The International / Beynelmilel (106 min) 2006 West coast Premier
By Muharrem Gulmez & Sirri Sureyya Onder (Turkey)
Set in Adiyaman, Turkey, the business for a group of local musicians hits rock bottom due to curfew laws implemented in 1982 by the US supported military coup in 1980. The repression by the junta takes a twist when the region’s martial law commander decides he needs a band for the upcoming visit of the junta generals. The town band is now ordered to put on some uniforms and perform a welcoming ceremony for the military council’s visit to the town. At the same time, the daughter of the local orchestra’s head becomes involved with the town revolutionaries who are seeking to make a statement against the generals. The life and music of the people of Turkey is merged in the struggle to expose and challenge the brutal military rule. This film was one of the most popular films in Turkey about military rule and resistance.
S?rr? Süreyya Önder was born in Ad?yaman in 1962. He was a political science student at Ankara University during the military coup of September 12, 1980. He was one of the students arrested during the riots and was convicted as a political felon. Önder served 12 years in Mamak Prison. He defines himself as a distressed person, a man who feels a responsibility for the land he lives in.

4857 (The Life in Tuzla Shipyards) (30 min) 2008 US Premier
By Petra Holzer, Selçuk Erzurumlu, Ethem Özgüven Kurgu (Turkey)
Tuzla graveyard overlooks the massive ship building plants. As you start to descend from the hill on the left is a vast military area and it is entirely green and empty of humans. Then, as if cut by a knife from this, cement buildings appear. These are the homes of workers laboring at the shipyards. They are evacuated at 7:00 AM in the morning by the workers who work “outside” at the ship yards in leather plants and other supporting industries. Sprinkled between the family homes and apartments single workers live in flop houses as they try to survive and hope for the future.
Their concerns are death and survival, their hopes and worries are the hopes and worries of all of us. The Tuzla graveyard overlooks this massive shipbuilding area where great profits are made and workers die.
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