Istanbul Film Festival

This past weekend marked the opening of the 29th Istanbul International Film Festival which will run April 3-18. Some cool things are going on with this festival, not the least of which is that 4 of the 7  participating theaters are less than a 5 minute walk from my apartment. The Atlas, Beyoglu, Yeni Ruya and SinePop theaters are all within a square block of one another on Istiklal Cadessi in Taksim, a little over halfway between Taksim Square and Galatasaray High School. Films will also be shown at a theater in both Kadikoy and Nisantasi as well as the Pera Museum Hall, also in Beyoglu.

This year over 200 films will be screened. Because Istanbul is the 2010 European Capital of Culture, the festival has put a focus on classic Turkish films and films set in Istanbul, including the Sean Connery Bond classic, From Russia With Love, which I will be seeing this Friday night.

In addition to the Turkish classics, the festival committee has chosen a wide-range of films. Some I recognize as recent America releases such as The Cove, Julie and Julia and The Wrestler. Others have familiar actors in projects I haven’t heard of, including: James Franco in Howl, based on Allen Ginsberg’s obscenity trial, Zac Efron and Claire Danes in Me and Orson Welles, based on Welles’ 1937 production of Julius Caesar, and Liam Neeson in Chloe, which the festival bills as a “smart and sexy Hitchcock thriller set in Toronto.” In addition there are a few documentaries that have caught my attention based on their subject alone. The Red Chapel is a Danish documentary about a journalist and a comedian who manage to film in Pyongyang, North Korea — not an easy task. The Shock Doctrine is an adaptation of a Naomi Klein book of the same name about aggressive Western capitalism in countries torn by war or struck by disaster. Space Tourists is as self-explanatory a title as you will find at the festival and Exit Through the Gift Shop is a product of the world’s most famous, though anonymous, socially conscious street artist, Banksy.

However, one of the most remarkable things about the festival is not the eclectic collection of films being shown, but the bargain for which you can see them. If you see any Turkish film at any time, it will only cost you 3.50 TL, as will any film beginning before 5 p.m. on a weekday. Films shown after this time or on weekends will cost 10 TL, a few lira cheaper than seeing any new release in Istanbul. Should you want to attend one of the festival’s gala events it will cost 15 TL.

If you get the chance, I recommend taking advantage of as many weekday matinées as possible. I know, as I have written this, my list of films to see has at least quadrupled.

HD Time Lapse Views of Istanbul

In my inbox this morning was a press release from a website called HDtimelapse.net telling me they had just recorded time lapse videos all over Istanbul. Better yet, they are free for a regular download (you must pay for HD quality). Check out the city from many hot spots, including Aya Sofya, the Galata Tower, The Grand Bazaar, and the Bosphorus Bridge. A very cool site indeed. Check it out here.

How to Hibernate: Yemek Sepeti

After spending the last four years living in sunny Southern California, I apparently forgot that winter is still a season. All the global warming talks had convinced me that winter only existed in the mountains now. The last few weeks here in Istanbul have crushed that notion with the weight of endless winds, rains and cold. The last five days or so have been especially difficult. The temperature has hovered around zero degrees Celsius, and clouds have dropped an ever-changing mixture of rain and snow turning the streets into slushy rivers.

When the rain and snow subsides for a few hours, the chill holds the charm and romance of winter in a big city. However, when the water is falling it can be miserable. There are just too many things that require your attention. You must be conscious of stepping into one of the temporary lakes in the streets and sidewalks that could drench you up to the shin. If you are not stepping into the deep puddles, beware of a taxi driving through them. One taxi-induced tidal wave and you will be soaked head to toe for the rest of the day. While you keep your mind alert for these dangers, you must also be conscious of the airspace above you. Many times I’ve had my temple stabbed by short men who are reckless with their umbrella. If you manage to get to your destination in an uninjured and relatively dry state, watch your feet. The polished marble and stone floors and staircases in many businesses and buildings have sent more than a few unsuspecting and rushing patrons slipping to their seat. Actually, with all this to be aware of, it may just be better to stay inside.

