Seattle Turkish Film Festival 2021 [Hybrid]

In-person events
Dec. 4–5
Online screenings
Dec. 5–12

Opening Night + Gala (Dec. 4, 5:30pm) [IN-PERSON ONLY]:
$100 Film Screening + Gala
at Ada’s Restaurant and Bar (5910 Phinney Ave. N.)
$10 Film Screening Only
at SIFF Cinema Uptown (511 Queen Anne Ave. N.)

Short Film Program (Dec. 5, 12:00pm) [IN-PERSON]:
at Northwest Film Forum (1515 12th Ave.)
$10 General Admission
$7 Student/Child/Senior/Member

Festival Passes [VIRTUAL]:
$60 Festival Pass General Admission
$40 Festival Pass Student/Child/Senior/Member

Individual Tickets [VIRTUAL]:
$10 General Admission
$7 Student/Child/Senior/Member

Browse the virtual catalog below, or on STFF 2021’s Eventive page

⚠️ Public safety notice ⚠️

NWFF patrons will be required to wear face coverings while in the building. To be admitted, patrons ages 12+ will also be required to present EITHER proof of COVID-19 vaccination OR a negative result from a COVID-19 test administered within the last 48 hours by an official testing facility.

NWFF is adapting to evolving recommendations to protect the public from COVID-19. Read more about their policies regarding cleaning, masks, and capacity limitations here.

About

The 9th Seattle Turkish Film Festival will be a hybrid experience; Northwest Film Forum and SIFF Cinema Uptown will each host an in-person screening, and the full festival will be available virtually through NWFF’s Eventive platform. The festival features some of the latest, best contemporary Turkish films, by both first-time directors and multiple award-winners working around the globe. The program includes nine feature films and a package of selected shorts, all on view between December 5th and 12th.

Inaugurated in 2012 by the TACAWA Film Committee, Seattle Turkish Film Festival has become one of the most admired and venerated events of the Turkish American Cultural Association of Washington. The film festival is a non-profit, volunteer-driven event, committed to bringing the best of Turkish films to Seattle in an effort to provide an international platform for talented filmmakers working in both short and feature length formats to showcase their work.


2021 In-Person Film Program:

Opening Night: Two Types of People (İnsanlar İkiye Ayrılır) – Dec. 4, 5:30pm

** This screening takes place at SIFF Cinema Uptown (511 Queen Anne Ave N) at 5:30pm PT, followed by an Opening Night Gala at Ada’s Restaurant & Bar (5910 Phinney Ave N) at 8:00pm PT. **

Duygu and Bahadir work as debt collectors; their job is to maximize profit by cornering debtors using psychological tactics. Ceren, a young woman deep in debt, is their new target. Two Types of People explores human nature, acceptance, and desire through the experiences and frustrations of young professionals fighting to survive in a ruthless system.

Trailer >

STFF 2021 Short Film Program – Dec. 5, 12:00pm

** This screening takes place at Northwest Film Forum (1515 12th Ave) at 12:00pm PT. **

The 8th edition of our most eagerly anticipated event, STFF Shorts Program Festival Selection, will showcase 10 short films by contemporary filmmakers of Turkish origin.

Trailer >

SHORT FILM PROGRAM:

Subordinate (Madun)
(Ali Cabbar, Turkey, 2020, 20 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
Serhad works with a man who runs an illegal operation and falls in love with a woman who has come to the country illegally.

Beautiful Weather (Güzel Havalar)
(Okan Akgün, Turkey, 2021, 11 min, in Turkish with English subtitles) Rıfat lives with his mother and keeps to his routine. He works as a lost and found clerk and station announcer in a metro station in İstanbul. When Filiz comes to Rıfat’s room to retrieve her lost phone, she forgets a poetry book in the room this time. After their meeting, Rıfat begins to see his life in a new light.

Everything As It Should Be (Her Şey Olması Gerektiği Gibi)
(Onat Esenman, Turkey, 2019, 16 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
The life of Saffet, an upper middle class man in his 40s, changes drastically when he sees Rüya for the first time, his neighbor’s underage, beautiful, and edgy daughter, in the apartment corridor.

The Criminals (Les Criminels)
(Serhat Karaaslan, Turkey, 2020, 23 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
Nazlı and Emre are a young, modern couple who love each other and seek pleasure. Sexuality is not a taboo for them. They freely and joyfully desire and enjoy one other. Their only obstacle is others.

Brigitte Bardot
(Çağıl Bocut, Turkey, 2020, 14 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
A modern Turkish family is expecting an exchange student from France to accompany their shy 10-year-old daughter for the summer. Not only will she practice French, but also finally have a friend. When the expected visitor arrives, the family is surprised to learn that the boy’s name is Hafid and frustrated that he is not “French” enough.

