By: Amadej Petan
Mithat Alam Film Center, created within Boaziçi University in December 1999 with a private grant from Mithat Alam, is located on the university's South Campus. The Center's major aim is to establish an environment in which students interested in cinema can grow, as well as to assist the work of students in many sectors of cinema from the idea stage to the production stage at Boaziçi University, which does not have a movie department.
The center's operations include hosting panel discussions and presentations where renowned filmmakers, actors, and critics participate, screening nearly every night of the year. It also prepares retrospective programs on film directors, actors, and genres.
By releasing books that detail all of these efforts, the center also helps to build a rich archive of film studies. This year saw the publication of the eighth "Movie Talks" book. Through a booklet called Sinefil, student volunteers communicate with the rest of the campus community about the center's activities schedule as well as their suggestions and criticisms. Altyazi (Subtitles), one of Turkey's two major film journals, was founded eight years ago as a result of these volunteer students pursuing their desire to create a film journal.
The Mithat Alam Film Center implements all of its initiatives in collaboration with the students because it recognizes the value of students actively generating their work. Visit www.mafm.boun.edu.tr for further information about the center's schedule.