Of course, its not possible to stay inside all day. There is work to be done, errands to run and cabin-fever not to catch. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t minimize the times you bundle up and rush out the door. There is at least one way that Tay and I have discovered to keep yourself warm and dry: have your food delivered. And here in Istanbul it couldn’t be easier. Yemek Sepeti, it means “food basket” in Turkish, is a centralized delivery system for hundreds of restaurants across the city. You simply log onto yemeksepeti.com, choose your language (Turkish or English) and choose city (they serve about a dozen Turkish cities) and your neighborhood. From there you can search by type of food, restaurant name, price and place an order online. They will give you a call to confirm and in 30 to 60 minutes, you’ll be eating. The best part though, is you can pay on delivery in cash. Also, most restaurants do not charge a delivery free and many have exceptional discounts and deals you can only get through the Web site. Sometimes, it’s even cheaper to sit on your butt and let the food come to you.

I am not an advocate of the hermit lifestyle. However, there are times when you just don’t want to get groceries to cook, or go out in the rain for a meal. When this strikes you, yemeksepeti.com keeps you warm, dry and worry-free.

Rock on, Tarkan!

Saturday was supposed to be a big day for the city of Istanbul. That night, the opening ceremonies of Istanbul’s reign as the European Capital of Culture were held at different locations throughout city. The festivities included a large fireworks display over the Golden Horn, modern dance performances, film screenings and a Tarkan concert right here in Taksim Square. With all the celebration, I expected a bit of anticipation about the events and about the entire year of culture about to sweep through the city. But what did a random sampling of Turkish people (read: my students) have to say about the events? That it would screw up their commute. The only words they spoke about it were used complain about the bus and metro service to Taksim being closed. Not a single student seemed to care that their culture would be in the European spotlight for an entire year.

By 2 p.m. On Saturday, as Taylor and I were coming home from work, Taksim Square was already more crowded than usual and a police barricade had been set up for the concert that night. A sound check was muffling its way down Istiklal Street. See, my students may not have cared about being the European Capital of Culture, but they sure as hell cared about the Tarkan concert.

A blurry image of Tarkan in Taksim Square Saturday night.

Tarkan is a Turkish Pop Star. The Turkish Pop Star. He is as popular in Turkey as Michael Jackson or The Beatles were in their home countries. Most of his songs are in Turkish, though he belts the occasional few lines in English. He has been the wet dream of every Turkish woman and man for over ten years. A few years back, he broke millions of hearts when it was revealed he was gay, or at least straddling the fence on the issue. Looking at him last night, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. He wore a black jacket with “Istanbul” bedazzled on the back and lipstick inspired by Dorothy’s ruby red slippers. In fact, the only heterosexual quality he had last night was his inability to dance. His eyeliner alone was thick enough to cross the Bosphorus on. Oh, and his music was terrible too.

How do I know all this? Of course there is the wealth of knowledge provided by my students. But more pertinent, is that last night I managed to brave the crowd and watch some of the concert with Taylor and a few of our fellow teachers. This is proof again that with enough beer, there are no bad ideas.

Before the concert started, there was a modern dance performance and a fireworks display. The modern dance performance was supposed to follow Istanbul’s ECoC theme: Fire, Earth, Water, Air. However, in reality it was 7 people dressed in black and covered in Christmas lights fighting, hugging and flying. In between segments, a man in a white wizard robe would come out and conduct pyrotechnic and fireworks shows that wouldn’t pass muster on June 27 in the United States. At one point, the dancers moved on top of the video screen as it played only giant clucking chicken heads. In the next segment, a grid appeared on the screen turning the performance into a live action version of the film “Tron.” On a night, in a performance, meant to demonstrate the long history and active life of arts and culture in Istanbul, what they provided was inexplicably abstract and cartoonish. I would say the meaning was lost in translation, except that it had no words. It may have been impossible to understand, or quite possibly meaningless, but at least it gave a few buzzed foreigners something to laugh about. Giant clucking chicken heads, seriously.

Immediately following the Electric Light Parade dancers came Tarkan. By the time he came on stage, it was pouring down rain and there were thousands of people packed in the Square. As a giant amongst men here in Turkey, I could see across field of endless heads in every direction. Every demographic of Istanbul had sent their delegation to this show. There were old women covered from head to toe, there were young girls on their father’s shoulders. There were old men who came alone and packs of teenage girls. But only after the electro-pop beats started pouring out of the speakers did it become clear who Tarkan’s biggest fans were: young men. They flocked to the stage when he appeared like moths to a flame, singing every word along the way.

If I were to tell you, I went to a pop concert, sung in Turkish, and watched a modern dance performance, you would think I had a terrible night. But in reality, my only complaint is that no matter how many times I yelled “Freebird!,” Tarkan wouldn’t honor my request. Despite the obvious shortcomings of the music and dancing, I had a blast. The other teachers did too. When else can you experience a country’s national pop icon for free only a few blocks from your house? I can’t say that I enjoyed it for the reasons that were intended, but at least I enjoyed them. I can only hope Istanbul keeps pumping out events like these all year long.