Susam
(Sami Morhayim, Turkey, 2021, 18 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
A Turkish-Jewish family faces a series of dilemmas on the morning of Susam’s bar-mitzvah ceremony with the limitations of Shabbat day rules when Susam locks himself in his room and refuses to come out for his ceremony.

Leylak
(Scott Aharoni & Dennis Latos, US, 2021, 17 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
In present day Queens, New York, a Turkish gravedigger is unable to face a shattering truth, and risks losing the dearest connection left in his life. As New York City deals with the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Yusuf, a 45-year-old immigrant, struggles to make ends meet and care for Renk, his 11-year-old daughter.

Same Night Different Blue (Aynı Gecenin Laciverti) – 2nd Runner Up
(Nuri Cihan Özdoğan, Turkey, 2021, 15 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
In present-day Turkey, an old antiquarian owns a stamp from a letter sent by Adolf Hitler to Turkey during World War II. Kadir, an ex-accomplice of Yagmur who has sworn off stealing, is after the stamp, which is worth millions. He just has to persuade Yagmur to carry through with his plan.

The Great Istanbul Depression (Büyük İstanbul Depresyonu) – 1st Runner Up
(Zeynep Dilan Süren, Turkey & Japan, 2020, 20 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
Though it has been a while since they graduated from university, Didem and Ayse aren’t able to find a job. This transitional moment of stepping into adulthood and the need to make money stretches and lingers for them, each day not much different from the one before.

Kısmet – Jury Award Winner
(Emre Sert & Gözde Yetişkin, Turkey, 2020, 24 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
Gamze wants to marry her boyfriend, Emrah, but her father doesn’t consent to their marriage because Emrah is Alawite. When Gamze invites Emrah to dinner to present him to her father, he refuses to let him into the house. Tensions rise when her father’s manager and his wife unexpectedly knock on the door, aiming to help Gamze to persuade her father.


2021 Virtual Film Program:

9,75 Square Centimeters (9,75 Santimetrekare)

(Uluç Bayraktar, Turkey, 2020, 118 min, in Turkish and Kurdish with English subtitles)

During his military service in 1990s Southeast Turkey, Ahmet experiences something that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

In 2013, when the chaotic days of Gezi Park protests in Istanbul start, Ahmet learns he has a brain tumor. Its pressure begins to fog his perception, blurring the lines between truth and fiction, dreams and reality, and his past and present… and at the same time, he meets Serap, the love of his life. Haunted by his diagnosis and suffocating under the weight of past trauma, Ahmet struggles to understand: who is the child that plays hide and seek with him?

Trailer >

Brother's Keeper (Okul Tıraşı)

(Ferit Karahan, Turkey, Romania, 2021, 85 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)

Set over the course of one tense day at an isolated boarding school, this moral drama follows a boy’s desperate fight to save his sick friend despite the obstructions of a rigid bureaucracy.

Trailer >

Fractured (Çatlak)

(Fikret Reyhan, Turkey, 2020, 82 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)

Fatih, a Turkish migrant worker based in Britain, once borrowed a lot of money from fellow UK-based Turk Ayhan to send to his family back home. Even after having returned to Turkey, however, Fatih’s debt remains unpaid. While on a visit to Turkey, Ayhan visits Fatih’s family to ask for his money back, but the family is caught up in divisions of faith and economics. Scrambling to repay Ayhan, the family’s buried conflicts slowly bubble to the surface.

Trailer >

It's All About Peace and Harmony (Dirlik Düzenlik)

(Nesimi Yetik, Turkey, 2020, 95 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)

Hicran, Vildan, and their mother Dudu live in their own worlds within the same household, their relationships perpetually oscillating between hatred and love. These three women experience conflict on every level–beauty, marriage, money, and health. When Dudu receives a marriage proposal, with the prospect of her imminent departure, their whole dynamic is thrown into question and everything unspoken rises to the surface.

Trailer >

Omar and Us (Omar ve Biz)

(Maryna Er Gorbach & Mehmet Bahadir Er, Turkey, 2019, 104 min, in Turkish & Arabic with English subtitles)

Ismet is a Turkish soldier who recently retired from his duties as a Commander of the Coast Guard at the border. Now as a civilian, he struggles to communicate with his family and the people around him. His only son abandoned him by leaving for the U.S. and now his wife wants to join him there as well. When Ismet becomes neighbors with two refugees, Omar and Mariye, at his home near the Turkish-Greek border, he is suddenly called to face his prejudices and political views.

Trailer >

Penny Bank (Kumbara)

(Ferit Karol, Turkey, 2020, 94 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)

A middle-class accountant and family man, Orhan is under heavy debt when his friend for whom he had been a guarantor abandons him. On top of that, Orhan’s mother has been in a coma for a while. As he struggles to recover from his compounding misfortunes, Orhan moves away from his loved ones and becomes alienated.

