Screen/Society--New Turkish Cinema--"Annemin Sarkisi / Song of My Mother"

Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Screen/Society--New Turkish Cinema--"Annemin Sarkisi / Song of My Mother"

Film Screening:

Annemin Sarkisi / Song of My Mother

(Erol Mintas, 2014, 90 min, Turkey/France/Germany, in Turkish w/ English subtitles, Color, Blu-Ray) 

-- Introduced by Prof. Didem Havlioğlu (Slavic & Eurasian Studies); Q&A to follow!

 

 

 

Young teacher Ali lives with his aging mother Nigar in Istanbul's Tarlabasi district, home to many Kurdish refugees since the 1990s. When the ongoing gentrification of the old city forces them to move for a second time, they end up in the soulless concrete desert of the city's furthest outskirts. Nigar is convinced that her old neighbors have all moved back to their Kurdish village. Every morning she packs her belongings and sets out to return to her village. She roams the city, in search of her village and in search of the song that keeps returning in her dreams. All Ali can do is be kind to her: he buys her gifts, feeds her sweets, takes her on motorcycle rides and tries to help his mother find the song in her dreams. Meanwhile Ali discovers that his girlfriend is pregnant and that he is not ready to become a father. Torn between the two women in his life, Ali has to choose his own path.

-- Winner of First Movie Award, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Music in 2014 Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival!

-- "'Annemin Sarkisi' is a touching, subtle film that encompasses the themes of urban gentrification and the Kurdish identity issue through an intimate mother and son relationship at its core." -- Today's Zaman 

 

Cost: Free and open to the public

Sponsors: The Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (AMES), the Duke University Middle East Studies Center (DUMESC), the Global Education Office for Undergraduates (GEO)/Duke in Istanbul, and the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image (AMI).

White 107 (White Lecture Hall)