Photo from the Tarkan concert in Taksim Square Saturday night.

The Istanbul Archaeological Museum

For the last few days my girlfriend (Taylor) and I have been hosting her parents  here in Istanbul. More than giving us a chance to spend time with family, it has given us to take a look at our city through a fresh set of eyes.  Sandy and Linda (Tay`s Parents) are well traveled and can operate independently in the city, but it has been good to be a tourist with them when my work schedule permits.

One of things that frustrates travelers and foreigners when they get here is the ticket price to many of the Palaces. Topkapı Palace, for instance, is a 20 lira entrance fee. Standard for the palaces and museums. However, if you want to see the Harem of the Palace, they will take an extra 20 lira to see only the 3 or 4 rooms (!) on exhibit at the time. Or, two see Dolmabahçe Palace you must take two separate tours, each with its own 20 lira entry fee.

However, a few days before Sandy and Linda came, Taylor and I took a look what I now believe is the best value and the most rewarding place in the city — the Archaeological Museum. With only a 10 lira entry fee, nobody should leave the city without seeing it. In fact, it was so interesting that we came back today with Sandy, Linda and assorted crew.

One of the reasons it was worth a trip back, was our guide, Tamer, who will take us through parts of Turkey this weekend. Turkish born, but having lived in America, this encyclopedia of both history and wit has a Ph.D. in archaeology and lectures at Columbia University when he is not taking tourists around his native country. With him at the helm today we learned far more about the treasures we discovered last week and even found some things we missed.

But, even if you can`t schedule Tamer to be your guide, do not miss this museum. The museum began at the end of the Ottoman Empire around 1890 as a place to collect the historical treasures of the lands they held. Now, it is divided into three separate buildings.

The first building is the History of the Ancient Orient and houses treasures from the Fertile Crescent, ranging from Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Egypt. Since Taylor, myself and our amigos will be taking a trip to Egypt in the next month it was a great place to wet the palate. Some of the treasures include an original cuneiform document of Hamurabi`s Code, the first known peace treaty in world history and a mummified Egyptian priest. Along with these were countless statues, stone wall carvings and assorted artifacts from as far back as 3000-25000 BC.

Part of the mummified Egyptian priest`s tomb.

The second and main building of the museum houses a little bit of everything including Greek, Anatolian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman artifacts. The most impressive displays are the museum`s collection of sarcophagi and of Roman sculptures.

The sarcophagi included one known as the “Alexander the Great” sarcophagus, though it can`t be proved that he rested in it. This tomb had ornate hunting and battle scenes jutting out at the viewer and wrapping all around it. There was also the Tabnit Sarcophagus, which had a strong Egyptian influence.

The Tabnit Sarcophagus.

In the Roman sculpture section of the museum, there were some treasures as well. But my favorite were the statues of Alexander the Great and the Roman emperors, philosophers and poets. These included Sappho, Epicurius and Caesar Augustus.

The third building is a converted mosque now containing a tile museum.

I assure you my photos do not bring the grandeur that these treasures deserve, nor can I display every item that caught my interest here on this page. All the more reason to buy a ticket and explore this museum for yourself.

Alexander the Great

Art and Exploration

Very near our apartment, on Istiklal Street, is an old building just on the Taksim Square side of the French Consulate. Its a decrepit looking building where the riot police hang out and waste the day away between breaking up protests and hassling hippies. Well, it turns out this building was a water reservoir built in the 1730′s and is now an art gallery. I haven’t had the chance to check out much modern Turkish art, so yesterday, Taylor and I took the time. Currently, it is an exhibition of incredible student art. Here is what we found. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She-Males, Hashish and Our New Home.

Taylor and I have been busy for the last few days, but the upside of that is that our life here in Turkey seems to be coming together. We’ve observed a few classes and activities at English Time and received our schedule for the first few weeks. We’ve also found a place to live, signed a contract and moved in.

Yesterday, we were observing and participating in a speaking activity at our branch, where students come to converse and practice speaking English. As has happened with most of the Turkish students we’ve met so far, they were very interested in us, where we come from, our thoughts on Istanbul and had some words of advice for us.

After telling the students we had been staying in Taksim, a popular tourist area, one suggested that we needed to get out into “the real Istanbul.”

