Friday, February 11
Journey to the Sun
dir. Yesim Ustaoglu, Turkey/Germany/Netherlands 1999

The move from village to city has become a leitmotiv of the past century, as traditional cultures struggle to keep pace with modernity and urban centers fill with struggling immigrants. In Journey to the Sun, two such drifters cross paths on the streets of Istanbul. Gentle Mehmet (Newroz Baz), a recent arrival, uses his sharp ears and a long, delicate instrument to spot underground leaks for the water company. He sleeps in a windowless room with four other men, and his girlfriend, Arzu (Mizgin Kapazan), works in a laundromat. Berzan (Nazmi Quirix), a member of Turkey's embattled Kurdish minority who was forced by political turmoil to flee his tiny hamlet near the Iraqi border, now sells music cassettes from a pushcart by the Bosporus. An unlikely friendship forms between the two young men, though Berzan keeps his continuing involvement in the Kurdish underground a secret. When Mehmet is mistakenly arrested, imprisoned, and tortured, he learns the true value of their bond.
- Leslie Camhi, The Village Voice