Daniel Day-Lewis. May 24–June 3, 2018

Istanbul Modern Cinema’s first program at its temporary space presents the spectacular film career of Daniel Day-Lewis, who announced that he was retiring from acting last year. Lewis began his acting career with a role in Sunday, Bloody Sunday in 1971, and worked with important Hollywood directors such as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. Lewis is the actor with the most Academy Awards for his performances in the Irish production My Left Foot (1989) by Jim Sheridan, There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012). Taking method acting to a whole new level, Lewis spent months on a wheelchair to prepare for his role portraying the Irish author Christy Brown who could only use his left foot due to cerebral palsy; learned to speak Czech for his role in the adaptation of Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1987); and listened to Eminem at 5am for months on end in order to perfect his characterization of Bill the Butcher before taking part in Gangs of New York (2002). "People talk, apparently on my behalf, about this torturous preparation period, but it misses the point, because for me it's sheer pleasure. For instance, butchery wouldn't be my first choice. But anything that involves very particular skills – you watch a butcher sharpen a knife, and it's a thing of beauty." The second movie Lewis made with director Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread (2017) is the actor’s final spectacular performance on the movie screens, and where he portrayed a tailor, a profession he admittedly holds dear. The new program by Istanbul Modern Cinema presents a glimpse into Daniel Day-Lewis’s career, which spans decades, and ranges from his last performance in Phantom Thread to The Bounty from 1984, and provides the viewers a chance to watch the actor portray 10 different and magnetic characters at that very point where art and craft meets.

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