Inner Landscapes
January 18–June 1, 2025
Eye Filmmuseum presents the first Dutch exhibition dedicated to celebrated Turkish filmmaker and photographer Nuri Bilge Ceylan. For the first time, his films are presented alongside his Turkey Cinemascope photo series (2003–2012). Ceylan started his career as a photographer. He effortlessly combines the art forms of film and photography in a captivating manner. He frequently delves into the contrast between moving and still images, with his large-format Cinemascope photographs capturing a distinctly cinematic essence. The combination of photos and films showcases Ceylan’s masterful photographic eye and his exceptional sense of mise-en-scène, light, and composition. Together, they bring his universal themes to the surface: alienation, the search for meaning, and the essence of life itself.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan is renowned for his literary cinematic style, where he explores the human condition with compelling depth. His distinctive visual language—characterised by wide shots, long takes and minimal camera movement—invites viewers to focus on subtle details in landscapes and dialogues that reveal the inner lives of his characters and their environments. Although his films touch on the universal, they are inextricably rooted in recent Turkish history and its myriad contrasts: urban versus rural, religious versus secular, highly educated versus less formally educated, rich versus poor, male versus female, and individual versus collective.
The protagonists in Ceylan’s films are not traditional heroes but individuals grappling with loneliness, failed relationships, and an inability to express their emotions. Many have left the countryside for the city, seeking a better life, only to find themselves confronted with urban indifference and alienation. Conversely, city dwellers who return to their rural roots, often as teachers in distant provinces, face conflicts with the customs and narrow-minded attitudes of the countryside, which no longer align with their worldview.
Landscapes hold a pivotal role in Ceylan’s films. More than mere backdrops, they mirror and shape his characters’ inner worlds, whether it’s a bustling Istanbul cityscape or a sweeping Anatolian plain. Through these settings, Ceylan invites us to reflect on the essence of human existence, blending existential musings with silences rich in meaning.
About Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan has crafted a small yet remarkably cohesive body of work. From his debut short film Koza(Cocoon, 1995) to his latest feature About Dry Grasses (2023), Ceylan has solidified his position as a leading figure in international auteur cinema. His films have earned him widespread recognition, including the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Winter Sleep (2014), along with multiple Grand Jury Prizes and Best Director awards. He currently lives and works in Istanbul.
Films, talks & events
The accompanying film programme includes multiple screenings of the nine feature films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan, most of them on 35mm and drawn from the Eye collection. In a series of Eye on Art specials, filmmakers, photographers, and writers will share their reflections on Ceylan’s work. A number of films that have always inspired Ceylan will also be screened.
