, they meet Mr. Karabine, a businessman who stubbornly insists on buying it even though it is in a dilapidated state.

Before / After

Jérémy meets Baptiste. Their shared baldness takes them to Istanbul, where clinics claim to reverse the course of time. Amid shifting winds and silent unrest, they search for meaning in a city not their own. Day by day, a fragile bond forms, in the hope of change.

Afganistanbul

10 to 11

Mithat passionately collects newspapers in his Istanbul flat. The other tenants ridicule him and he lives a lonely life. As the building is to be renovated, Mithat develops a friendship with concierge Ali, another loner, who helps him save his collection. They involuntarily change each other’s fate.

Stray

Experience the bustle of Istanbul street life through the eyes of three stray dogs – Zeytin, Nazar and Kartal.

Elbow

Hazal is 17 and lives in Berlin. Her biggest wish: to be given a chance. For her 18th birthday she wants to escape the everyday grind and party with her friends. But an incident changes everything. Hazal is forced to flee.