THE DREAM of ISTANBUL
A living idea . . .

Presented by Les Arts Turcs

Conceived, written and narrated by Karen-Claire Voss

Photographed and edited by James Snow

A few words from Karen-Claire Voss about The Dream of Istanbul: 

The film began when Nurdogan Senguler, owner of Les Arts Turcs Gallery, asked me  to write “something, anything, doesn’t matter what” for what he said would be a short film about Istanbul.  I had already written up an introduction for a project connected with Turkish culture I had planned to put up on the web.  In it, I waxed poetically about how Istanbul had attracted artists, writers and poets for centuries and had begun to explain why that was so, and this served as the starting point for what became the narrative for a film called The Dream of Istanbul.  In fact, a version of what I’d written is actually contained in the opening lines of the film.

 Only 25 minutes long, The Dream of Istanbul was made with a total budget of $300! Since I know absolutely nothing about photography, once the narrive was completed, the biggest challenge was to find a photographer.  I interviewed a few local photographers, but it quickly became clear that their idea of what they would do was very different than mine.  When I told one photographer that I would go out with him on shoots and would exercise artistic control over which shots were ultimately selected, he was stunned.  He had expected that I would simply hand over the narrative and entrust him with the job of “illustrating” it as he saw fit.  Stumped as to what to do next, I cast around for a solution until I remembered that a young man with whom I’d taught at a private school a couple of years before was passionately engaged in film-making.  I phoned him, explained the project, and a partnership was formed.  Over the next few months we worked together to create the film. 

Once all the footage was shot, he began the laborious task of editing.  This was something that he preferred to do alone, but on a few occasions he permitted me to join him because some decisions had to be made about where to insert music.  I will never forget those sessions.  There is something indescribably satisfying about putting music “inside” a film in just the right place and then listening to it and watching it.  I remember that there were actually times when I wept because I was so moved by what we had created. 

At this writing, The Dream of Istanbul is in the postproduction stage.  When it is finished, the film will be shown at film festivals in Turkey, Europe, and the U.S.  Then, copies will be available from the Les Arts Turcs website.

About the filmmakers:
Karen-Claire Voss
 James Snow

DOWNLOAD THE DEMO VERSION of " The Dream of Istanbul"