Enjoy SEEfest At Your Home – Part 2

Following enthusiastic responses to our news bulletin last week we continue with a second curated selection of hand-picked movies so you can enjoy SEEfest at home! Check out our previous recommendations in Part 1 here.

BLISS (Mutluluk)

Based on the international bestseller, and Barnes & Noble 2006 Discovery award for the author, the celebrated Turkish novelist, composer and prominent humanitarian Zülfü Livaneli, BLISS is one of the first films about honor killing. Filmed almost entirely on the beautiful lake locations in Eastern Turkey, BLISS follows Meriyem and Camal on a journey that brings both the traditional and modern faces of Turkey together. Joined by a disillusioned intellectual from Istanbul on his boat that goes nowhere, the two protagonists face head-on the ongoing argument between tradition and modernity. BLISS screened at SEEfest 2008.

Directed by Abdullah Oguz. Main cast: Talat Bulut, Özgü Namal, Murat Han.

BLISS is available on Amazon.

OF SNAILS AND MEN

The film is based on a true story of a union organizer who hatches a most unusual plan to buy the factory that is about to be sold to foreign investors. His plan involves a double love triangle and a sperm clinic, both of which put a strain on the machismo of the workers. OF SNAILS AND MEN screened at SEEfest 2013.

Directed by Tudor Giurgiu. Main cast: And Vasluianu, Monica Barladeanu.

OF SNAILS AND MEN is available on Amazon Prime.

A TOUCH OF SPICE

First Greek-Turkish co-production, the beloved Politiki Kouzina/A TOUCH OF SPICE tells the story of an ethnic Greek family uprooted from Istanbul in the turbulent 1960s when most Greek citizens were deported to Greece. As a young boy the main character used to spend time in his grandfather’s spice shop with the daughter of his family’s Turkish friends. Years later he goes back to revisit his childhood memories, and to find her.

Directed by Tassos Boulmetis. Main cast: Georges Corraface, Ieroklis Michaelidis, Renia Louizidou, Başak Köklükaya, Tamer Karadağlı.

A TOUCH OF SPICE is available on Amazon.

FUTURE LASTS FOREVER

Sumru is a university student researching Anatolian elegies in southeastern Turkey, with the help of a young street vendor Ahmet who sells bootleg movies. She is also trying to locate her missing Kurdish boyfriend. Sumru and Ahmet embark on a reflective journey through past and memory. The Film screened at SEEfest 2012. Directed by Özcan Alper. Main cast: Ersin Celik, Soner Alper.

FUTURE LASTS FOREVER is available on Amazon Prime.

Online archive of thousands of old European films

European Film Gateway is a terrific resource with “Hundreds of thousands of film historical documents – photos, posters, programmes, periodicals, censorship documents, rare feature and documentary films, newsreels and other materials. Targeted at scientific researchers and the interested public alike, the EFG offers a look at and behind the scenes of filmmaking in Europe from the early days until today.” Browse and enjoy!

You have the power to keep international cinema in L.A.!

SEEfest is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public benefit arts organization supported by donations from people like you. Become a sustaining member and join a growing circle of patrons and fans. You can make a tax-deductible donation online through PayPal, and support a program of trailblazing films from 20 countries of South East Europe; sponsor a single screening, a salon-style event, or host a visiting filmmaker. Donate online here or mail a check made out to the South East European Film Festival, and mail to 7119 W. Sunset Blvd., Unit 306, Los Angeles, CA 90046. To contact the festival email us at [email protected]. We are deeply grateful for your support at this critical time!

SEEfest program and activities are supported, in part, by the California Arts Council, a state agency; Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Art and Culture; and presented with the support of the City of West Hollywood. For more info on WeHo Arts programming please visit www.weho.org/arts or follow via social media @WeHoArts. Special thanks to ELMA, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for their continued support of our programs.