Mithat Alam Film Center was founded in December 1999 by the special donation of our alumni Mithat Alam (RA’64-RC’68) in Bogazici University.

AIM

The main aim of the Mithat Alam Film Center is to create an environment, in which the students interested in cinema can develop themselves in Bogazici University which does not have a cinema department and to support the activities that students will perform in different fields of cinema throughout their film-making journey. One of the most important aims of the Film Center is to create a permanent accumulation and collection in the field of cinema by publishing books and DVDs that document the events and produced projects. Film Center has become one of Turkey's most important film archives by improving its film archive every passing year.

EVENTS

During the academic year, collective film screenings and interviews and panels that support these screenings are held under the title of Sinefil Screenings in the 61-seat cinema hall of the Film Center. With such activities, Mithat Alam Film Center serves as a bridge between students and the cinema world as well as between cinema and other fields. The Film Center also invites filmmakers specialized in various fields of cinema to give workshops and seminars, depending on the demand of the students. The Film Center has become an important platform and a meeting point by opening its doors to the activities of student clubs, academicians or cinema organizations in the university. Thus, the Film Center aims to contribute to information sharing and production of dialogue and thought on cinema. All activities of the Film Center are open to the public and free of charge.

PUBLICATIONS

First published by the students in the early days of the establishment of the Center, screening program booklet (now called as Sinefil) is published five times during the academic year and distributed free of charge. Being a first in its field in Turkey in terms of its model, the booklet is prepared entirely by volunteer students and designed like a magazine, which is beyond the usual brochure format. The booklet consists of comprehensive articles on actors, directors, film types and world cinemas that are subject to collective screenings as well as promotion of the films in the Film Center's screening program. The Sinefil booklet offers many students the chance to improve themselves on film criticism by making them write about their thoughts on the cinema and provide a different perspective about the films for those who attend the screenings. All the events held throughout the year at the Film Center are recorded and archived. These records are regularly transcribed and published in the Yearbook of Cinema Interviews every year.

PROJECTS

Mithat Alam Film Center carries out continuous and long-term projects in order to contribute to the cinema culture in Turkey. Visual Memory Project of Cinema in Turkey is an oral history work that aims to create a collection for Turkish cinema. Within the scope of this project, interviews with people who have worked in any field of the cinema are held, recorded and archived. In addition, summary films are prepared by using these records, collected in a DVD, sent to libraries and archives across the country and shared with researchers and film lovers. Hisar Short Film Selection, which is another important project of the Mithat Alam Film Center, aims to encourage the short film production in Turkey and promote the films abroad. Within the framework of the project, a jury of competent names in the field of cinema chooses the best 10 short films of the year; these films are later published as Hisar Short Film Selection DVD and sent to domestic and international festivals and to the institutions in the field of cinema for archiving and promotion purposes. Within the scope of the Short Film and Documentary Support Project, the opportunity to use the camera and editing equipment is given to the teams deemed worthy of support among the documentary and short film projects sent to the Film Center.

STUDENT GROUPS

Student Working Groups are the platforms that students interested in different fields of the cinema set up entirely on their own initiative and in which they act on their own will. The Film Center provides support to the student groups by allowing them to use the film archive and shooting-editing facilities, make film screenings, invite the experts in their study field to the center. These groups that are set up at the will of their participants reinforce the spirit of collective work and co-operation among students and give them the opportunity to develop themselves in a certain way, again on their own.

More detailed information on the centers’ agenda and projects can be found at the following links: