With Respect to Onat Kutlar on the 29th anniversary of his death...

"Days of Love, Fire and Anarchy: Turkish Cinematheque and Onat Kutlar" documentary tells the story of Onat Kutlar, one of Turkey's leading cultural figures, poet, writer and film critic, who lost his life in a terrorist attack on 11 January 1995, and the history of the Turkish Cinematheque Association, which opened the doors of world cinema to Turkey, through direct testimonies. Directed by Önder Esmer and produced by Matthias Kyska, this documentary film presents the story of a lifetime dedicated to cinema. Produced with the contributions of Mey|Diageo, which provides sustainable support to culture and arts, the documentary, which had its world premiere at the 42nd Istanbul Film Festival, will meet the audience on MUBI on Thursday, 11 January from 00.00 onwards as it continues its festival journey!

At just the beginning of his twenties, Onat Kutlar, who won the TDK Story Award with his short story collection İshak, fell in love with cinema when he first entered the Cinematheque’s doors in France in 1961 while studying philosophy. After discovering his passion for cinema, Kutlar decided to establish a Turkish Cinematheque to lay solid foundations for his country’s cinema culture. The Turkish Cinematheque Association was founded a few years later, in 1965, by Onat Kutlar and a group of intellectuals including Şakir Eczacıbaşı, Cevat Çapan, Semih Tuğrul, Hüseyin Baş, Tuncan Okan, and Sabahattin Eyüboğlu. The Cinematheque, which received tremendous interest beyond expectations and introduced art films from around the world to Turkish audiences for the first time, not only screened films but also became a place where an intellectual film culture emerged and new generations of filmmakers, critics, and cinephiles were nurtured. In 1968, which Kutlar described as “those days of love, fire, and anarchy,” the Cinematheque, known as a space for cultural change in Turkey, soon found itself in the midst of an unexpected conflict with the Yeşilçam circle.

The story of Onat Kutlar and the Turkish Cinematheque Association, which holds a very important place in our cultural history, is immortalized in the documentary "Days of Love, Fire and Anarchy: Turkish Cinematheque and Onat Kutlar" The film is directed by Önder Esmer, who also wrote a master’s thesis on Kutlar and the Cinematheque, and produced by Matthias Kyska. The documentary, realized with the contributions of Mey|Diageo, which believes in the great importance of culture and art in our lives, features first-hand accounts from Mete Akalın, Cevat Çapan, Atilla Dorsay, Burçak Evren, Mustafa Göçmen, Ahmet Kutlar, Filiz Kutlar, Mazlum Kutlar, Onat Kutlar, Seza Kutlar Aksoy, Ali Özgentürk, Nijat Özön, Adnan Özyalçıner, Ömer Pekmez, Vecdi Sayar, Aydın Sayman, Giovanni Scognamillo, Ahmet Soner, Jak Şalom, Rekin Teksoy, and Hülya Uçansu, who share the story that changed the history of cinema.

The documentary "Days of Love, Fire and Anarchy: Turkish Cinematheque and Onat Kutlar" received very positive feedback during its world premiere at the 42nd Istanbul Film Festival. It has also been screened at various events such as DOCUMENTARIST 16th Istanbul Documentary Days, the 30th Adana Golden Boll Film Festival, the 2nd Kocaeli Film Festival, and the 34th Ankara Film Festival. The festival journey of "Days of Love, Fire and Anarchy: Turkish Cinematheque and Onat Kutlar" will continue in 2024 with screenings at the 28th Turkey-Germany Film Festival in Nürnberg, the 24th Frankfurt Turkish Film Festival, and the 35th Munich Turkish Film Days. Additionally, the documentary will be available to audiences on MUBI starting from 00:00 on January 11, 2024.