"Istanbul: Truth, fear and hope" - Film screening at the Centre for Eastern Studies (CES) in Warsaw

"Istanbul: Truth, fear and hope"
(52 minutes, in English)

"A compelling documentary series about the Balkans and Turkey”
Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Enlargement

"These are documentaries all of us citizens of the European Union should have the opportunity to see"
Giuliano Amato, former Italian Prime Minister

Return to Europe Series
Winner of the 2008 Erasmus EuroMedia Award

on Friday, 6 March 2009, at 17:00

Istanbul, Europe's biggest city and the former capital of the Byzantine and the Ottoman Empires, is today once again the best place to grasp the contrasts, contradictions and promises of modern Turkey at the beginning of the 21st century.

Our 52 minute film Istanbul: Truth, fear and hope explores the tensions which lie just underneath the surface of this glittering city; how to deal with a complicated multi-ethnic past? How to overcome the bitter power struggle between new and old elites, in the city and across Turkey? What place for religion and Islam in a Turkey that is seeking to join the European Union?

The film is part of the TV project "Return to Europe", a series of 10 one-hour TV documentaries featuring countries and cities in the Balkans. The aim of the series is to acquaint viewers with this fascinating region and its peoples, their recent past and their struggle for a better future in Europe.

The series is supported by ERSTE Stiftung. It was co-produced by 3sat, the German satellite channel, ORF – Austria's public TV and the Pre-TV production company, together with ESI – the European Stability Initiative think-tank, upon whose research and analysis these films are based.

After the film there will be an opportunity to discuss the film with Gerald Knaus, Chairman of ESI, and a resident of Istanbul, and Adam Balcer, Specialist on South East Europe, Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW). The meeting will be chaired by Maksymilian Cegielski of TVP Kultura. His book on Istanbul (The eye of the world. From Constantinople to Istanbul) will be published in April.

Please confirm your participation by e-mail to Antonina Michalowska.