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Ⓒ 2026 Beykoz Kundura
Cinema
Free

November Documentary Series

29 November 2025 Saturday, 17:00

Accompanying the opening of the Kundura Hafıza Archive and Research library, this double documentary selection opens up a discussion of the concepts of library and memory through stories from different parts of the world. While Umberto Eco: A Library of the World approaches the library as a universe of thought, a space of imagination and a carrier of cultural continuity, How to Build a Library, through the initiative of two women in Nairobi, confronts the shadows of the colonial past and turns the library into a stage for social transformation. The encounter between these two films invites us to reimagine the library not merely as an archive of knowledge, but as a living, organic universe of both individual and collective memory and of cultural resilience.

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CINEMA

 

The certified ventilation systems at Kundura Sinema run on 100% fresh air and have no mixing chamber.

 

The cinema is accessible for audience members with disabilities.

 

Seats are not numbered.

 

Bringing outside food and drinks is prohibited.


SCREENINGS

 

All films are screened in their original language with Turkish subtitles.

 

In the event of a technical failure in the electronic subtitle system, we will first try to fix the problem; if this is not possible, the screening will continue without subtitles.

 

Latecomers will not be admitted once a screening has started. We kindly ask our audience to arrive on time.

 

In accordance with Article 7 of Law No. 7163, films that have not been evaluated and classified may only be shown at festivals, special screenings and similar cultural and artistic events, with an 18+ age rating.

 

Recording with any device, such as a video camera, still camera or mobile phone, is prohibited during the screening.

 

Beykoz Kundura will make audio and video recordings throughout the event, and the recorded footage will be published solely for promotional purposes on Beykoz Kundura’s website and social media accounts. Beykoz Kundura will use the event recordings for promotional purposes only and may share them with the event’s artist.

November 8-22, 2025 17.00

How to Build a Library

2025 / Kenya / 101′ / Color / English, Swahili; with Turkish Subtitles Directors: Maia Lekow, Christopher King The film tells the story of “Book Bunk,” an initiative launched by two young Kenyan women, writer Shiro Koinange and publisher Angela Wachuka. Their efforts to transform a decaying colonial-era heritage site into a cultural center become not just a physical restoration, but also a process of confronting Kenya’s colonial past. As Wachuka and Koinange try to forge a path through a complex system of aging librarians, bureaucracy and political interests, the film interweaves past and present. Combining archival footage, vérité scenes and the energy of contemporary Nairobi, it reveals a society’s effort to rebuild its own memory. Having had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, How to Build a Library is a striking reminder that building a library actually means rebuilding a country’s cultural identity. Click here to register. (You can select the date you would like to attend on the form.)  
2022 / Italy / 80′ / Color / Italian; with Turkish Subtitles Director: Davide Ferrario Umberto Eco’s private library was a world unto itself, comprising more than 30,000 contemporary books and some 1,500 antique and rare volumes. After the writer’s death, his family granted access to the library to director Davide Ferrario, who had previously worked with Eco in 2015, a year before his death, on a video installation for the Venice Biennale. Click here to register. (You can select the date you would like to attend on the form.)