"Kültür/Culture: The Turkish American Film Exchange Project" Takes Off in North Carolina

Turkish Filmmakers from the Association of Documentary Filmmakers of Turkey Participated in a Panel Discussion Hosted by the International Visitors Council / World Affairs Council of Research Triangle and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina to Announce an Innovative Documentary Film Exchange Program that Will Deepen Cross-cultural Understanding and Appreciation.

Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) April 14, 2005 -- Six members of the Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Turkey (BSB) attended the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival that was held in Durham, North Carolina through April 6-11. On the final day of the Film Festival, a Panel Discussion was hosted by the International Visitors Council / World Affairs Council and Full Frame Documentary Film Festival to review the Turkish filmmakers' works and to announce the "Kültür/Culture: The Turkish American Exchange Project."

"Kültür/Culture" project includes six Turkish and six American filmmakers. The U.S. Department of State funded project will allow filmmakers to examine their rooted-ness in particular cultures through an exploration of how abstract themes like love, envy, and pride, signify within their native cultures. Over the next year, every filmmaker will have the opportunity to explore those themes' meaning within his/ her culture in a five-minute film. BSB, an Istanbul-based non-governmental organization devoted to supporting and recognizing the efforts of documentary film and video makers, chose the Turkish participants. Doc Arts, Inc., which operates the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and the Full Frame Institute, chose the six American participants from a pool of filmmakers who have a strong record of participation in the Full Frame Film Festival.

Producers, Margaret Bodde and Neda Armian, and Full Frame Executive Director Nancy Buirski, will oversee every film in order to make sure that each short stands on its own, while building towards a greater theme. Project producers have also paired each Turkish filmmaker with an American filmmaker. Each paired team has been assigned an abstract cultural idea.

Also an overseeing editor will assemble the twelve short films into a continuous, 60-minute film.

Filming will commence sometime after the 2005 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The finished anthology of shorts will premier at the 2006 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina and the 1001 Documentary International Film Festival in Istanbul, Turkey.

The "Kültür/Culture" project will not only enable this diverse group of filmmakers to develop new understandings of their own and other cultures but also give them the opportunity to document their introspective journeys.

Kültür/Culture: The Turkish American Exchange Project Participants:
Project Concept & Grant Requestors:
Robyn Smith, Full Frame Director
Todd Culpepper, IVC/WAC Executive Director

Film Producers:
Nancy Buirski, Full Frame Executive Director
Neda Armian, Producer
Margaret Bodde, Producer

Turkish Filmmakers:
Nurdan Arca
Ozgur Arik
Ersan Ocak
Murad Ozdemir
Sehbal Senyurt
Mustafa Unlu

American Filmmakers:
Edet Belzberg
Joe Berlinger
Linda Goode Bryant
Nathaniel Kahn
Albert Maysles
Sam Pollard

Project Coordinators:
Brian Bedsworth, IVC/WAC Project Coordinator
Peri Johnson, Turkish Project Coordinator
Sadie Tillery, Kültür/Culture Project Coordinator

About the Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Turkey
Established in 1997, the Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Turkey (BSB) is a platform that brings freelance and documentary filmmakers together. BSB aims to support and recognize the efforts of documentary film, and video makers and strives to increase public appreciation and demand for the documentary.

For more information, please visit http://www.bsb-adf.org/BSB%2DEnglish%2DToonch/index.htm
Contact: Peri Johnson 011-90-533-541-4486

About the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Recognized as the premier documentary film festival in the United States by both the New York Times and indieWIRE, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival celebrates the power and artistry of documentary film. The festival was founded in 1998 by Nancy Buirski and is presented in association with the New York Times. The festival embraces the documentary as an essential art and champions the documentary filmmaker as an important witness to society.

For more information, please visit http://www.fullframefest.org
Contact: Sadie Tillery 919-687-4100

About the International Visitor Council World Affairs Council of Research Triangle
The International Visitors Council World Affairs Council (IVC / WAC) is an independent, non-partisan organization that promotes understanding of world affairs, citizen-to-citizen diplomacy, and the recognition of North Carolina as an international center of education, culture and business.

For more information, please visit http://www.ivc-rtp.org
Contact: Brian Bedsworth 919-838-9191

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