| A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT LIVING BETWEEN
EAST AND WEST:
"SEARCHING FOR PARADISE"
 Binnur
Karaevli's "Searching For Paradise" won the best
documentary award at Winfemme Film Festival, Los Angeles
and Moondance International Film Festival, Colorado.
The documentary is a lyrical personal account
of the filmmaker's reconciliation of Western education and
Eastern traditional heritage, self-identity and family ties.
Shot primarily in Istanbul and Los Angeles, the film weaves
a rich tapestry of history, people and images, offering
a look at the culture of Turkey, Turkish-American relationships,
and the real and perceived dichotomy between east and west.
Says Karaevli, who makes Los Angeles her home, "What
distinguishes Turkey is that only once we're able to embrace
our past can we live our present, as the only Muslim nation
with democracy and western values. Right now, Turkey is
a bridge between the east and the west but Turks are caught
on the bridge they haven't left the east, they haven¹t
gone to the west, either. It's like we are living on the
bridge itself."
"Searching For Paradise" has also been screened
at many film festivals like: Turkish Film Festival, New
York, Ankara International Film Festival, Turkey, Nurnberg
International Film Festival, Germany, Uppsala International
Film Festival, Sweden and Open Tent Middle-Eastern Film
Festival, Los Angeles.
Please contact us if you would like to purchase a copy of
this movie:
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Binnur Karaevli was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. She
started a theatre company in Istanbul when
she was fifteen and produced and directed
several new plays. Karaevli studied Drama
at Carnegie-Mellon University and started
her career as a theatre director. In 1991,
she founded the "Platform," an
acclaimed political cabaret at the Los Angeles
Theatre Center. She attended USC Film School's
MFA Film Production Program and graduated
in 1996. Her short films, "Dance of
the Whirling Dervish" and "Evelyn
of the Desert" received top awards
from several festivals including Nürnberg
International Film Festival, Germany; New
Orleans International Film Festival; and
the Istanbul International Film Festival. |
"UZAK" WON THE CANNES
FILM FESTIVAL GRAND JURY PRIZE
 The
Turkish film Uzak won the runner-up Grand Prix
of Cannes Film Festival. As well, its two main
actors Muzaffer Ozdemir and Mehmet Emin Toprak
jointly won the best actor award, posthumously
for Toprak, who died in a car crash the day he
learned the film was selected at Cannes.
English popstar Sting handed out the Grand Jury
Prize to Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan for
Uzak. The latter thanked the Jury, Gilles Jacob
and Thierry Frémaux, and dedicated the award to
Yilmaz Güney, director of the 1982 Palme d'Or
winner, Yol.
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