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Tables of Istanbul

Tables of Istanbul captures the personal story of a sociologist, Turkish immigrant, and passionate cook exploring food cultures in Istanbul. The documentary investigates Turkish cuisine, Istanbul’s place within it, and food movements through conversations with chefs, restaurateurs, researchers, food writers, activists and families. The film starts in Alaska (USA), investigating how identity and food come together on a dinner table, and travels to Istanbul (Turkey) in search of answers

  • Zeynep Kilic
    Director
  • Zeynep Kilic
    Writer
  • Zeynep Kilic
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Sofra Sofra Istanbul
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    58 minutes 23 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 15, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Turkey
  • Language:
    English, Turkish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • http://tablesofistanbul.com/#section-screenings
  • Gold Movie Awards
    London
    United Kingdom
    June 1, 2017
    Best Documentary Award, June 2017 / SemiFinalist for Best of the Year, Jan 2018
  • Spotlight Documentary Film Awards

    June 1, 2017
    Gold Award
  • Lady's First International Film Festival
    Cork
    Ireland
    May 11, 2017
    Best Voice Over
  • The Taste Awards
    Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    February 1, 2017
    Viewer's Choice Award (Best Documentary)
  • Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards

    November 1, 2016
    Award of Recognition, Cultural Feature
  • Canadian Diversity Film Festival

    Canada
    November 1, 2016
    Best Documentary
  • The IndieFest Film Awards

    July 1, 2016
    Award of Recognition
  • Gala del Cinema Internazionale Venezia
    Venice
    Italy
    October 13, 2017
    Best Documentary
Distribution Information
  • Navigation Partners
    Country: United States
Director Biography - Zeynep Kilic

Zeynep Kılıç was born and raised in Turkey. After completing her bachelor’s degree in economics at the Middle East Technical University, she moved to the U.S. to pursue graduate school in 1993. She completed her masters and doctorate degrees in sociology at the Arizona State University. She arrived in Anchorage in the summer of 2008 after fourteen years in the Arizona desert. She is still getting acclimated…

Her earlier work focused on immigration, belonging and citizenship. Lately she has been exploring food and culture as her primary research agenda. Her latest project, Tables of Istanbul, has been supported by grants from the TCF, ITS, UAA and Fulbright. Her next project will be picking up where the movie left off, writing a book while on sabbatical in 2016-2017. As an associate professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, besides dabbling in film-making and book writing, she teaches sociology classes, dances tango, and adores her husband Wayne who is single handedly renovating her dream home while she travels around the world for this fun project.

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Director Statement

This is a deeply personal labor of love for me as a first time filmmaker. In this movie I bring together my academic curiosity and critical perspective to my deeply personal and highly emotional love of food, specifically foods of Turkey, in a fascinating location: Istanbul.