Taking place from June 7 to 21, 2026, on the theme of Archives, Testimonies and Vanishing Worlds, the Kundura Documentary Series brings together films that move between the aesthetic, political and personal layers of the archive

This time, the Kundura Documentary Series, held regularly by Beykoz Kundura, brings together short documentary films shaped around memory, archives and testimony under the theme Archives, Testimonies and Vanishing Worlds. Taking place from June 7 to 21, 2026, the program brings together films ranging from archival footage to personal photo collections, and from darkroom practices to found images. Bearing traces of different geographies and eras, these productions focus on the transformation of cities, personal memories, vanishing worlds and the testimonies that images carry. Shaped around the question of how memory is preserved, passed on and given new meaning over time, the selection approaches the archive as a space that is at once fragile and alive.

The program will feature Saeed Nouri’s Tehran: An Unfinished History, Sol Miraglia and Hugo Manso’s Luisita Photo Studio, Leandro Listorti’s Herbaria and Celeste Rojas Mugica’s Una Sombra Oscilante. All screenings will be free of charge. To register, you can visit Beykoz Kundura’s website.

Tehran: An Unfinished History (Tahran: Bitmeyen Hikâye)

Sunday, June 7, 2026 – 14.00

Directed by Saeed Nouri, the 2025 Iranian film Tehran: An Unfinished History (100’, color) explores Tehran’s transformation over more than a century through rare and previously unseen archival footage. Stretching from the early years of cinema in Iran to the present day, the narrative makes visible the impact of wars, regime changes, oil politics and modernization on the city, bringing together hundreds of archival images within a multilayered historical narrative. Structured in three parts reminiscent of Dante’s Divine Comedy, the film traces a city that, torn from its traditional fabric, has been transformed by ideological ruptures and diaspora. Built from more than 180 pieces of archival footage drawn from over 150 works, the film will meet audiences at Beykoz Kundura after its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Director: Saeed Nouri / Screenplay: Saeed Nouri / Cinematography: Aziz Rafie, Ahmad Shirazi, Nosratollah Kani, Jamshid Alvandi, Alireza Zarrin Dast / Editing: Saeed Nouri / Music: Esfandiar Monfared Zadeh, Anoushiravan Rouhani, Hossein Vaseghi, Parviz Maghsadi, Varoujan / Sound Design: Naeim Meschian / Producer: Saeed Nouri / Production: Wings of Desire Institute

Luisita Photo Studio (Luisita Fotoğraf Stüdyosu)

Sunday, June 14, 2026 – 14.00

Directed by Sol Miraglia and Hugo Manso, the 2018 Argentine film Luisita Photo Studio (72’, color) focuses on the archive of a photography studio on Buenos Aires’ famous Corrientes Avenue that documented the Argentine entertainment world for decades. The working practice of Luisita Escarria, the woman behind the camera, who ran the studio together with her sisters, brings to light the solidarity built in a male-dominated field and an artisanal way of working. Bringing together more than 25,000 unpublished photographs from Argentine popular culture, the film brings analog forms of production overshadowed by technology back into focus. Having won the Audience Award at BAFICI, where it premiered, followed by awards at FECILBBA, FICSUR and the Brooklyn Film Festival, the film will have its Türkiye premiere at Beykoz Kundura.

Directors: Sol Miraglia, Hugo Manso / Screenplay: Hugo Manso / Cinematography: Sol Miraglia / Camera: Sol Miraglia, Camila López Pozner, Javier Arcaro / Editing: Celeste Contratti / Music: Guillermo Guareschi / Visual Effects (VFX): Mariano Santilli / Color: Zebra Films / Art Direction: Boogieman Media / Producers: Mercedes Arias, Santiago Ligier / Production: Yaguareté Cine

Herbaria

Sunday, June 21, 2026 – 14.00

Directed by Leandro Listorti, the 2022 Argentine-German co-production Herbaria (83’, color) develops a narrative that connects botanical archives with film preservation practices. Placing the preservation of plants side by side with the processes of storing and restoring film reels, the film explores the scientific, aesthetic and political dimensions of the effort to preserve memory. Interweaving times and places, the film focuses on the memory carried by images and fragile materials that resist disappearance. Premiering at Visions du Réel, where it received the Special Jury Award, “Herbaria” has been screened at many international festivals, including the BFI London Film Festival, the Viennale, the Jeonju International Film Festival and the Istanbul Film Festival.

Director: Leandro Listorti / Screenplay: Leandro Listorti / Cinematography: Fidel González Armatta / Editing: Leandro Listorti / Sound Design: Roberta Ainstein / Visual Effects (VFX): Nico Agarzúa / Post-Production: Zebra Films / Graphic Design: Marcelo Granero / Producers: Paula Zyngierman, Leandro Listorti / Production: MaravillaCine / Co-Producer: Welt|film

Una Sombra Oscilante (A Swaying Shadow)

Sunday, June 21, 2026 – 17.00

Directed by Celeste Rojas Mugica, the 2024 Chilean-Argentine-French co-production Una Sombra Oscilante (77’, color) explores the relationship between personal memory and political images through a narrative built around the darkroom. Starting from a dialogue between a father and his daughter about images yet to emerge, the film reflects on the personal and political weight that images carry, together with forms of resistance and existence. Having won a Special Jury Mention at FIDMarseille, where it premiered, the film went on to receive Best Chilean Film at FicValdivia and the Grand Prize at ZINEBI. Also screened at festivals such as the Viennale, RIDM and Doclisboa, the film will have its Türkiye premiere at Beykoz Kundura.

Director: Celeste Rojas Mugica / Screenplay: Celeste Rojas Mugica / Cinematography: Natalia Medina Leiva / Editing: Celeste Rojas Mugica, Mayra Morán / Music: Julián Galay, Violeta García / Sound Design: Julián Galay / Producers: Florencia de Mugica, Celeste Rojas Mugica, Xénia Maingot / Production: Bomba Cine, Eaux Vives Productions

This article was published in Unlimited.