Ali Özgentürk

Days of Fire, Love and Anarchy

In 1961, the young writer Onat Kutlar goes to Paris to study philosophy. After discovering his passion for cinema at the Cinémathèque Française he decides to found a Cinematheque in Istanbul to bring the world of art cinema to Turkey. Although the Turkish Sinematek came to a tragic end in 1980, it quickly established an intellectual film culture that continues to influence Turkey today.

Zombie and the Ghost Train

Antti "Zombie" Autiomaa does two things well: play the bass guitar and drink. After several months' sleeping on the streets of Istanbul, he returns to Helsinki where he's called into the army but discharged on mental health grounds after adding turpentine to the officers' soup. Zombie lives bleary-eyed in an apartment off his parents' house where his lonely, unemployed father suffers from heart disease. His girl-friend Marjo has taken up with a hairdresser but comes back to Zombie. His friend Harri hires him as a roadie for his band "Harry and the Mulefukkers" then gives him a chance as a bass player. He has his girl and he has a gig, but can Zombie put the bottle down?