Back	THE OTTOMAN BANK MUSEUM MOVIE THEATER: Now a cinematheque also showcasing short films and documentaries Documentaries on Thursdays, award-winning short films on Fridays, and feature films on Saturdays The Museum's movie theater, a meeting point for cinema aficionados in Karaköy, opens new season on September 16. On the heels of a successful first season during which it drew a wide intellectual audience to its premises in the historic museum building, the theater is pleased to announce that, starting with its September through November film program, it will now also be functioning as a cinematheque offering documentaries from around the world and award-winning short films never released before in Turkey, alongside more mainstream feature films. Taking into consideration that, outside of a few festivals, short films are hardly ever shown in Turkey, and that documentaries are only aired in late-night slots on television, TÜRSAK (the Turkish Cinema and Audiovisual Cultural Foundation) decided to include both short films and documentaries in its film program for the new season. Consequently, and to meet as well a general demand from the public and from film school students in particular, Thursdays are now set aside for the screening of international documentary films and Fridays, for award-winning short films, while selected world cinema feature films will be shown on Saturdays. The Museum's 'boutique' movie theater has a seating capacity of 46. Screenings are at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays. All films are shown with Turkish subtitles. Ticket prices are 4 million TL full, and 2 million TL discounted. To reserve tickets please call: 212 334 2270. Award-winning short films from the Clermont-Ferrand Festival The short films featured at the Museum this season have been selected among first prize winners at the Clermond-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, held in France for 25 years now, and considered one of the premier short film events in the world. Many of these films are signed by some of today's greatest directors. Documentaries by Johan van der Keuken In its September through November season the Museum's movie theater will be showing films never released before in Turkey, by the multi-talented photographer, director of photograhy, and film director Johan van der Keuken, widely acclaimed as a master of the documentary. Keuken, who began taking photographs at the age of 12, and started making his first films after graduating from the well-known Paris film school IDHEC, has signed his name to exhibitions as well as to documentaries. He has conducted countless seminars in a number of film schools both in Europe and the U.S. This gifted director who died in 2001 also acted as camera man in all of his films. Unforgettable 'Film Noir' classics On Saturdays, the Museum's theater will be presenting some of the unforgettable 'Film Noir' classics of film history. French film critics first coined the term 'Film Noir' to define the new wave of starkly 'dark' and hardboiled detective and crime movies made in the U.S. and released in France soon after World War II. The Great Depression of the1930s trapped America in a new way of life where gangsters, urban gangs and crime thrived. Insecurity in the country increased still more with the arrival of mafia members fleeing from the fascist regime in Italy. The precedents for 'Film Noir' must therefore be sought both in the thematic content of early sound pre-Noir gangster films of the 1930s where the criminal or mobster emerged as a new working-class hero, and in the visual style of European émigrés filmmakers who came to Hollywood to escape Nazism. German Expressionism with its typical harsh play of shadows and lights, tilted camera angles and surrealistic narration merged with American cinema that had newly entered the sound era, to produce the distinctive 'Film Noir' genre, some striking examples of which will be playing at the Museum's movie theater this season.