The European Film Academy’s Month of European Film, the event through which the Academy announces Europe’s film and awards season and celebrates the diversity of European cinema, takes place in Türkiye this year at Kundura Sinema. Organized by Kundura Sinema in partnership with the European Film Academy and Creative Europe Media, with the support of Institut Français İstanbul, the Month of European Film program will screen 5 films that rank among the unforgettable works of French cinema.

Jean-Luc Godard’s neo-noir science fiction film Alphaville (1965), winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, will be screened on November 11 and 25, while Agnès Varda’s “Cléo from 5 to 7” (Cléo de 5 à 7, 1962), which takes us on a dizzying journey through 1960s Paris in the footsteps of its heroine Cléo, will meet audiences on November 18 and 26.

A revolutionary camera

One of the cornerstone films of feminist cinema, “Cléo from 5 to 7” is an unforgettable classic, thanks to Varda’s revolutionary camera, which redefined the female gaze in cinema, and the iconic performance of Corinne Marchand as Cléo.

Two films by Resnais

The program will also feature two films by Alain Resnais, one of the pioneering directors of the French New Wave. A debut feature far ahead of its time, with an Oscar-nominated screenplay by Marguerite Duras, one of the most powerful voices in French literature, and innovative editing, “Hiroshima mon amour” (1959) will be screened on November 11 and 18, while “My American Uncle” (Mon oncle d’Amérique, 1980), winner of the Grand Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes and a matchless example of Resnais’s genius, with editing that is considered daring even today, awaits the director’s admirers on November 12 and 25.

A documentary of editing genius

Another highlight of the program will be Nicole Védrès’s 1947 documentary “Paris 1900” (Paris mil neuf cent), remembered today as a work of editing genius. Praised by André Bazin as “the cinematic equivalent of the profound upheaval Marcel Proust created in literature,” this unique classic, whose production team also included Alain Resnais, brings life in prewar Paris back to the screen through hundreds of documents and images. Depicting Paris in the era of “La Belle Époque” (the Beautiful Era) and tracing the most important figures of Parisian cultural life, from Apollinaire to Sarah Bernhardt and from Colette to André Gide, the film can be seen on November 12 and 26 at Kundura Sinema.

Celebrating European cinema

Organized by the European Film Academy, which has been working since 1988 to support the film industry in Europe and to strengthen collaboration by creating meeting points within the sector, in partnership with Europa Cinemas, the Month of European Film takes place in leading cinemas in more than 70 cities, from Istanbul to Athens and from Lisbon to Bucharest. Rather than following a uniform catalog, each cinema in the network takes part with a unique program shaped by its own expertise and curatorial policy, and the event will complete this year’s journey on December 9 at the 36th European Film Awards in Berlin. You can find the event’s program and details on its official website.