turkey

At the Greenhouse Seminar in Izmir, Turkey with ITVS Vice President of Programming Claire Aguilar

Greenhouse is a professional initiative devoted to the development of documentaries across the Mediterranean region. It seeks to build a multi-cultural dialogue, promoting the creation of professional and personal ties between filmmakers and the international market, while training the next generation of Mediterranean documentary filmmakers. Read about ITVS Vice President of Programming Claire Aguilar’s experience at the Greenhouse seminar held in Izmir, Turkey .

I spent last weekend in Izmir, Turkey, where I had the pleasure of participating in a unique training program for documentary filmmakers, Greenhouse. Supported by the European Union, Greenhouse creates cultural exchange between countries in the Mediterranean region, including the Middle East. Selecting more than a dozen filmmaker teams with their documentary projects, Greenhouse stages three seminars and training workshops over the course of the year. Emphasizing creative documentary with innovative cinematic approaches, Greenhouse gives filmmakers unique tutorial sessions with strong experts and mentors, and culminates in a pitching session with international commissioning editors from around the world. This last session was a showcase of these documentaries, and although they are still in development, we could see the potential of the great films that they would become.

Izmir is known historically as Smyrna, and although I didn’t know much about it before now except for its famed golden raisins, it is a large port city on the Aegean sea. Izmir was chosen as a location for its accessibility, since the filmmakers who participated in Greenhouse came from Turkey as well as Egypt, Palestine and Israel.

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Tags: film resources, Greenhouse, turkey

Thursday, December 17th, 2009 ITVS International, On the Road No Comments

Test Your Paper Folding Skills: Thanksgiving Turkey

Throughout the month of November, Community Cinema has been screening the Independent Lens film BETWEEN THE FOLDS, which chronicles the stories of fine artists and intrepid theoretical scientists who have abandoned careers and hard-earned graduate degrees to forge unconventional lives as modern-day paper-folders. The film will have its television premiere on December 8 at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).

Just in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, here is a fun video to learn how to fold paper turkeys. Check it out and impress your family and friends!

How to Fold an Origami Turkey

After Thanksgiving, you still have a few chances to catch a free Community Cinema screening of BETWEEN THE FOLDS. Watch the video trailer below and find free screenings near you!