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Film at the Ottoman Bank Museum "Béla Bartók, Turkey, 1936..."
The Ottoman Bank Museum Movie Theater is screening Sezgin Türk's part-documentary part-feature film, "Béla Bartók," on Thursday, January 19, 2006, at 7:00 p.m. The screening will be followed by a discussion titled, "Béla Bartók's Anthology of Turkish Folk Songs," conducted by Bülent Aksoy, researcher-writer and lecturer in the Department of Translation and Interpreting at Bogaziçi University.
The first part of the film documents Béla Bartók's visit to Turkey in 1936, when, as a guest of the halkevleri (houses of the people), he embarked on a project to classify Turkish folk songs. He came up with a compilation of 90 songs collected from among the yörüks (nomads) of the Adana region. 20 of these songs resembled Hungarian folk songs, thus demonstrating in music, the 1,000 year-long Turco-Hungarian cultural link. The second part of the film, which tells the story of the attraction between a young Hungarian musician, Atilla, and the Turkish girl, Su, reflects a more tangible aspect of this cultural link.
The Museum's film program is prepared in collaboration with the Documentary Filmmakers Association (BSB) and offers films, complemented by discussions, on a different theme every month. Screenings are held at the Museum's movie theater on Thursdays at 7.00 p.m. and are free of charge.
Béla Bartók, Turkey, 1936...
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 Bülent Aksoy
After graduating from the Department of English Philology in the Faculty of Literature at Istanbul University, Aksoy completed the doctoral program in the Department of Art History of the same faculty.
In the 1970s, he translated articles for a number of literature and culture publications, and then turned to the history of Turkish music in the 1980s, in which area he began to translate and conduct research. He worked as a music writer and editor for various encyclopedias and contributed papers to a great many music congresses both in Turkey and abroad. Since 1994, Aksoy has been working as a consultant to Kalan Müzik and has prepared more than 20 archive recordings for release. In 1998, he won the Sedat Simavi Radio Award with Ersu Pekin and since 1995, has been producing weekly Turkish music programs for Açýk Radyo. In addition, he currently teaches in the Department of Translation and Interpreting at Bogaziçi University. |
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Documentary Filmmakers Association (BSB) started out as a civil platform and began its structuring process following the National Conference held in March 1997. Today it continues its activities as an association with professional status, certified by the Ministry of Culture. Starting with Istanbul, Ankara, Eskisehir and Izmir, BSB is in contact with documentary filmmakers throughout Turkey. Convinced that civil culture is crucial in designing better social futures and filling the blanks of collective social memory, the Documentary Filmmakers Association considers these functions complementary to the creative aspect of documentary filmmaking. BSB creates and promotes screening spaces other than television, organizes and participates in film festivals all over Turkey and offers film screenings with discussions, especially in universities. |
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