Film Series
June 11-20, 2010
MAXXI, Auditorium
Trained as director, studying cinematography at UCLA of Los Angeles, Kutlug Ataman made his first feature-length film, Serpent’s Tale, in 1994. Since 1997, when he took part in the Istanbul Biennal with the video kutlug ataman’s semiha b. unplugged, the artist has alternated cinematographic and artistic activity. This film programme, the first one dedicated to him, shows all his movies in original language, with Italian and English subtitles.
Serpent’s Tale
Turkey, 1994, 85’
Considered by international critics the best horror movie ever produced in Turkey, this is Ataman’s first feature film. When opportunely translated, an ancient manuscript reveals the secret to eternal life. Many who wish to claim it for their own: a Byzantine princess, who appears as a baby vampire, and a multinational company. The price for obtaining the manuscript is very high.
Lola + Bilidikid (director’s cut)
Germany, 1999/2006, 85’
The film tells the story of Murat, a seventeen-year-old Turk living in Berlin. The young boy discovers his homosexuality, and meets a transvestite named Lola and his boyfriend, Bilidikid. It is a fresh look inside Berlin’s Turkish community, trapped between a culturally inherited homophobia and the racism of a few Germans. Between humour and tragedy, Ataman continues his cinematic research into marginalisation, removal and identity.
2 Girls
Turkey, 2005, 100’
The film tells the story of the intense and exclusive relationship between two adolescent girls, Hadan and Behiye, against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Turkish society. Adapted from the best seller by the Turkish novelist Perihan Magden, also the film’s scriptwriter, 2 Girls created a national scandal for its opening scene and for its realistic depiction of metropolitan Turkish life.
Journey to The Moon
Turkey, 2009, 79’
Filmed in the south-eastern province of Erzincan, from which Ataman’s family originally hails, Journey to the Moon is part of the Mesopotamian Dramaturgies and exists in two versions: for installation and for the cinema. Very different from his previous feature films, it tells the tragicomic story of the attempt by a handful of villagers to travel to the Moon at the end of the 1950s, alternating sequences of black and white photographs and interviews with various Turkish intellectuals.
Film Series
June 11-20, 2010
MAXXI, Auditorium
Trained as director, studying cinematography at UCLA of Los Angeles, Kutlug Ataman made his first feature-length film, Serpent’s Tale, in 1994. Since 1997, when he took part in the Istanbul Biennal with the video kutlug ataman’s semiha b. unplugged, the artist has alternated cinematographic and artistic activity. This film programme, the first one dedicated to him, shows all his movies in original language, with Italian and English subtitles.
Serpent’s Tale
Turkey, 1994, 85’
Considered by international critics the best horror movie ever produced in Turkey, this is Ataman’s first feature film. When opportunely translated, an ancient manuscript reveals the secret to eternal life. Many who wish to claim it for their own: a Byzantine princess, who appears as a baby vampire, and a multinational company. The price for obtaining the manuscript is very high.
Lola + Bilidikid (director’s cut)
Germany, 1999/2006, 85’
The film tells the story of Murat, a seventeen-year-old Turk living in Berlin. The young boy discovers his homosexuality, and meets a transvestite named Lola and his boyfriend, Bilidikid. It is a fresh look inside Berlin’s Turkish community, trapped between a culturally inherited homophobia and the racism of a few Germans. Between humour and tragedy, Ataman continues his cinematic research into marginalisation, removal and identity.
2 Girls
Turkey, 2005, 100’
The film tells the story of the intense and exclusive relationship between two adolescent girls, Hadan and Behiye, against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Turkish society. Adapted from the best seller by the Turkish novelist Perihan Magden, also the film’s scriptwriter, 2 Girls created a national scandal for its opening scene and for its realistic depiction of metropolitan Turkish life.
Journey to The Moon
Turkey, 2009, 79’
Filmed in the south-eastern province of Erzincan, from which Ataman’s family originally hails, Journey to the Moon is part of the Mesopotamian Dramaturgies and exists in two versions: for installation and for the cinema. Very different from his previous feature films, it tells the tragicomic story of the attempt by a handful of villagers to travel to the Moon at the end of the 1950s, alternating sequences of black and white photographs and interviews with various Turkish intellectuals.