‘Coffee’s Just an Excuse, Cinema’s the Muse’


Pera Museum screens two films focusing on "coffee talks" on Jan. 30 and 31.'A Cup of Turkish Coffee'An elderly woman and her young granddaughter are sitting around a table going through old photos. Although the old woman resists looking at the photos and traveling through time at first, she cannot resist what the past evokes. While the old woman drinks her Turkish coffee, the audience witnesses the story of a woman who is forced to marry at a very young age and her struggle to find happiness throughout her womanhood. Although the old photos transform in the mind of the old woman, her granddaughter and a cup of Turkish coffee continue to anchor her to the present.When: Jan. 31 at 1:00 p.m.Where: Pera Museum'Coffee Futures'The film tells the story of the decades-long struggle of Turkey to become a member of the European Union. The promises and predictions made by politicians and the rhetoric and the practice of coffee fortune-telling are juxtaposed in this film. The coffee fortune-telling tradition in Turkey is a way of communication in daily life, and is a way of dealing with hopes, fears and worries, as well as a way to give voice to the unspoken. Like any other language, this narration method has its rules and metaphors. However, each fortune displays its teller's personal style and the fortune seeker's condition.When: Jan. 30-31Where: Pera Museum