Gönül Dönmez-Colin – författare

Examines the work of Turkish director, Nuri Bilge CeylanProvides thematical analysis of Ceylan's transnational cinema with intertextual and intermedial readings of individual films, the fluidity of the text creating and maintaining a dialogue between chapters similar to the manner Ceylan's films maintain dialogue with each otherLocates Ceylan's cinema within the context of the past and present social, cultural and political climate of Turkey with unprecedented political and sociological readings of specific filmsOffers textual reading of Ceylan's films from the point of view of feminist film theoryPlaces Ceylan's oeuvre within the context of global cinema as a transnational author of realist cinema and slow cinemaReFocus: The Films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan brings together a cohort of expert scholars to analyse the films of Turkey's most renowned filmmaker. His self-reflexive films inspired by local incidents have reached global dimensions, and won awards at prestigious films festivals, including the Grand Prix, Best Director and Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.This collection highlights Ceylan's aesthetics, auteurism and unique position within the film industry of Turkey and contemporary global cinema while focusing on his transnational style of filmmaking that also favours intertextual exchanges between his films, but also with other landmark works, merging photography, painting, and literature.

ReFocus: The Films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan brings together a cohort of expert scholars to analyse the films of Turkey's most renowned filmmaker. His self-reflexive films inspired by local incidents have reached global dimensions, and won awards at prestigious films festivals, including the Grand Prix, Best Director and Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.This collection highlights Ceylan's aesthetics, auteurism and unique position within the film industry of Turkey and contemporary global cinema while focusing on his transnational style of filmmaking that also favours intertextual exchanges between his films, but also with other landmark works, merging photography, painting, and literature.

Following an introduction delineating the histories of the film industries of the countries that make up the Middle East and Central Asia – including Iran, Turkey, and the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – both books contain interviews stretching over a decade, which position the filmmakers and their creative concerns within the social or political context of their respective countries. The striking variety of approaches toward each interview creates a rich diversity of tone and opens the door to a better understanding of images of 'otherness' in film. In addition to transcripts of the interviews, each chapter also includes stills from important films discussed, biographical information about the filmmakers and filmographies of their works.Gönül Dönmez-Colin offers in these expanded editions a carefully researched and richly detailed firsthand account of the developments and trends in these regional film industries that is sure to be appreciated by film scholars and researchers of the Middle East and Central Asia.

Updated collections of recent interviews with filmmakers whose works represent trends in the film industries of Central Asia and the Middle East, these two new geospecific editions expand upon the earlier volume Cinemas of the Other: A Personal Journey with Film-Makers from the Middle East and Central Asia. Following an introduction delineating the histories of the film industries of the countries that make up the Middle East and Central Asia—including Iran, Turkey, and the Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—both books contain interviews stretching over a decade, which position the filmmakers and their creative concerns within the social or political context of their respective countries. The striking variety of approaches toward each interview creates a rich diversity of tone and opens the door to a better understanding of images of “otherness” in film. In addition to transcripts of the interviews, each chapter also includes stills from important films discussed, biographical information about the filmmakers, and filmographies of their works. Gönül Dönmez-Colin offers in these expanded editions a carefully researched and richly detailed firsthand account of the developments and trends in these regional film industries that is sure to be appreciated by film scholars and researchers of the Middle East and Central Asia.

This is the first book to examine the troubled relationships between women, Islam and cinema. Film critic and author Gönül Dönmez-Colin explores the role of women as spectators, images and image constructors in the cinemas of the countries where Islam is the predominant religion, focusing on Iran and Turkey from the Middle East, drawing parallels from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the two Central Asian Republics of the former Soviet Union, and Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia, the prominently Muslim Asian countries with a challenging film industry. Some of the relevant films made in India by and for Muslim Indians are also explored.Dönmez-Colin examines prevalent cinematic archetypes, including the naïve country girl who is deceived and dishonoured, or the devious seductress who destroys the sanctity of marriage, and looks well at controversial elements such as screen rape, which, feminist film critics claim, caters to male voyeurism. She also discusses recurring themes, such as the myths of femininity, the endorsement of polygamy and the obsession with male children, as well as the most common stereotypes, depicting women as mothers, wives and daughters.Given the diversity of cultures, rather than viewing national cinemas as aspects of a single development, the author focuses on individual histories, traditions and social and economic circumstances as points ofreference, which are examined in the context of social and political evolution and the status of women within Islam. Women, Islam and Cinema is a much-needed and timely work that will appeal to the curious reader as well as to the student of film.

Turkish Cinema: Identity, Distance and Belonging is the first comprehensive study of the cinema of Turkey to be published in English. A recurring theme in the book is the Turkish quest for a modern identity in a world where borders, attitudes and people themselves are shifting and relocating. Turkey is a society striving to reconcile modern attitudes to morals with traditional values and centuries-old customs and its films reflect these contradictions.Against this background Gönül Dönmez-Colin evaluates contemporary Turkish filmmakers, as well as the films of those who have left and those who have been exiled from Turkey. Themes of internal and external migration, as well as the voices of the ‘denied identities’ such as the Kurds are integral to the book. Gender and sexuality, taboo subjects that only the new generation of filmmakers dare to expose are also discussed - homosexuality, lesbianism, honour killings, and incest are some of the ground-breaking points of the author’s account.Written by a film scholar familiar with Turkish language and culture who has undertaken extensive research both in Turkey and its neighbouring countries, this is an indispensable reference for students of cinema and Middle Eastern studies, as well as the general reader interested in this dynamic, rich and thoroughly modern national cinema.