Film to be hidden at Istanbul Modern for 14 years

ISTANBUL

The first and only screening of director Burak Çevik’s new film “Forms of Forgetting” (Unutma Biçimleri), which had its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival, will be at Istanbul Modern Cinema on June 17, following which the film will remain hidden at Istanbul Modern for 14 years.

The opening program at the new venue of Istanbul Modern Cinema takes its name from Çevik’s film.

“Forms of Forgetting” tells the story of a couple who reunited after 14 years of separation and remember their past.

Following its international screenings, the film will be at Istanbul Modern for the first time in Türkiye with the director’s participation on June 17 at 5 p.m.

The film, which will be hidden in Istanbul Modern for 14 years after this screening, will not be shown again in Türkiye during this time, turning into an experience of how memory is rewritten, similar to its subject.

Stating that Çevik produced an abstract and nostalgic feeling by using the creative power of ‘forgetting’ in the film, Istanbul Modern Film curator Müge Turan said: “The film fills the gaps in memory through a couple’s 14-year separation by mirroring the history of Istanbul Modern’s Warehouse building, which has been welcoming its visitors for 14 years. The couple’s dialogues are accompanied by images from ancient ruins, abandoned places, or the Istanbul Modern building under construction. By actively working the memory of the film, Çevik is trying to understand the cinema itself.”

Director Çevik explains the story of hiding the film for 14 years: “When I was visiting its construction site, I felt that Istanbul Modern was the best place for me to hide the ‘Forms of Forgetting’ on which I had worked for a long time. Can we make the audience experience the relationship of the film with memory and the things it questions through the practice of screening? That was the main question.”