Reha Erdem

A City Runs Through the Festival is an anatomy of the Festival through the eyes of its own audience.

A bitter conflict has raged between guerrillas and the army in Turkey's Kurdish regions for over 30 years. Large expanses have now become war zones. Countless young people have lost their lives to the conflict. This dangerous but incredibly beautiful mountainous country is home to 17-year-old Jîn. But she is no longer safe since she secretly stole away from a group of rebels with whom she was fighting. Now she wanders the picturesque landscape alone, caught between two fronts. All of a sudden, the sound of gunfire and explosions rend the air above the untouched natural scenery. Attack is threatened from all sides. Desperate to find peace, Jîn decides to escape to another part of the country – an impossible plan, since the military is omnipresent and there are road blocks everywhere. As a Kurd without identity papers she risks arrest at every turn. In addition, as a woman with no family to shield her, many men will see her as fair game. But her courage is unbroken.

A bitter conflict has raged between guerrillas and the army in Turkey's Kurdish regions for over 30 years. Large expanses have now become war zones. Countless young people have lost their lives to the conflict. This dangerous but incredibly beautiful mountainous country is home to 17-year-old Jîn. But she is no longer safe since she secretly stole away from a group of rebels with whom she was fighting. Now she wanders the picturesque landscape alone, caught between two fronts. All of a sudden, the sound of gunfire and explosions rend the air above the untouched natural scenery. Attack is threatened from all sides. Desperate to find peace, Jîn decides to escape to another part of the country – an impossible plan, since the military is omnipresent and there are road blocks everywhere. As a Kurd without identity papers she risks arrest at every turn. In addition, as a woman with no family to shield her, many men will see her as fair game. But her courage is unbroken.

Kosmos is a thief and a miracle-worker. He appears one morning in a tiny, snowbound border village where he is welcomed with open arms – on account of arriving just in time to resuscitate a small boy who would otherwise have drowned.

Kosmos is a thief and a miracle-worker. He appears one morning in a tiny, snowbound border village where he is welcomed with open arms – on account of arriving just in time to resuscitate a small boy who would otherwise have drowned.

Suna is a teenage athlete who lives with her mother in a mountain village much like the world at large: here, things are run by older men who know it all, environmental destruction looms, and greed beats in most hearts.

Suna is a teenage athlete who lives with her mother in a mountain village much like the world at large: here, things are run by older men who know it all, environmental destruction looms, and greed beats in most hearts.

Reha Erdem’s innovative group portrait of the inhabitants of an apartment building in Istanbul serves as a comic exploration of what it means to be human. The drama revolves around hapless taxi driver Ali, who suffers from amnesia as a result of an accident the cause of which he does not remember. As he struggles to regain his memory, his neighbors—embodying a variety of physical, mental, and emotional states—wrestle with their own difficulties, helping one another along the way.

Reha Erdem’s innovative group portrait of the inhabitants of an apartment building in Istanbul serves as a comic exploration of what it means to be human. The drama revolves around hapless taxi driver Ali, who suffers from amnesia as a result of an accident the cause of which he does not remember. As he struggles to regain his memory, his neighbors—embodying a variety of physical, mental, and emotional states—wrestle with their own difficulties, helping one another along the way.

In a small, poor village leaning over high rocky mountains, the villagers are simple and diligent people who struggle to cope with a harsh nature. They earn their living off the earth and a few animals they feed. Fathers always prefer one of their sons. Mothers command their daughters ruthlessly. Ömer, the son of the imam, wishes hopelessly for the death of his father. When he understands that wishful thinking does not have any concrete results, he begins to search for childish ways to kill his father. Yakup is in love with his teacher, and one day after seeing his father spying on the teacher he dreams too, like Ömer, of killing his father. Yıldız studies and tries to manage the household chores imposed by her mother. She learns with irritation about the secrets of the relationship between men and women.

In a small, poor village leaning over high rocky mountains, the villagers are simple and diligent people who struggle to cope with a harsh nature. They earn their living off the earth and a few animals they feed. Fathers always prefer one of their sons. Mothers command their daughters ruthlessly. Ömer, the son of the imam, wishes hopelessly for the death of his father. When he understands that wishful thinking does not have any concrete results, he begins to search for childish ways to kill his father. Yakup is in love with his teacher, and one day after seeing his father spying on the teacher he dreams too, like Ömer, of killing his father. Yıldız studies and tries to manage the household chores imposed by her mother. She learns with irritation about the secrets of the relationship between men and women.

An island off the coast of Turkey is about to be evacuated due to a possible earthquake but its inhabitants have been stricken with a mysterious illness, consigning them to an uncertain fate.

An island off the coast of Turkey is about to be evacuated due to a possible earthquake but its inhabitants have been stricken with a mysterious illness, consigning them to an uncertain fate.

No synopsis available yet.

Part of the “10 Poets 10 Directors” project funded by the Ministry of Culture.

Eleven-year-old Yekta lives in a crumbling island mansion with her strict aunts and ailing grandfather, yearning for her absent mother. As dreams and surreal visions shape her solitude, she sets out in search of a mythical seagull with a child’s head.

Eleven-year-old Yekta lives in a crumbling island mansion with her strict aunts and ailing grandfather, yearning for her absent mother. As dreams and surreal visions shape her solitude, she sets out in search of a mythical seagull with a child’s head.

Hayat, her father and bedridden grandfather live in a riverside shack near the dangerously dark but breathtakingly beautiful waters of the Bosphorus. Hayat's father owns a small boat that secures the family's survival through a miscellany of not always lawful ventures. Beyond the motion and romance of the water, Hayat's life is harsh and unrelenting. But Hayat has an instinct for survival. Her capacity for courage, endurance and hope in the face of these trials suggest that there is Life despite the manifold injustices of an unjust world.

Hayat, her father and bedridden grandfather live in a riverside shack near the dangerously dark but breathtakingly beautiful waters of the Bosphorus. Hayat's father owns a small boat that secures the family's survival through a miscellany of not always lawful ventures. Beyond the motion and romance of the water, Hayat's life is harsh and unrelenting. But Hayat has an instinct for survival. Her capacity for courage, endurance and hope in the face of these trials suggest that there is Life despite the manifold injustices of an unjust world.

Ali and Zuhal take their first step out of the orphanage into this big world committing a crime. It becomes impossible for them to live amongst people now, and the forest they take shelter in becomes a desert island for them. A boy and a girl that were thrown out of the civilized world would live the entire human story from scratch.

Ali and Zuhal take their first step out of the orphanage into this big world committing a crime. It becomes impossible for them to live amongst people now, and the forest they take shelter in becomes a desert island for them. A boy and a girl that were thrown out of the civilized world would live the entire human story from scratch.

A collaboration between Reha Erdem and Deniz Tortum.

A farewell portrait created with the works of the artist Tardu Kuman, whom we lost in 2016, and the echoes of his sculptures. An experimental work by Reha Erdem.

Istanbul is under quarantine. Felek and Kerim find the best way to make profits in this period. They will access people's computers and introduce themselves as government officials, making them confess their "crimes". However, the city in question is Istanbul and all kinds of people live here.

Istanbul is under quarantine. Felek and Kerim find the best way to make profits in this period. They will access people's computers and introduce themselves as government officials, making them confess their "crimes". However, the city in question is Istanbul and all kinds of people live here.