Turkish Trailer >

When I'm Done Dying (Bir Nefes Daha)

(Nisan Dağ, Turkey, United States, Germany, 2020, 97 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)

The dreams of Fehmi, an aspiring 19-yr-old rapper from a rough neighborhood of Istanbul, are jeopardized by his addiction to bonzai, a cheap and deadly drug.

When Fehmi crosses paths with Devin, a 25-year-old DJ, they fall hard for each other, finding artistic inspiration in their blossoming relationship. But the flames of their love soon become troubled, and then toxic.

When I’m Done Dying is an emotional roller coaster of youthful passion in Istanbul, driven by edgy rap composed by one of Turkey’s most acclaimed beat-makers and rappers, Da Poet.

Trailer >

STFF 2021 Short Film Program

** VOTE HERE for the Audience Award and REGISTER HERE to join an online Q&A panel session with directors of the films, Dec. 9 at 9:30pm PT! **

The 8th edition of our most eagerly anticipated event, STFF Shorts Program Festival Selection, will showcase 10 short films by contemporary filmmakers of Turkish origin.

Trailer >

SHORT FILM PROGRAM:

Subordinate (Madun)
(Ali Cabbar, Turkey, 2020, 20 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
Serhad works with a man who runs an illegal operation and falls in love with a woman who has come to the country illegally.

Beautiful Weather (Güzel Havalar)
(Okan Akgün, Turkey, 2021, 11 min, in Turkish with English subtitles) Rıfat lives with his mother and keeps to his routine. He works as a lost and found clerk and station announcer in a metro station in İstanbul. When Filiz comes to Rıfat’s room to retrieve her lost phone, she forgets a poetry book in the room this time. After their meeting, Rıfat begins to see his life in a new light.

Everything As It Should Be (Her Şey Olması Gerektiği Gibi)
(Onat Esenman, Turkey, 2019, 16 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
The life of Saffet, an upper middle class man in his 40s, changes drastically when he sees Rüya for the first time, his neighbor’s underage, beautiful, and edgy daughter, in the apartment corridor.

The Criminals (Les Criminels)
(Serhat Karaaslan, Turkey, 2020, 23 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
Nazlı and Emre are a young, modern couple who love each other and seek pleasure. Sexuality is not a taboo for them. They freely and joyfully desire and enjoy one other. Their only obstacle is others.

Brigitte Bardot
(Çağıl Bocut, Turkey, 2020, 14 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
A modern Turkish family is expecting an exchange student from France to accompany their shy 10-year-old daughter for the summer. Not only will she practice French, but also finally have a friend. When the expected visitor arrives, the family is surprised to learn that the boy’s name is Hafid and frustrated that he is not “French” enough.

Susam
(Sami Morhayim, Turkey, 2021, 18 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
A Turkish-Jewish family faces a series of dilemmas on the morning of Susam’s bar-mitzvah ceremony with the limitations of Shabbat day rules when Susam locks himself in his room and refuses to come out for his ceremony.

Leylak
(Scott Aharoni & Dennis Latos, US, 2021, 17 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
In present day Queens, New York, a Turkish gravedigger is unable to face a shattering truth, and risks losing the dearest connection left in his life. As New York City deals with the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Yusuf, a 45-year-old immigrant, struggles to make ends meet and care for Renk, his 11-year-old daughter.

Same Night Different Blue (Aynı Gecenin Laciverti) – 2nd Runner Up
(Nuri Cihan Özdoğan, Turkey, 2021, 15 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
In present-day Turkey, an old antiquarian owns a stamp from a letter sent by Adolf Hitler to Turkey during World War II. Kadir, an ex-accomplice of Yagmur who has sworn off stealing, is after the stamp, which is worth millions. He just has to persuade Yagmur to carry through with his plan.

The Great Istanbul Depression (Büyük İstanbul Depresyonu) – 1st Runner Up
(Zeynep Dilan Süren, Turkey & Japan, 2020, 20 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
Though it has been a while since they graduated from university, Didem and Ayse aren’t able to find a job. This transitional moment of stepping into adulthood and the need to make money stretches and lingers for them, each day not much different from the one before.

Kısmet – Jury Award Winner
(Emre Sert & Gözde Yetişkin, Turkey, 2020, 24 min, in Turkish with English subtitles)
Gamze wants to marry her boyfriend, Emrah, but her father doesn’t consent to their marriage because Emrah is Alawite. When Gamze invites Emrah to dinner to present him to her father, he refuses to let him into the house. Tensions rise when her father’s manager and his wife unexpectedly knock on the door, aiming to help Gamze to persuade her father.



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1515 12th Ave,

Seattle, WA 98122

206 329 2629


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