İdil Biret: The Portrait of a Child Prodigy

  • April 8, 2015 / 17:00
  • April 8, 2015 / 19:00

Director: Eytan İpeker / DOP: Ercan Gümüş, Atilla Yüksel / Editor: Eytan İpeker / With: İdil Biret, Şefik Büyükyüksel, Claude Samuel, Nevit Kodallı, Özden Toker İnönü, Remy Stricker / Producer: Yoel Meranda / Production Co.: Böcek Yapım, Kamara / World Sales: Kamara / Turkey / 2015 / DCP / Colour / 56’ / Turkish, French, English, German; English & Turkish s.t.

Idil Biret was five-years-old when she played the piano to the Turkish President İsmet İnönü. Two years later, the parliament passed "Idil’s Law" which allowed her to study in Paris. Away from her friends, in an alien city, she was now studying under strict supervision. Her path crossed with legendary pianists of the time, such as Arthur Rubinstein, who later recalled, "The first time I heard her play, it brought tears to my eyes". And yet, Biret dreamt of running away from everything, becoming free again. Today, as we listen to her atonal improvisations, Idil Biret’s unique energy still retains its mystery. "Our aim was the make a personal and intimate character study of Idil Biret. Perhaps the small sculptures and paintings of cats that filled her house was the clue. Cats that look around them with curiosity and distance..." – Eytan İpeker

With the participation of İdil Biret

İdil Biret: The Portrait of a Child Prodigy

İdil Biret: The Portrait of a Child Prodigy

New German Animation: Part I

New German Animation: Part I

New German Animation: Part 2, Children's Animation Films

New German Animation: Part 2, Children's Animation Films

From two portraits of children…

From two portraits of children…

The Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation’s Orientalist Painting Collection includes two children’s portraits that are often featured in exhibitions on the second floor of the Pera Museum. These portraits both date back to the early 20th century, and were made four years apart. One depicts Prince Abdürrahim Efendi, son of Sultan Abdulhamid II, while the figure portrayed on the other is Nazlı, the daughter of Osman Hamdi Bey.

At the Order of the Padishah

At the Order of the Padishah

In this piece, Żmurko presents an exotic image of a harem chamber, replete with gleaming fabrics and scattered jewels, as a setting for the statuesquely beautiful body of an odalisque murdered “at the order of the padishah”. 

Dancing on Architecture

Dancing on Architecture

I think it was Frank Zappa – though others claim it was Laurie Anderson – who said in an interview that ‘writing on music is much like dancing on architecture’.