Film Screening:

Kosmos
(Reha Erdem, 2010, 122min, Turkey/Bulgaria, in Turkish w/ English subtitles, Color, Blu-Ray)

-- Introduced by Prof. Erdağ Göknar (Asian & Middle Eastern Studies); Q&A to follow

Kosmos is about a woman who struggles to get pregnant when she finds a mysterious boy in her backyard who then leaves her with an unusual gift, fertility. In the backyard, in a pile of dirt, a hand is raised from out of the dirt and an elbow pokes out. Another arm moves out. Hands brush the dirt off eyes. Off the chest. A boy has come up from the earth but he is stuck. In the middle of the night, a twenty-six year old woman, Katie, discovers the boy. She wrestles him from the earth. With kindness and generosity, she takes the boy in to her apartment, feeds him, but is careful to hide him from her boyfriend, Kyle. It is summer and terribly hot. The kid has an unquenchable thirst. Katie has never seen someone drink so much water. In the backyard, the Kid finally speaks. He says he was put here to survive and he must find the people he has left - his parents.

"Fascinating, studded with moments of exhilarating beauty and remarkable, unexpected power."- Time Out

Cost: Free and open to the public

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