Based in Berlin and Istanbul, Ismail Necmi works as an independent filmmaker, photographer and visual artist.

 

After graduating in Law from Istanbul University, he collaborated on a number of movies, shorts and documentaries. As an independent photographer, his most notable projects have been; “Stills From Unmade Films | Thessaloniki”, a Solo Black & White Photography Exhibition in Macedonian Museum Of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki and "Stills From Unmade Films | Berlin" in Berlin Art Projects in Berlin. His début real-life feature film, “Should I Really Do It?”, which he produced, wrote, directed, shot and edited, has been shown at the 34th Toronto International Film Festival 2009 as an official selection in the Discovery programme, and in many other international film festivals including Montreal, Reykjavik, São Paulo, Haifa, Rome, Hamburg, Bangkok, Cairo, Costa Rica, Göteborg, Mumbai and Thessaloniki. The movie was awarded 'Daniel Langlois Innovation Award' at the International Competition of the 38th Montreal International Festival du Nouveau Cinéma 2009; both 'Most Promising New Director Award' and 'Most Promising New Screenwriter Award' at the 20th Ankara International Film Festival 2009; and ‘Audience Choice Award’ at the International Competition of the inaugural Rome Gender DocuFilm Festival 2010. The movie was also shown at Istanbul MODERN, Istanbul's Museum of Modern Art, as the opening movie of an interdisciplinary conference on fetishism.

 

In addition to his creative work, Necmi has also taught at a number of universities, including the departments of Visual Communication Design and Photography at Istanbul Bilgi University and the Department of Radio, Television and Cinema at Istanbul's Kadir Has University.

 

Filmography

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• Behind The Mask | A Film by Ismail Necmi | DCP | Color | 90 minutes | German & English with English Subtitles | Turkey & Germany | 2018 

• Should I Really Do It? | A Film by Ismail Necmi | 35mm | Color | 86 minutes | German & Turkish with English Subtitles | Turkey | 2008 

 

Awards

• Daniel Langlois Innovation Award | 38th Montreal International Festival du Nouveau Cinéma 2009 | International Competition

• Most Promising New Director Award | 20th Ankara International Film Festival 2009 | National Competition

• Most Promising New Screenwriter Award | 20th Ankara International Film Festival 2009 | National Competition

• Audience Choice Award | 1st Rome Gender DocuFilm Festival 2010 | International Competition

 

Exhibitions | Performances | Workshops

• Out Of The Collection | Ismail Necmi, Tom Lemke & Tom Fleischhauer | Group Exhibition | Berlin Art Projects | Berlin | October 2017                                          

• Performance: The Interface and Adapter Problematic | A Discussion Performance Set-Up by the Mobile Academy Berlin/Hannah Hurtzig | Petra Gehring, Karin Harrasser, Wladimir Velminski, Susanne Sachsse, Philipp Hochleichter und Ismail Necmi | Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau | Dessau-Roßlau | December 2013

• Doppelgänger / Should I Really Do It? | Duo Exhibition by Yasam Sasmazer & Ismail Necmi | Gallery Weekend 2013 | Berlin Art Projects | Berlin | April 2013

• My Twin Brother/Sister | A Workshop by Ismail Necmi & Verdy Leung | The Chinese University of Hong Kong | Departments of Cultural & Religious Studies/MA in Visual Culture Studies | Hong Kong | November 2012

• Performance: MEAT/ING | A Performance by Ismail Necmi, Liad Hussein Kantorowicz, Ariel Efraim Ashbel and Jürgen Brüning | Israel Film Festival | Berlin | October 2012

 

• Art Format Berlin | The International Art Show During The Art Forum Berlin | Group Exhibition | UF6 Projects Gallery | Berlin | October 2011

 

• Stills From Unmade Films - Berlin | Solo Exhibition | Berlin Art Projects | Berlin | February–March 2011

 

• Bad Crowd | Group Exhibition | Michael Cacoyannis Foundation | Athens | February 2011

 

• Stills From Unmade Films - Thessaloniki | Solo Exhibition | Macedonia Museum Of Contemporary Art | Thessaloniki | December 2010

 

• Transformation | Solo Exhibition | Dulcinea Contemporary Art Gallery | Istanbul | October–November 2001

 

Collaborations

• Die Figurine | A Film by Hannah Hurtzig & Ismail Necmi | HD | Color | 7 minutes | Germany | 2014 | The Human-Space-Machine Exhibition | Bauhaus Museum | Dessau-Roßlau

 

• Pierre Lunaire | A Movie by Bruce LaBruce | Director of Photography by Ismail Necmi | Avant-Garde Opera Film | DCP | Black and White | 51 minutes | Germany | 2014 | 64th Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival - Forum Expanded

 

• Adieu Istanbul | A Film by Dieter Sauter | Produced and Production Designed by Ismail Necmi | Documentary | DCP, HDCAM | Color | 90 minutes | English & Turkish with English Subtitles | Turkey & Germany | 2013 | 15th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2013 - Official Selection - Recordings Of Memory | 32nd Istanbul Film Festival 2103 - Official Selection - Turkish Cinema 2012 - 2013

 

Art Fairs

• CONTEMPORARY ISTANBUL’18 (13th Edition) | Ismail Necmi | Solo | Istanbul | 2018

• CONTEMPORARY ISTANBUL’14   (9th Edition) | Ismail Necmi | Berlin Art Projects | Istanbul | 2014

• CONTEMPORARY ISTANBUL’10   (5th Edition) | Ismail Necmi | Berlin Art Projects | Istanbul | 2010

 

Publications

• Stills From Unmade Films | Texts by Samuel Williams | 40 Pages | Macedonian Museum Of Contemporary Art | Thessaloniki | 2010 |

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