So, What Was Avant-Garde?

Pera Film’s new program, “So, What Was Avant-Garde?” presents a selection of genre films from Turkish cinema spanning the 1950s to the late 1980s that broke away from classical conventions.

Bringing together four films across the horror, fantasy, and thriller genres, the program opens with Metin Erksan’s avant-garde Shakespeare adaptation, “The Angel of Vengeance – The Female Hamlet”. Other works featured in the selection include Erksan’s sole foray into the horror genre, “The Turkish Exorcist”, alongside Atıf Yılmaz’s “Oh Belinda”, which addresses the period's reality through a fantastical narrative. Additionally, “Dracula in Istanbul”—the earliest surviving Turkish horror film—meets audiences in a newly restored 4K version, presented with the support of Sinematek/Sinema Evi.

The program, which brings rule-breaking films of Turkish cinema to audiences, also has an international dimension. Organized in collaboration with London’s