Turhan Yavuz

Directed by Suha Arın in 1979, Tahtacı Fatma is one of the earliest documentaries on the ethnic Tahtacı community. In an interview conducted in 1999, Suha Arın mentions that he wished to make a follow-up film that includes updated information about their conditions as he had not been in touch since several years. However, Arın passed away in 2004 without realizing his wish. Why was Arın curious again about a community whom he already worked with twenty years earlier? The 40 Years After Fatma observes the changes which Tahtacıs went through, with the company of documentarists who worked with Suha Arın back in 1979, at their native land.

The documentary "Kariye", which introduces an "art monument" of Istanbul with a history of 700 years, showcases the artistic features of the colorful paintings that adorn the galleries of the Kariye Mosque (Chora Church). While the documentary introduces Kariye (Chora), it carries "voices" from all cultures that have existed in and around it for 700 years. The film also interprets a cultural continuity and interaction ranging from Byzantine hymns to Orthodox prayers, from the call to prayer to Ottoman takbirs, with a distinct sound pattern.

"The Ballad of the Wood" reveals the traditional architecture of the houses of the Western Black Sea region for centuries has been passed down from father to son, from master to apprentice through secrets and a technique known as "canti". Some of the houses shown have been standing for the last 100 to 150 years. The film honors the great craftsman of the past who utilized the "dizeme" technique through an emphasis on structures that are 300 years old. These examples are some of the most unique to be found in the Western Black Sea region. This craft has been passed down from generation to generation. Now only a few old and tired practitioners are left and they reveal to the camera their anti-earthquake construction techniques. The average age of the craftsmen is 80 years old.

The Hagia Sophia documentary describes one of the greatest monuments in the history of world architecture, the historical, cultural and political past of a magnificent building whose history stretches right back to the 4th century.

The Ottoman Dynasty extended over three continents, surviving 600 years from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century. 24 of its 36 Sultans ruled the Empire from Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, for a period of 400 years. The royal residence, which has witnessed moments of great joy and sorrow, became a museum after the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923 by Kemal Ataturk. Until it opened its doors to visitors from all over the world, the Topkapi Palace had always been a mysterious, shuttered world. The "Topkapi Palace" series represents the widest-ranging project of its kind ever to be taken. It was in 1990 that all the doors of the Topkapi Palace were opened to a film crew for the first time. Their lights probed parts of the palace still closed to visitors and, indeed, into places that had never seen the daylight.