ICA is closed from the 30 May – 3 June inclusive.
Kara Kafa (Black Head), dir. Korhan Yurtsever, Turkey 1979, 82 min.
Cafer, a Turkish metalworker, moves his family from their Turkish village to Germany. He sees Germany as the country of infinite opportunity and is certain that the move will save his family from poverty. However, their fresh start comes with various unexpected and challenging situations. His wife becomes involved in the women’s movement, the oldest son is lonely and doesn’t want to go to school, and the daughter has to stay home and take care of her newborn
brother.
With its leftist, political view of labor migration, Kara Kafa distinguishes itself from many other examples of German-Turkish cinema. Upon its completion, the film was subjected to a ban by the Turkish censorship committee of the era, who deemed that it hurt “the honor of Germany, our befriended nation.” After charges were brought against the director Korhan Yurtsever, he fled to Berlin, where he lived in exile for a number of years. The original 35mm negatives that could not be confiscated by the Turkish authorities surfaced unexpectedly last year and served as the basis for the restoration that premiered at Berlinale Forum Special program in 2023.
The project was initiated by Sinema Transtopia in cooperation with arsenal - Institute for Film and Video Art.
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no. 236848.