“From Taksim, you must go to Terlabasi (pronounced tar-la-bash-ee) to see the real Istanbul,” he said. “There you will see she-males, people smoke hashish, they sell you grass and you see lots of Kurds.”

I clarified, so the real Istanbul is she-males and hash? Classroom-wide laughter.

We moved on to another subject, but Taylor and I shared a laugh, as we had moved into Terlabasi that morning. We had heard these jokes about our neighborhood before we moved there, but the truth about it is much less exciting. Terlabasi and Taksim are separated by a large eight lane arterial. We live one block on the Terlabasi side of the road, about three blocks from the lojman we had been staying at.

Technically we do live in Terlabasi. But, to be fair, the only tranny I’ve seen so far was in Taksim, just outside a feminist cafe and bookstore. And no, I haven’t seen anyone smoking hash. Mostly all we’ve seen have been curious neighborhood kids. So, despite the ugly reputation of Terlabasi, I think we’ve found a hell of a spot. We live in the nicest building in our area, in the first floor apartment. Through the door you enter the living room and kitchen and down a flight of half-spiral stairs is our bedroom and bathroom. In the building are four apartments, ours, two others occupied by English Time teachers and our nice, but more importantly, English-speaking landlord Atilla.

Right now, our place, which I’ve dubbed The Harem, is as bare as old Ms. Hubbard’s cupboard. Other than our suitcases, we have a double mattress and a small wardrobe provided by Atilla and some beautiful Turkish pillows to serve as furniture in our living room from our co-workers and upstairs neighbors, Jonathan and Emma. Plus, our friends Bev and Chris who stay in lojman are a five minute walk away with an infinite amount of bars and cafes in between us.

I look forward to knowing we have safe and cozy first apartment together, while still getting a strong reaction from students when telling where we live.

I’ll throw up some pictures of the new place once we get settled.

Now that we’ve left America, let’s go to the mall!

This post is dedicated to my younger brother Jason, lover of both public transportation and malls, but mostly a lover of taking public transportation to the mall.

Cehavir Mall from the street.

Today, Taylor and I went to a teacher’s meeting at our English Time branch in Mecidiyekoy. Usually, I think we will be taking the subway to get there, but this morning we walked it. As we walked and approached our branch, we noticed something large and all to familiar outside the normal metro tunnel entrance in Mecidiyekoy — a mall.

Part of the reason I decided to travel was to escape the materialism all too common in America. Funny then, that within three days of being in Istanbul I found myself in the largest shopping center in Europe, and one of the largest in the world, just outside of my new office. It is the Istanbul Cehavir Mall.

I dedicated this post to my younger brother, Jason, because one of his favorite pastimes has always been going to the mall. He loves to ride the escalators and elevators, check out the Seattle Mariners Store and whenever possible, he finds it more fun to take the bus to get there. Jason, you would be in heaven. This mall has its own metro terminal exit. Meaning, you can walk off the train and into the mall in seconds without so much as touching the street or sidewalk.

It is also six stories tall with 343 stores and is an incredible 4.5 million square feet. For those in Washington, that is over 3 times the size of Bellevue Square (1.3 million ft.^2). For those in California, that is nearly twice the size of South Coast Plaza (2.5 million ft.^2). I don’t know how many elevators and escalators that adds up to, but again, Jason, you could ride ‘em all day. Like the Mall of America, this mall has a roller coaster. But this mall is so massive that it took us 45 minutes of wandering to find the roller coaster. It is also home to the world’s largest clock, located on the glass ceiling and facing directly down at the patrons with the wrong time. Today, at least.

Coming to Istanbul, Taylor had been telling me that the Turks were generally a fashionable people, who did in fact care about labels and designers, the stuff I have no clue about. I had no idea until I entered Cevahir how true that was. Every major label and brand you would find in the states could be picked up right there. Some patrons walked by in the latest European trendy style, others in full burkas. It was an incredible collection of people and stores and one that I did not expect to stumble upon in Istanbul.

Will I be hanging out at the mall now? Almost certainly not. But, it did give me a look at a different side of Turkish culture, or at least Istanbul culture. To those back in the states who have a picture of a backwards, Islamic Turkey, this scene would be an eye opener. After all, I believe that people have a lot more in common than they choose to see and that recognizing this is key to better cooperation between people and countries — even if it has to start with shopping.

One of many children's rides runs through the bottom floor of Cevahir Mall.

Even the world's largest clock is right twice a day.