Experiences - Zeki Demirkubuz
The special guest of the 21st edition of the festival is director Zeki Demirkubuz. The auteur director, who recently directed Hayat (Life), the film that was chosen as Turkey's candidate for "Best International Film" at the Oscars, will meet with young filmmakers and cinema enthusiasts as part of the "Experiences" section of the 21st Akbank Short Film Festival. During this event, Demirkubuz will hold a talk, sharing his personal experiences regarding the production process, his works, and his perspective on cinema.
Zeki Demirkubuz is one of Turkey's most legendary film directors. His retrospectives have been shown at the Viennale, Boston Museum of Art, Toronto Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, University of Michigan, Film Society of Lincoln Center, Brussels Cinematheque, and New Horizons Film Festival, Cluj Film Festival among others.
Born in Isparta in 1964, Demirbukuz studied Communications at Istanbul University Faculty of Communications before working as assistant director for various directors until making Block-C (C Blok, 1994), his first feature film. After Block-C, Demirkubuz continued to work as an auteur and independent filmmaker writing his own original screenplays. Film critics and international audiences noticed Demirkubuz with his second film, Innocence (Masumiyet, 1997) which was screened at Venice Film Festival and The Third Page (Üçüncü Sayfa, 1999) which was screened at several festivals in Turkey and Europe, including Locarno and Rotterdam. Demirkubuz started to work on his trilogy called "Tales of Darkness." The first two parts of the trilogy Fate (Yazgi, 2001) and Confession (Itiraf, 2001) were screened at Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2002. The Waiting Room (Bekleme Odasi, 2003) in which Demirkubuz also played the leading role, concluded the trilogy. Destiny (Kader, 2006), the prequel to Innocence, has been followed by Envy (Kiskanmak, 2009), Inside (Yeralti, 2012), Nausea (Bulanti, 2015). He completed his film Ember (Kor, 2016), which followed his film Life (Hayat, 2023).
Filmography
1994 Block-C (C Blok)
1997 Innocence (Masumiyet)
1999 The Third Page (Üçüncü Sayfa)
2001 Fate (Yazgı)
2001 Confession (İtiraf)
2003 The Waiting Room (Bekleme Odası)
2006 Destiny (Kader)
2009 Envy (Kıskanmak)
2012 Inside (Yeraltı)
2015 Nausea (Bulantı)
2016 Ember (Kor)
2023 Life (Hayat)
* This event will be held at Kadıköy Cinema as part of the 21st Akbank Short Film Festival. To attend, you can get your invitation from the Akbank Short Film Festival stand at the venue one hour before the event.
* All screenings, workshops, and talks organized as part of the 21st Akbank Short Film Festival are free of charge, with limited capacity.
* You can access the full screening and event program of the 21st Akbank Short Film Festival by clicking here.