Pera Film, in collaboration with Altyazı Sinema Journal, offers a curated selection of five films under the title "Cinema Verite: The Truth of the Camera," running until Jan. 10, at the Pera Museum Auditorium.
Suna and Inan Kıraç Foundation Pera Museum's Film and Video Programming (Pera Film), curated by Aslı Ildır, is offering an exclusive film program encompassing examples of cinema verite from countries such as the U.S., France, Mexico and Chile.
Cinema verite, also known as direct cinema or observational documentary, is a style of filmmaking that aims to capture real-life events and situations as they happen, without scripting or staging. The term "cinema verite" is French for "truthful cinema" or "truthful film." It emerged in the 1960s and was influenced by advancements in portable filmmaking equipment, which allowed filmmakers to shoot more spontaneously and freely.
The program started with the screening of the 1961 production "Chronicle of a Summer," one of the earliest examples of cinema verite. Directed by anthropologist Jean Rouch and sociologist Edgar Morin, the film engages in discussions on social issues with real participants. Eventually, the footage is shown to the participants for them to assess the authenticity of their portrayals.
Marilu Mallet's documentary "Unfinished Diary" serves as a poignant self-portrait, depicting the experiences of Mallet, a Chilean immigrant living in Canada. The film revolves around Mallet's endeavor to create a documentary reflecting the profound sense of isolation she feels in a foreign land. Renowned author Isabel Allende, who, like Mallet, spent a part of her life in exile, also contributes to this introspective narrative.
In "A Grin Without a Cat" directed by Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme, featuring Yves Montand, Simone Signoret and Jean-Luc Godard, the film captures street interviews in the spring of 1962 in Paris, shortly after the Algerian War. This documentary, acclaimed at DOK Leipzig and the Venice Film Festival, delves into the attitudes of the city's inhabitants towards the social and political issues of the time.
Lourdes Portillo takes the director's chair for the enigmatic journey of life and death in 1994's "The Devil Never Sleeps," set in Mexico. The film commences with Portillo receiving news of her Uncle Oscar's death. Through interviews conducted in her hometown of Chihuahua, Mexico, Portillo unravels previously unknown details about her uncle.