Freedom!

Freedom! November 30–December 10, 2017

Istanbul Modern Cinema presents a selection of Brand New Films from Germany in the program’s ninth edition, introducing audiences to leading features from contemporary German cinema.

This year's program is titled Freedom!. The selection is made up of films from different historical periods that are all committed to a theme of freedom. Another recurring theme is borders, both in terms of societal norms and in terms of geography. Moreover, this year’s selection includes several films about art and artists. Either as documentaries or as fictional features, these films invite viewers to think about freedom in terms of artistic production. ​

One of the highlights of this year’s program is master director Volker Schlöndorff's new film Return to Montauk. Adapted to the screen from the famous Swiss author Max Frisch’s long story Montauk, which was also published here in Turkey, follows the story of the 60 years-old Max Zorn, and the events that take place after he runs into his ex-girlfriend during the publicity tours for his new book. Among the films that will be presented this year is a film that competed for this year’s Golden Bear award, Beuys by Andres Veiel, which portrays one of the most important figures of the 20th century art, Joseph Beuys. Other films in this year’s selection include Freedom (Freiheit), Jan Speckenbach’s second film which premiered in Locarno, also giving its name to this year’s program; Casting, directed by Nicolas Wackerbarth,a film that depicts the behind the scenes of television films and the delicacies of acting; Romuald Karmakar’s new documentary If I Think of Germany at Night (Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht), which invites the audience into the world of electronic music; and Jakob Schmidt’s To be a Teacher (Zwischen den Stühlen) focusing on the profession of teaching and its ever-growing difficulties.

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