It’s the final day of the 2017 Boston Turkish Film Festival, part of the overall Boston Turkish Festival, which continues today at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. BTFF is unique among the BSAF season as it is split over a number of days and several weeks of programming, and eCinemaBoston is where you want to be to get the lowdown on what’s going on with films that celebrate Turkish filmmakers.
After today, there will be a series of recitals, exhibitions, and concerts; see below for more info.
Things get underway today with an encore film – the second screening of the U.S. premiere Bad Cat, from directors Mehmet Kurtulus and Ayse Unall. Here’s the info from the BTFF Website:
Take the outrageousness of Fritz The Cat, the cuteness of Garfield, add the whip-smart action of Tarantino, put it in a blender and voila! What you get is Bad Cat: a crudely funny, action-packed animated motion picture for adults. In a sleazy downtown area of Istanbul, Rıfkı the Seagull and Rıza the Rat are preparing for the mother of all parties hosted by Shero, a hot-blooded, sex-crazed alley-cat. Their night of booze, babes and BBQ is thrown into chaos, however, following the unexpected arrival of Shero’s illegitimate, but ever-so-loveable son Taco, along with the accidental death of a sweet, innocent housebound feline who was the object of Shero’s affection. With the dead cat’s owner hell-bent on avenging her death, Shero must face being a father, defeat the crazed lunatic and still leave time to fall in love before his nine lives become none.
Remember this may be an animated film, but it is considered to be one with adult humor – not all animated films are suitable for kids, kiddies!
Then later this afternoon, the festival officially closes with the US premiere of the drama Ember, from director Zeki Demirukbuz ; here’s the info from the BTFF Website:
After suffering a breakdown, Emine’s husband, Cemal, travels to Romania in search of work. When he is detained there, Emine finds herself on her own with a sick child in urgent need of surgery. At the workshop where she takes on hand-stitching work, Emine runs into Ziya, her husband’s former boss. Given his one-time feelings towards the woman, who ultimately chose to marry Cemal, Ziya can’t pretend to be indifferent to her plight, and so he takes on payment of the child’s surgery. After drinking too much one night, Ziya calls Emine and says he wants to see her. Emine lets him into the house and goes to bed with him. But is she motivated by a feeling of attraction towards him or merely by gratitude?
The director will be in attendance for a Q&A after the film.
As always, today’s screenings take place at the Museum of Fine Arts. Today’s films are at the Remis Auditorium; Bad Cat screens at 1 PM; Ember at 3 PM. Tickets for today and all the films being presented can be purchased at the MFA website. And don’t forget to check out BTFF’s official website for complete info on all the films coming up!
Now, even though today marks the end of the film portion of the festival, there are still more events to come. April 3-23 there is a photography exhibition from Erkut Onart, Anatolia: A Crossroads of Civilizations and Cultures, taking place at Boston University’s Howard Thurman Center; there will be an artist’s reception on opening night – you can register online to attend the reception here.
Then this Thursday, April 6, there will be a piano and violin recital featuring Elif Onal and Julide Yalcin; it takes place at 7:30 PM at the Goethe-Institute; again, pre-registration is required, and you can do so here.
Thursday, April 13, there is a concert featuring traditional instruments kanun and ney, as well as a workshop or two; check the BTFF Website for full details on these.
Finally, there is an album release concert on April 22, celebrating the release of Neotolia by Nazan Nihal and Utar Artun; it will be at the Goethe-Institute at 7:30 PM, please pre-register for this event as well.
.And that’s going to be a wrap for the 2017 Boston Turkish FIlm Festival! And don’t forget – coverage of the festival will be a part of Subject:CINEMA‘s “Boston Springs A Fethival” two-show super weekend May 20-21 at eCinemaBoston and parent site eCinemaOne…don’t miss it!