PostED ON 20.10.2022

Every day, Lumière shines the spotlight on a little-known filmmaker and a movie worth discovering; doing justice to these forgotten films in the history of cinema is also the role of the Lumière Film Festival.

Who is he?

He is Metin Erksan (1929-2012), one of the most important and prolific Turkish directors, who brought previously unknown cinematography to the forefront by winning the Golden Bear at the 1963 Berlin Film Festival for ‘Dry Summer’. He is said to have had a stubborn character, at odds with the censors, at odds with the critics, and for a time he was the vanguard of a ‘national cinema’ supposed to embody the Turkish spirit.

His film at the Lumière Film Festival?

‘Time to Love’, directed in 1965, is a singular work whose theme would not have displeased the Surrealists; a man falls in love with the portrait of a woman, but seems to obstinately refuse the love that she (having finally met in real life), offers him. For Turkish critics, the film illustrates the country's tug-of-war between the East (a sublimated love) and the West (the carnal union of two beings), tradition and modernity. Its succinctness and thematic richness are marvellous.

What makes it worth discovering?

Traveling to a rainy, autumnal Istanbul, the setting for a tale of passionate love, is certainly worth the trip. Additionally, most of the time, Turkish cinema is limited to just a few names, from Yilmaz Güney to Nuri Bilge Ceylan - and one sometimes thinks of ‘Climates’ upon seeing ‘Time to Love’... meaning this curious, intimist Turkish movie came first. 

Time to Love, 1965 © DR

A. F .

Screening:

Time to Love  by Metin Erksan (Sevmek Zamani, 1965, 1h30)

Institut Lumière Thu. 20 2pm | Cinéma Opéra Fri. 21 5pm