London Turkish Film Week returns with raft of renowned films


Following a modest but well-attended clutch of premieres in December 2018, the second London Turkish Film Week, organized by Yunus Emre Institute (YEE), will blossom on to the splendid screen of the historic Regent Street Cinema, the venue where the Lumiere brothers first presented films in Great Britain, which has now been restored and transformed into one of the loveliest cinemas in London.

Between Apr. 24 and 30, a feast of films that have found favor with audiences across Turkey, and already won many festival awards and praise from critics around the world, will be unveiled in various venues including King's College on the Strand, the School of Oriental Studies (SOAS) in the heart of Bloomsbury, the sumptuous cinema inside the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), above Liverpool Street Station, and the organizing host, the Yunus Emre Institute in Fitzrovia.

The week will start with the screening of "Bırakın Çocuklar Oynasın" ("Let the Kids Play") documentary at SOAS on Apr. 24. Two days later, there will be a talk on Turkish Dramas in the same venue. On this day, "Melekleklerin Koruyucusu" ("Guardian of Angels") documentary will be screened at the YEE. "Turkish Ice Cream," "Sarı Sıcak" ("Yellow Heat"), "Yozgat Blues," "Kardeşler" ("Brothers"), "Paranın Kokusu" ("The Smell of Money"), "Halef," "Güvercin" ("The Pigeon"), "Murtaza" and "Yol Kenarı" ("Sideway") are among the films that will meet audiences as part of the event.

The second London Turkish Film Week's last event will pay tribute to the late Ömer Lütfi Akad with a screening and talk on "Hudutların Kanunu" ("Law of the Border"), arguably the film that marked a turning point in Turkish cinema. The talk features a discussion with Istanbul Şehir University's professor Nezih Erdoğan and King's College lecturer Dr. Iain Robert Smith and moderated by broadcaster Phillip Bergson.