Ayhan Hacıfazlıoğlu

In 1915 a man survives the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, but loses his family, speech and faith. One night he learns that his twin daughters may be alive, and goes on a quest to find them.

Loosely inspired by Stefan Zweig’s novella, in which playing chess is depicted as a means of surviving fascism, The Avalanche recounts the events of the Armenian genocide, still contested by the Turkish state. Pinar Öğrenci uses archives and present-day footage of the region to uncover the traumas left by the Armenian people on their landscape and their memories.

A close look at the legendary Magnum photographer Josef Koudelka's past, memories, his thoughts about photography, his stance on life and his emotional journey through 'Ruins', his last project, which is about the archaeological ruins of ancient cities in Mediterranean regions. Following the footsteps of Heraclitus over his quote that 'no man ever step in the same river,' Josef Koudelka revisits more than 200 Hellenistic and Roman ancient cities he photographed repeatedly over past 26 years. During this epic journey to Mediterranean regions, we witness the moments of joy, tenderness, and silence while focusing on Koudelka's both artistic and philosophical search for the 'maximum.'