Istanbul Modern will continue its online screenings with the “Summer Mood” film program. The sun-soaked movie selection was launched on the museum's website on Aug. 20 and will continue until Aug. 27.
The program includes short samples from early cinema, as well as Theo van Gogh's feature film “Een Dagje Naar het Strand” (“A Day at the Beach”), adapted from Heere Heeresma's bestselling novel.
Directed by Gerard Kiljan, founder of the advertising department at The Hague Academy of Arts, “Scheveningen” is a short, silent documentary on the seaside town famous for the long sandy beach after which it was named. The only film Kiljan is known to have made, “Scheveningen” documents a day of sun, sea and sand alongside a score by Başar Ünder.
The film “In Sunny Spain” (1912), whose director remains unknown, features a man and woman dancing to the sound of an acoustic guitar. Women in traditional outfits fan themselves in the garden, while those in upper-class garb lie by the lake. Women dress their children in suits. This short documentary, shot in black and white in Spain, was later treated with a stencil color process. “In Sunny Spain” is a cheerful short film that presents the audience with joyful moments in a variety of colors and accompanied by a special musical score from Başar Ünder.
“Alice's Day at Sea” (1924), one of the rare films directed by Walt Disney in which animation intertwines with live footage and reality with dreams, follows Alice and her dog's adventure on a summer's day. In the movie, starring Virginia Davis, little Alice takes a stroll to the seaside with her dog. Because Alice is too young, the dog has to drive. They meet a captain before heading to the seaside. Here, Alice falls asleep on a boat and dreams of having an underwater adventure. She is swallowed by a giant fish and kept by a giant octopus.
Directed by Theo van Gogh and starring Cas Enklaar, Tara Fallaux and Helen Hedy, “A Day at the Beach” (1984) is an adaptation of Heere Heeresma's bestselling 1962 novel of the same name. It is about a habitual drunkard father persistently taking his daughter to the beach in Scheveningen on a rainy day. During their time in the seaside town, the two encounters all sorts of strange people.
Heeresma's novel of the same name was adapted into a film in the U.K. in 1970, scripted by Roman Polanski. Director Van Gogh shot this second film, which has rarely been seen, on the beach of Scheveningen. This story is one of an alcoholic father who wants to reconnect with his daughter but fails to do so and carries mild melancholy held together by odd dialogue.
All these works can now be found on the Istanbul Modern Cinema website.
