The 2017 Boston Turkish Film Festival, part of the overall Boston Turkish Festival, continues today at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston with FOUR more Turkish-connected premieres. 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. The festival also presents a series of concerts throughout the festival as well.
Saturday is devoted to documentary and short films, and fans of both will surely find something in them they will love.
Today’s lineup starts with the winner of this year’s Best Documentary, Istanbul Notes, directed by Ozlem Sariyildiz and Yunis Emre Aydin. Here’s the info from the BTFF Website:
‘İstanbul Makamı’ is a cinematographic improvisation with five musicians from abroad who fell in love with the Maqam Music, and decided to live in Turkey believing that music would be best learned on the land that it was born and performed. Each musician has his/her personal story but their paths intersect with their desire to find their own paths.
It will be followed by the winner of the Audience Award for Best Documenary, Baksi: From Utopia To Reality, directed by Bahriye Karadayi Dal; here’s the synopsis from the BTFF website:
The Baksı Museum, founded in 2010 by Professor Hüsamettin Koçan in Bayburt’s Bayraktar Village, wins the 2014 Council of Europe Museum Prize surpassing its world-renowned opponents. The Baksı Museum irradiates both Bayburt and the world in a landscape of impassable mountains where the Black Sea Region meets the Eastern Anatolia. The documentary “Baksı: From Utopia to Reality” features the struggle of an artist who realizes his dreams and a collective effort pertaining to arts’ way of existing off-center.
The screening of the two films will be followed by the award ceremony and a Q&A moderated by local film critic Peter Keough.
Later in the afternoon, the shorts take center state, with the award winner for Best Short Film, The Translator, directed by Emre Kayis. Here’s the synopsis from BTFF’s website:
Yusuf, a Syrian refugee boy who lives in an exile in a remote Turkish border town is chosen for his newfound power but he has to experience how to use it, at the cost of his innocence.
It will be followed by the Audience Award winning Short Film, Then I Woke Up. The short synopsis says it all:
A woman who is alone and close to death, invites a thief in her house and an incident happens.
Once again, Peter Keough will lead a Q&A after the awards ceremony, which takes place right after the screeening.
As always, all screenings take place at the Museum of Fine Arts. Today’s films are both at the Alfond Auditorium; The documentary screenings begin at 11:30 AM, and the shorts screnings at 2:30 PM. Tickets for tonight 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!
The Boston Turkish FIlm Festival will continue throughout tomorrow then skip to next Wednesday for its next series of screenings. Be sure to check in with eCinemaBoston each day for film and schedule information. 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!
See you with more from BTFF tomorrow morning!