PASSPORT CONTROL 4
International Film and Photo Workshop
Kars (East-Turkey)
8-16, November 2007
MEDIAWAVE Foundation (Hungary) & ANKARA Cinema Association Co-production

(If you are interested in the details, folllow the links in the texts below.)

 
THE TOWN OF SNOW
Homage to Orban Pamuk, winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006.

(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)

On the first day of PASSPORT CONTROL 4 International Film and Photo Workshop, snow was falling in so large flakes, as if it was a movie set in Kars, East-Turkey.

In the co-production of MEDIAWAVE Foundation and Ankara Film Association twenty (mainly Hungarian) young filmmakers, photographers, musicians and dancers arrived in this area, which had not only an amusing history in the past, but an interesting situation in the present as well, with the aim of shooting films and taking photographs with their Turkish mates.

It’s worth locating Kars, the town which is 3000 kms far away from Hungary and which is hardly known by us, in place and in time, too. The town with memories from the mythological times, is situated at the slopes of the Southern part of Caucasus, near the Ararat at an altitude of 1750m above the sea-level. Nowadays it’s mainly populated by the Kurdish minority together with several Caucasian peoples. This territory with huge strategic importance is standing in the centre of the press’ attention because of the rebirth of the conflict between the Turkish and the Kurdish, which doesn’t generate in ethnical problems, but which is accelerated by political games between Turkey and the U.S.A.

Photo: Péter Szabó

Orhan Pamuk, winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006, used the town as the setting for his novel "Snow". His novel had separate public opinions, and the novelist could only avoid getting behind bars by a world-wide protest. Town of Kars has an other importance - at least for us, Hungarians - since it was defended by two Hungarian generals (György Kmetty and Richárd Guyon) during the Crimean War – under the names of Ismail and Kursid pasha.

Photo: Zsófi Rechnitzer

Our Hungarian filmmakers arrived in Kars with ready synopsis in their pockets. As soon they learnt a few things about the town and the circumstances, most of them changed their minds about their plans (if you’re interested in our participants and their film plans, click here) and rewrote them according to the reality they were welcome by in Kars. The newest generation of the Hungarian filmmakers were conducted by the world famous Ferenc Török with his helpful advice. Photographers were led by Péter Szabó, a freelance photographer, into the mysteries of photography in this unique place.

Members of the staff, crew, cast were Turkish, Kurdish people, and the „13th FESTIVAL OF EUROPEAN FILMS ON WHEELS” which took place parallel with the workshop, and which was organized by the Ankara Film Association. The Festival runs on its wheels from Ankara through Kars and Samsun to Sarajevo to spread Europen culture for six days in each city.

Briefly about the final result: 6 short fictions and experimentals were shot during the workshop on S8 (with the support of KODAK Hungary). Three additional short fictions, several documentaries and video clips were also made. The elaborating of the films and the editing are still in progress, hopefuly by the beginning of the next year, they will be ready.
A tiny selection out of the huge amount of pictures, photographs the photographers took can be found in the photo gallery of MEDIAWAVE. (If you are interested in the artistic, documentarist and atmosphere photos, click here.) You can read „Diary from Kars” at the same place, and soon you can watch the interviews with the participants and their werkfilms, trailers as well.  Photos by Péter Szabó and Kristóf Hernyák

MEDIAWAVE Festival didn’t only realize PASSPORT CONTROL 4. workshop, but organized a screening of the film they made last year here and also took a Hungarian gipsy band and dancers with itself to the Festival. The musicians of Fláre Beás, from Devecser, Hungary with the dancers, Norbert Kovács ’Cimbi’ and Gábor Deésy ’Kacsa’ who accompanied them to Turkey, gave three formal and several informal concerts from the stages of the Festival through small Kurdish villages and Armenian ruins to tiny primary schools. They got a wide popularity in Turkey. One of the documentaries (not ready yet) shows us the world of Kars from their point of view. As one of the musicians observed, in Turkey they didn’t ever have to face discimination because of their Gipsy origins, just the opposite, as their situation in Hungary. They even were amazed by such hospitality, friendship, helpfulness they could find there.
One of the young filmmakers remarked it, that if only half of the reality was true out of what the team got as hospitality, friendship, love and help from our Turkish hosts, even then we had to reevaluate the old (and shabby) image of Hungarian hospitality.

 
You can download the interviews with the participants, the movie traliers, the werkfilms and the photos above.

