Turkish Documentary and Short Film Competition

I’m a little late on this, but the Museum of Fine Art’s annual Turkish  Documentary and Short Film Competition, which started yesterday and continues through to December 8,  is absolutely worth your attention, and not just because I’m one of the judges (along with Haden Guest, director of the HFA and Carter Long, film curator at the MFA).

As usual, we’ll  have some tough choices to make, including: 

Enis Riza’s “Recycling Life: I Found Dostoevsky in the Garbage” (screens  Saturday, December 3 at 1 pm), a ceaselessly surprising profile of one of the most fascinating and resourceful people you will ever meet.

Sabite Kaya’s “Bodies Without Soul” (screens Sunday, December 4 at 6:30 pm) which like “Recycling” profiles a marginalized person struggling for fulfillment and autonomy, in this case, though, one who has suffered hardships and injustices of almost unimaginable brutality.

Sabine Küper-Büsch and Thomas Büsch’s “On the Road” (screens Saturday, December 3 at 3:15 pm), an uplifting and illuminating documentary about an inspired way to promote intercultural understanding.

And as kind of complement to “Road,” Zeynep Merve Uygun’s “In/Out” (screens Wednesday, December 7 at 5 pm), a ruefully witty and inventive look at what can go wrong if such cross-cultural communication fails to take place.

I’ve got a bunch more to watch and am looking forward to them. It’s an early glimpse at the latest developments in  one of the world’s most fertile and energetic film scenes.

All screenings from Dec. 1-4  take place at the Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston and from Dec. 6-8 at Boston University and the Boston Public Library