Meow!
Cat Got Your Tongue?

January 12 - February 4, 2018

Meow 2018, we are not catnapping! Pera Film is ready for the New Year and is full of fur-balls! A year ago Pera Film enjoyed presenting heart-warming stories about dogs with Tales of Tails: Dogs on Screen. And this time our new program for the New Year is a warm feline salute to one of the most intriguing and mystical creatures we know – cats! We are delighted that it is not just the Internet that’s obsessed with cats. We are too! Though it has been roughly over thousands of years since cats were first domesticated since Ancient Egypt, the fascination grows. A variety of urban legends have travelled throughout centuries from all around the world: In a few different areas of Europe, it was thought to be ill-advised for a pregnant woman to pick up a cat or let it sleep in her lap. In Portugal, it was once said the cat will afflict the baby with a wart or mole, usually a hairy one, and in England, it was thought the baby will either be born with a cat-shaped birthmark or with the face of a cat. Medieval people thought that cats were the Devil’s personal soul courier, ferrying spirits to Hell. The Japanese believe that cats are lucky; the maneki-neko (“beckoning cat”) an iconic Japanese talisman is believed to bring good fortune to its owner, usually in the form of cash. A Buddhist belief says a cat with a dark coat brings promises of gold, while a light-colored cat brings silver. And the stories go on! Pera Film’s Cat Got Your Tongue? program shines light on cinema’s recent cat stories – from France to Turkey and from Japan to the USA, the selection cherishes these magical and perplexing creatures. Fur the love of cinema!

This program’s screenings are free of admissions. Drop in, no reservations.

January 12

20:00 The Future

January 13

14:00 A Cat in Paris

16:00 Kedi

January 14

14:00 Samurai Cat

16:00 Neko Ninja

January 17

19:00 The Strange Little Cat

January 19

19:00 Rent-A-Cat

21:00 Tomcat

January 20

16:00 A Cat in Paris

18:00 The Strange Little Cat

January 21

15:00 Tomcat

January 24

19:00 Rent-A-Cat

January 31

19:00 She’s Allergic to Cats

February 2

19:00 The Future

February 3

14:00 She’s Allergic to Cats

16:00 Samurai Cat

February 4

14:00 Neko Ninja

16:00 Kedi

A Cat in Paris

A Cat in Paris

The Future

The Future

Rent-A-Cat

Rent-A-Cat

The Strange Little Cat

The Strange Little Cat

Kedi

Kedi

She’s Allergic to Cats

She’s Allergic to Cats

Tomcat

Tomcat

Samurai Cat

Samurai Cat

Neko Ninja

Neko Ninja

Program Trailer

Meow!
Cat Got Your Tongue?

Our new program for the New Year is a warm feline salute to one of the most intriguing and mystical creatures we know – cats!

Journey to the East

Journey to the East

Pera Museum presents an exhibition of French artist Félix Ziem, one of the most original landscape painters of the 19th century. This week we are sharing Ziem’s work inspired by Istanbul and “the East”! 

Giorgio de Chirico

Giorgio de Chirico

Giorgio de Chirico was born on July 10, 1888, in Volos, Greece, to an Italian family. His mother, Gemma Cervetto, was from a family of Genoa origin, but most likely she was born in Izmir. His father, Evaristo, was born on June 21, 1841 in the Büyükdere district of Istanbul.

Rational Medicine in Byzantium

Rational Medicine in Byzantium

Byzantine medical art was grounded in the Greco-Roman medicine transmitted by Hippocrates and Galen and new concepts introduced by such physicians as Oribasios of Pergamon, Aetius of Amida, Alexander of Tralles and Paul of Aegina.