FOREHAND 07:00
(If you would like to watch the film, click on the title above)
Television interview with Ferenc Török (director), László Csuja (director), Dániel Béres (director) and Péter Szabó (photographer) made before the journey about their expectations and plans in connection with the workshop.
Dir.: Noémi Aponyi

THE TOWN OF SNOW

(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)
Homage to Orban Pamuk, winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006.
Reporter: Noémi Aponyi
Cinematographer: Emese Ambrus and Jenő Hartyándi
Music: Sarikamis Band, Fláre Beás Band
Editor: Jenő Hartyándi
 

You can watch the tour and road movie int he following chapters:

1st chapter SIGNAL+ARRIVAL 07:40
(If you would like to watch the film, click on the title.)
The Signal clip was made last year in the co-production of Fanfara Complexa, a band playing Moldavian folk music, Gábor Deésy ’Kacsa’and Tuncel Kurtiz, a world-famous Turkish actor in a traditional teahouse in Kars. The film was based upon the adaptation of the Festival’s signal in 2006 by Fanfara Complexa.
/photo by Gábor Deésy "Kacsa"/
 

In chapter ARRIVAL you can follow what happened to us from our arrival at the airport in Erzurum, where we were welcome kindly by our musician friends from Sarikamis, through our first workshop meeting on the following day, when we were introduced to our TUrkish volunteers and participants to the snowing, which either covered upon or highlighted life in Kars surrounding us, giving a great emphasys to the beginning of the workshop.

/photo by Gergő Somogyvári/

2nd chapter SIDAR 03:47
(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)
Interview with Tamás Király (director) and András Kiss 'Gravi' (cinematographer) + trailer stills from the shooting

 

3rd chapter THE MAN WHO HAD FUN ON HIS BOSS’ POCKET 02:21
(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)
Interview with László Csuja (director) and Gergő Somogyvári (cinematographer) + werkfilm from the shooting

4th chapter WRECK (work title) 3:30
(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)

Interview with Gergő Somogyvari (director /cameraman) + werkfilm fragments and stills about the shooting


5th chapter GETTING THE BALL + PREY  06:59
(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)
Interview with Daniel Beres (director of Getting the Ball) and Virag Zomboracz (director of Prey) + werkfilm and stills about the shooting

 
6th chapter FLARE BEAS BAND IN TURKISH LAND  13:20

FLARE BEAS BAND IN TURKISH LAND Part 1 

FLARE BEAS BAND IN TURKISH LAND Part 2
(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)
Interview with Emese Ambrus (director) + documentary film fragment from a Kurdish village and clip called „City of Goose”

 
7th chapter PHOTO WORKSHOP + OPINION OF THE TEACHERS 9:39
(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)
Interview with Kristof Hernyak and Zsofia Rechnitzer + photos taken by them

 
8th chapter OPINION OF THE TEACHERS 07:56
(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)
Interview with Ferenc Torok (director) and Peter Szabo (photographer, teacher) and werkfilm about the shooting of the film called „Water” by Ferenc Torok and photos of Peter Szabo.

 
THE BOYS OF DEVECSER 28 min. (3 parts)

Interview with Tibor Orsos, Gyorgy Orsos (Bubu), Ervin Orsos and Sandor Bogdan + fragments of the concert in Kars.

1st chapter FLÁRE BEÁS BAND (part 1) 09:50
(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)

 

2nd chapter FLÁRE BEÁS BAND (part 2) 09:50
(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)

3rd chapter FLÁRE BEÁS BAND (part 3)
(If you would like to watch it, click on the title above.)

 
Participants of PASSPORT CONTROL 4 workshop were:

Film
Ferenc Török
Dani Béres
Virág Zomborácz
László Csuja
Gergő Somogyvári
Tamás Király
András Kisss 'Gravi'
Emese Ambrus (ROM)
Anastasiya Maleeva (UKR)
Ögünc Tevfik Hatipoglu (TUR)

 

Photo
Péter Szabó (HUN)
Zsófi Rechnitzer (HUN)
Kristóf Hernyák (HUN)
Anna Kazanova (UKR)

Anastasiya Maleeva (UKR)
other fhotos

András Kiss 'Gravi' (HUN) 
Gergő Somogyvári (HUN)
Gábor Deésy 'Kacsa' (HUN)
Werk photos

Music/ Dance
Fláre Beás Band
Tibor Orsós, Ervin Orsós, György Orsós, Sándor Bogdány, Norbert Kovács 'Cimbi', Gábor Deésy 'Kacsa'

Organizers
Violetta Vajda

Noémi Aponyi

Jenő Hartyándi (director of MEDIAWAVE Festival)

Transtalion: Sevgi Can Yagci

PASSPORT CONTROL 4