Under the Shadow of Occupations

October 15 - December 10, 2023

Pera Film, in coordination with the Occupied City exhibition organized by the Istanbul Research Institute, revisits one of the most pivotal points in cinema history, the birth years of Italian Neorealism. Under the Shadow of Occupations traces the radical impacts of war on cities and communities through the War Trilogy filmed by pioneer figure Roberto Rossellini right after World War II. 

The trilogy, composed of Rome Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), and Germany Year Zero (1948), has garnered attention with its simple yet authentic aesthetic, a cast mainly comprised of amateur actors, and original narrative techniques that broke traditional molds; not only capturing the essence of a specific historical period but also significantly influencing the narrative and formal features of modern cinema.

Winning the Grand Prize at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival, Rome Open City, one of the early examples of neorealist cinema, portrays life and resistance in Nazi-occupied Rome, while Paisan follows stories in six cities in Italy during the war. The final installment, Germany Year Zero, depicts the misery in post-war Berlin streets through the tragic story of a 12-year-old boy.

Film screenings within this program are accessible with a discounted museum entrance ticket. Tickets can be obtained from Biletix or the reception of Pera Museum. In accordance with legal regulations, all screenings are restricted to persons over 18 years of age unless stated otherwise.

October 15

15:00 Rome Open City

October 18

19:00 Paisan

October 22

15:00 Germany Year Zero

December 2

15:00 Rome Open City

December 8

19:00 Paisan

December 10

15:00 Germany Year Zero

Rome Open City

Rome Open City

Paisan

Paisan

Germany Year Zero

Germany Year Zero

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”! 

Memory of the Region

Memory of the Region

Objects also bear the memory of the geography to which they relate. Ceramics, with soil as their primary material, are directly linked to the land where they are produced: forging a direct relationship with earth, ceramics bear the memory of the soil where they come from.

Artist Nicola Lorini in Conversation

Artist Nicola Lorini in Conversation

Inspired by its Anatolian Weights and Measures Collection, Pera Museum presents a contemporary video installation titled For All the Time, for All the Sad Stones at the gallery that hosts the Collection. The installation by the artist Nicola Lorini takes its starting point from recent events, in particular the calculation of the hypothetical mass of the Internet and the weight lost by the model of the kilogram and its consequent redefinition, and traces a non-linear voyage through the Collection.